The Air National Guard and the American military tradition :militiaman, volunteer, and professional /by Charles J. Gross.

260 Pages·1995·25.4 MB·English

by  Washington, DC :National Guard Bureau :For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs.

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Militiaman, Volunteer, and Professional:
The Air National Guard And The Ameri-
can Military Tradition.
Throughout most of its history,
America has relied upon the militia (later,
the National Guard) and wartime volun-
teers as the mainstays of its defense.
Prior to the twentieth century, that policy
was considered effective, economical, and
consistent with the republic's cherished
values by most Americans. Citizen-
soldiers bore the main burden of fighting
the nation's wars and restoring domestic
tranquility when local order broke down.
In this study of the Air Guard and its
militia roots. Dr. Charles Gross, a
J.
former Guardsman and a professional
historian assigned to the National Guard
Bureau, documents America's citizen
soldierheritage. He then traces the
transformation of National Guard avia-
tion from a grass roots experiment that
first emerged prior to World War I to a
true force in reserve of the U.S. Air Force
afterthe Vietnam conflict. The Air
Guard's militia heritage, volunteerism,
and growing professionalism are this
volume's main themes. Those develop- #/ £
..
ments came to fruition during the Persian
Gulf crisis of 1990-1991. In developing 1 'i>‘
their current relationship under the total
force policy, the Air Force and the Air
Guard have resolved the dilemma of
maintaining a reserve force capable of
participating in a broad range of global
air operations on short notice. The Air
Force has been a leader within the De-
fense Department in developing and
creatively employing its reserve compo-
nents. This history analyzes why and
how that happened. It also suggests how
citizen-soldiers have adapted ournation's
venerable militia institutions to the
demands of high technology airwarfare
in the late twentieth century.
The Cover
The dustjacket features "Mission Over
Normandy," a National Guard Heritage
Painting by noted aviation artist William
S. Phillips. It depicts two F-6A's of the
107fh Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
of the Michigan National Guard conduct-
ing photo reconnaissance of the
Normandy beaches in preparation for the
Allied invasion of France in June 1944.
The 107th was one of29 National Guard
Observation Squadrons, manned by
approximately 4,800 personnel, which
were ordered into federal service during
1940-1941.
'</ ' ,
'WMwSS:k
'The First Master”.-'Salem, Massachusetts, 1637. National Guard Heritage Painting by Keith
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2016
in
https://archive.org/details/airnationalguardOOwash
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The Air National Guard
and
The American Military Tradition
Militiaman, Volunteer, and Professional
by
Charles Joseph Gross, PhD
Historical Services Division
National Guard Bureau
Washington, D.C.
1995
ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice
SuperintendentofDocuments,MailStop:SSOP,Washington,DC 20402-9328
ISBN 0-16-048302-6
Library ofCongress Catalog
Card No. 94-067989
Foreword
In the post-Cold War era, we have found our international security envi-
ronment—dramatically altered. Gone is an immediate threat to our nation’s
survival but the world remains a dangerous place. Our nation’s armed
forces must be ready and capable of responding, at short notice, to a wide
range ofcrises or conflicts anywhere around the globe. At the same time, we
must provide for our nation’s defense in a fiscally constrained climate.
These interests have led, in part, to our renewed interest and reliance on
Guard and Reserve forces. But, if we are to fully appreciate and capitalize
on the potential of our reserve components, we must be familiar with their
past contributions.
Dr. Charles J. Gross, a former National Guardsman and a professional his-
torian, recounts the Air National Guard’s service and heritage as part of our na-
tion’s military forces. He traces our militia tradition and connects this story
with the rising influence of air power. In—the process, he outlines the Air Na-
tional Guard’s three primary missions to reinforce active duty forces in
wartime; to assist state governments responding to natural disasters and public
emergencies; and to provide various community service functions.
Throughout my career, I’ve had many opportunities to witness first-hand
our Air National Guard in action. My first experience goes back to when I was
a “Misty” Forward Air Controller in Vietnam. At the time, I flew in a unit com-
manded by a Guard officer. A combat role was hardly unique for the Air Na-
tional Guard in Southeast Asia-during the later half of the 1960’s. We had four
Guard fighter squadrons engaged in combat operations in Vietnam.
A few years after my experience in Southeast Asia, I served in the Air
Force Reserve Personnel Center in Colorado. This assignment came at a time
when we were implementing the Total Force Policy and gave me valuable in-
sight into how we use our reserve components in peacetime and war. Later, as a
