| Michigan Air National Guard | |
|---|---|
 Shield of the Michigan Air National Guard | |
| Active | 7 May 1926 – present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Michigan |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | state militia,military reserve force |
| Role | "To meet state and federal mission responsibilities." |
| Part of | Michigan National Guard United States National Guard Bureau |
| Garrison/HQ | Joint Force Headquarters Michigan Air National Guard, 3411 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Lansing, Michigan 48911 |
| Commanders | |
| Civilian leadership | PresidentDonald Trump (Commander-in-Chief) SecretaryTroy Meink (Secretary of the Air Force) GovernorGretchen Whitmer (Governor of the State of Michigan) |
| Adjutant General | Major GeneralPaul D. Rogers |
| State Air Commander | Brigadier General Daniel J. Kramer II |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Attack | A-10 Thunderbolt II |
| Reconnaissance | MQ-9 Reaper |
| Tanker | KC-135T Stratotanker |
TheMichigan Air National Guard (MI ANG) is the aerial militia of theState of Michigan,United States of America. It is, along with theMichigan Army National Guard, an element of theMichigan National Guard of the largerUnited States National Guard Bureau. The Michigan Air National Guard is also an Air Reserve Component of theUnited States Air Force.
As a state militia, the Michigan Air National Guard are not in theUnited States Air Forcechain of command unless it is federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of theGovernor of Michigan through the office of theMichigan Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of thePresident of the United States.
Michigan 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 Michigan Air National Guard forces are assigned to Air Expeditionary Forces and are subject to deployment tasking orders along with their active duty and Air Force Reserve counterparts in their assigned cycle deployment window.
Along with their federal reserve obligations, as state militia units the elements of the Michigan 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.
The Michigan Air National Guard consists of the following major units:
Support Unit Functions and Capabilities:
As of February 2026 the Michigan Air National Guard consists of the following units:[3]
Joint Force Headquarters-Michigan, Air Force Element, inLansing[3]
110th Wing, atBattle Creek Air National Guard Base[3]
127th Wing, atSelfridge Air National Guard Base[3]The origins of the Michigan Air National Guard can be traced back to the107th Aero Squadron, which was organized on 27 August 1917. The squadron assembled, serviced, and repaired aircraft duringWorld War I. It was re-designated 801st Aero Squadron on 1 February 1918 and inactivated after the end of the war on 18 March 1919.
TheMilitia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, liable for immediate state service. Iffederalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, theMilitia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units.[4]
It was reformed on 7 May 1926, as the107th Observation Squadron and is oldest unit of the Michigan Air National Guard. It is one of the29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of theUnited States Army National Guard formed beforeWorld War II. The 107th Observation Squadron was ordered into active service on 15 October 1940 as part of the buildup of theArmy Air Corps prior to the United States entry into World War II.[5]
The unit was activated again on 15 October 1940, being redesignated 107th Observation Squadron withDouglas O-38 andNorth American O-47 observation planes. It was sent to theairfield at Camp Beauregard,Louisiana for unit training on 28 October 1940. In 1941, the 107th was joined by two other National Guard observation units to form the67th Observation Group. The 67th Group did anti-submarine patrolling off the East Coast of the US from mid-December 1941 to March 1942, when it returned to Louisiana for training in fighter aircraft.[6]
Under War Department policy, many of Michigan's National Guard units were detached from their former organizations and attached to other units. Such was the case for the 107th Observation Squadron, which entered service with the 32nd Division. The squadron was later attached to the 67th Fighter Reconnaissance Group and performed outstanding service in the European Theater of Operations.
The 67th Group was sent toMembury,England, in August 1942 and flew theSpitfire Mk V andTiger Moths for a year until equipped with theF-6A Mustang. The 107th became the first operational photographic reconnaissance squadron in Northern Europe. Before theNormandy landings in June 1944, pilots of the Michigan National Guard's 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron were flying photographic missions in preparation for D-Day. The squadron's pilots flew 384 missions to perform the dangerous task of photographically mapping the French coast before D-Day. Miraculously, only one aircraft was shot down from December 1943 to June 1944. Lt. Donald E. Colton was killed in action in the vicinity ofRouen,France, on 9 May 1944. For its efforts during this period, the 107th received thePresidential Unit Citation.
