| Massachusetts Air National Guard | |
|---|---|
 Shield of the Massachusetts Air National Guard | |
| Active | 18 November 1921 – present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Massachusetts |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | state militia,military reserve force |
| Role | "To meet commonwealth and federal mission responsibilities." |
| Size | 18x F-15C1x F-15D |
| Part of | Massachusetts National Guard United States National Guard Bureau |
| Garrison/HQ | Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts |
| Mottos | Always Ready, Always There. |
| Colors | Blue, Gray, Green, Yellow |
| Commanders | |
| Civilian leadership | PresidentDonald Trump (Commander-in-Chief) Troy Meink (Secretary of the Air Force) GovernorMaura Healey (Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Military Forces) |
| Commonwealth military leadership | Major General Gary W. Keefe[1] |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | F-15C EagleF-15D Eagle |
TheMassachusetts Air National Guard (MA ANG) is the aerial militia of theCommonwealth of Massachusetts,United States of America. It is a reserve of theUnited States Air Force and along with theMassachusetts Army National Guard, an element of theMassachusetts National Guard of the largerUnited States National Guard Bureau.
As commonwealth militia units, the units in the Massachusetts Air National Guard are not in the normalUnited States Air Forcechain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of theGovernor of Massachusetts through the office of theMassachusetts Adjutant General unless they are federalized when ordered by thePresident of the United States. The Massachusetts Air National Guard is headquartered onHanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, and its commander is Brigadier General Virginia I. Gaglio.[2]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Under the "Total Force" concept, Massachusetts Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components (ARC) of theUnited States Air Force (USAF). Massachusetts ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by aMajor Command of the USAF if federalized. In addition, the Massachusetts Air National Guard Airmen are assigned to Air Expeditionary Forces and are subject to deployment tasking orders along with their active duty andAir Force Reserve counterparts in their assigned cycle deployment window.
Along with their federal reserve obligations, as commonwealth militia units the elements of the Massachusetts ANG are subject to being activated by order of the Governor to provide protection of life and property, and preserve peace, order and public safety. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of vital public services, and support to civil defense.[3]
The Massachusetts Air National Guard consists of the following major units:
Support Unit Functions and Capabilities:
The 131st Fighter Squadron was organized by Lyle E. Halstead and federally recognized in February 1947.
In April 2023,Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard at Otis Air National Guard Base, was arrested for unauthorized removal and transmission of classified US intelligence related to theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[7] The airman 1st class joined the Air National Guard in 2019 as a Cyber Transport Systems Journeyman. The leaked documents, which first appeared in the since-deleted private Discord server "Thug Shaker Central" linked to Teixeira - who went by an online nickname of "OG" - contained estimated casualty counts ofRussian forces andUkrainian forces that deviated from publicly available information, straining relations with American allies and exposing weaknesses in the Ukrainian military.[8][9] The arrest was conducted by a heavily armed FBI team at Teixeira's residence inNorth Dighton, Massachusetts.[10] Teixeira pled guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense under theEspionage Act information in federal court on March 4, 2024. The sentence carries between 11 and 17 years in federal prison.[11] The situation revealed glaring security issues and mishandling of classified information, with investigations finding Teixeira had been warned after he was caught taking notes of sensitive information and concealing them in pockets, however was never officially reprimanded, and no notes were confiscated during the confrontation.[11] The leaks contained pictures capturing classified documents, including aerial photography of the2023 Chinese balloon incident, Ukrainian battle plans, and U.S. military intelligence assessments, as well as other hand-typed and annotated documents.[9]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leadership |  | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure |
| ||||||||||
| Personnel and training | |||||||||||
| Uniforms and equipment | |||||||||||
| History and traditions |
| ||||||||||