senior Air Force commander during Desert Shield—/Desert Stonn, I saw the out-
standing performance of our Guard and Reserve a performance that marked
the success of our Total Force Policy in action. Finally, as the Commander of
U.S. Transportation Command, I relied on our National Guard to provide criti-
cal elements of our nation’s global air, land, and sea mobility forces for our
daily and contingency operations.
—
So, I have witnessed much of the story Dr. Gross records in this book.
But, in the three decades that I have served in the Air Force, I have seen only a
small part ofthe Air National Guard’s long history of service to our nation. For
—
over 78 years from the Pancho Villa expedition, to the First and Second
World Wars, to the Korean War, and many other contingencies and conflicts
the Air National Guard has built a first-rate reputation as having capable and
credible airmen. Today, they continue to play an integral role in everything the
Air Force does. This history is about the legacy they have created.—It’s a story
of value to anyone with an interest in our nation’s military forces today and
in the next century.
RONALD FOGLEMAN, USAF
R. General,
Chiefof Staffofthe Air Force
IV
Acknowledgments
This volume was inspired by the need to understand the evolution of the
Air National Guard (ANG) in the context ofAmerica’s rich citizen-soldier tra-
dition from colonial times through operation Desert Storm. It is an extension
and revision of my earlier work, Prelude to the Total Force: The Air National
Guard, 1943-1969 published by the Office of Air Force Flistory in 1985. The
,
latter focused on the ANG’s emergence as a separate reserve component of the
United States Air Force after World War II and analyzed its evolution through
the Vietnam era.
Senior officials in the National Guard Bureau (NGB) encouraged me to un-
dertake this project, and it was strongly supported by the Bureau’s Office of
Public Affairs. I am especially indebted to the following individuals for review-
ing the manuscript in detail and offering numerous suggestions that significantly
ANG
strengthened it: Maj. Gen. Donald W. Shepperd, Director; Professor Allan
R. Millett, The Ohio State University; Lt. Col. Leonid Kondratiuk, Chief of the
Historical Services Division, NGB; Professor Jerry M. Cooper, University of
Missouri, St. Louis; Dr. Perry D. Jamieson, Center for Air Force History
(CAFH); and Dr. Roger D. Launius, National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration, ChiefHistorian.
The archives of the Historical Services Division, NGB, and ANG periodic
histories constituted the major sources of documentation for this volume. In ad-
dition, the staffs of the Air Directorate, NGB, and the Air National Guard
Readiness Center (ANGRC) provided liberal access to their files and partici-
ANG
pated in numerous research interviews focused on plans, programs, and
operations during the post-Vietnam era. Although each and every one of them
was helpful, interviews with Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway, former NGB Chief;
ANG
Maj. Gen. Philip G. Killey, former Director; General Shepperd; and Brig.
Gen. Larry K. Arnold, ANGRC Commander, provided significant insights.
I also want to give special thanks to Mr. George W. Bradley III, Air Force
Space Command Historian, who interviewed Gen. Charles A. Homer, Air Force
Space Commander, at my request for the latter’s assessment of the Air Guard’s
participation in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Mrs. Yvonne
Kinkaid and Mr. Mark C. Ridley, Sr., of the CAFH library provided especially
valuable support for this effort. I also wish to acknowledge the significant con-
tribution to my chapter on the Persian Gulf crisis of 1991 that the extensive re-
search of Lt. Col. James Lightfoot, ANGRC, provided. Mr. Gary A. Gault and
v
SMSgt. Windell R. Mimms, Jr., of the NGB’s Historical Service Division did
yeoman work in compiling this volume’s appendices. Sergeant Mimms also
proofread the entire manuscript. Maj. Gen. Bruce Jacobs (ret.), Chief Historian,
National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS), provided a treasure
trove of anecdotes on the exploits of individual Air Guardsmen over the years.
The photographs in this work were drawn from numerous sources, includ-
ing the NGAUS, CAFH, NGB Historical Services Division, National Air and
Space Museum, Defense Still Media Records Center, the ANGRC, as well as
several private collections. The Air Staff Photo Office in the Pentagon provided
outstanding support in reproducing the historic photographs used in this volume.
The staffs of the Office of the Air Force Historian and the Center for Air
Force History provided valuable advice and assistance to this project. Dr. Al-
fred M. Beck and Mr. R. Cargill Hall were especially helpful in preparing me to
navigate the numerous challenges associated with the editing and printing of
this volume through the contracting mechanism.
I dedicate this work to the men and women of the Air National Guard
whose courage, dedication to duty, and professionalism during the Persian Gulf
crisis demonstrated that America’s historic militia tradition is alive and well as
this nation prepares to meet the military challenges of the twenty-first century.
vi