Assigned to support theU.S. First Army during theNormandy Campaign, the 107th became the first recon squadron to operate from French soil. The squadron flew an additional 1,800-plus missions after May 1944 and participated in four campaigns following Normandy.[7]
Following their service during World War II, all Michigan National Guard units remaining in Federal service were officially deactivated by the Army. Officers and men returned to their homes as individuals rather than in units. TheMichigan National Guard was again required to undertake post-war re-establishment and organization from scratch.
On 24 May 1946, theUnited States Army Air Forces, in response to dramatic postwar military budget cuts imposed by PresidentHarry S. Truman, allocated inactive unit designations to theNational Guard Bureau for the formation of an Air Force National Guard. These unit designations were allotted and transferred to various State National Guard bureaus to provide them unit designations to re-establish them as Air National Guard units.[8]
TheGovernor officially accepted the troop allotment assigned to Michigan by the National Defense Authority on 31 May 1946. The allotment called for 228 troop units (including 16 Air National Guard units) to be manned by 24,795 officers and men. This strength was not attained, however, because theUnited States War Department immediately began to scale down its plans.
Insofar as possible, units were allotted to Michigan communities that had previously sponsored National Guard units and where state-owned or leased armory facilities were available. Initial priority was given to the organization of the State Headquarters, the 46th Infantry Division, and Air National Guard units. On 29 September 1946, the first post-war units of the Michigan National Guard were activated. 18 September 1947, however, is considered the Michigan Air National Guard's official birth concurrent with the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate branch of the United States military under the National Security Act.[8]
Intense organizational efforts continued for the next two years. On 30 June 1948, the Adjutant General reported to the Governor that 94 percent of the first priority units had been organized and federally recognized. A total of 121 units (including 15 Air Guard units) had been organized in 40 communities with a strength of 8,818 officers and enlisted.[9]
The United States' second mobilization in a decade was touched off by theinvasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950. 26 Michigan Army and Air National Guard units were called to active military service during the Korean War. Inducted strength of these units totaled 2,742 officers and men. All three squadrons of the 127th Fighter Wing, Michigan Air National Guard, were federalized in 1951. Two squadrons were stationed atLuke Air Force Base,Arizona. The Battle Creek squadron was assigned toSelfridge Air National Guard Base. The remaining federalized Michigan Army and Air National Guard units served in the United States, but some of their officers and men were transferred to units that eventually saw service in Korea. With the exception of those who elected to remain on active duty, most of Michigan's Guardsmen completed their tours of duty by the late spring or summer of 1952 and returned home.[10]
When tensions began to reach the breaking point withKosovo refugees being forced out of their homes inYugoslavia, In 1997 the 110th Fighter Wing took part inOperation Deny Flight in 1997. Joining with other A-10 "Thunderbolt" units from other state National Guards and active-duty Air Force personnel, the Michigan Air National Guard members formed the 104th Expeditionary Operations Group, which were deployed from mid-May to early July 1997. In 1996, air crew members and maintainers from the airlift element of the 127th Fighter Wing deployed to Germany over a period of two months to fly support shuttle missions into Bosnia as part ofOperation Joint Endeavor. The fighter element of the Wing took their F-16s toSingapore for training exercises with the Singapore Air Force, and then to Hawaii to participate inRIMPAC '96, a multi-national maritime exercise.
Elements of the Michigan National Guard were some of the last to serve at U.S. military installations inPanama before the return of those facilities to theRepublic of Panama. The 171st Airlift Squadron of the 127th Wing is the last Air National Guard unit to perform missions fromHoward Air Force Base in Panama and members of the 1775th and 46th Military Police Companies provided law enforcement services and security asFort Clayton, Panama was closed down.[11]
operated by theEstonian Defence Forces.
Michigan Air National Guard F-16s took to the skies within hours of theterrorist attacks on theWorld Trade Center towers and the Pentagon to flycombat air patrols over Michigan's cities. The 110th Fighter Wing hadA-10 attack aircraft in service in bothIraq andAfghanistan, supportingOperation Iraqi Freedom andOperation Enduring Freedom.[12]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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