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| North Dakota Air National Guard | |
|---|---|
 An MQ-1B-10 Predator of the 178th Reconnaissance Squadron. The 178th is the oldest unit in the North Dakota Air National Guard, having over 60 years of service to the state and nation. | |
| Active | 1 February 1947 - present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  North Dakota |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | state militia,military reserve force |
| Role | "To meet state and federal mission responsibilities." |
| Part of | North Dakota Department Of Military Affairs U.S. National Guard Bureau |
| Garrison/HQ | North Dakota Air National Guard 1400 32d Avenue North, Fargo, North Dakota |
| Commanders | |
| Civilian leadership | PresidentDonald Trump (Commander-in-Chief) Gary A. Ashworth (Secretary of the Air Force) GovernorKelly Armstrong (Governor of North Dakota) |
| State military leadership | Brigadier General Mitchell R. Johnson |
| Insignia | |
| Emblem of the Air National Guard | |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Patrol | General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper |
TheNorth Dakota Air National Guard (ND ANG) is the aerial militia of theState of North Dakota,United States. It's a reserve of theUnited States Air Force and along with theNorth Dakota Army National Guard is an element of theNorth Dakota National Guard of the largerUnited States National Guard Bureau.
As state militia units, the units in the North Dakota Air National Guard are not in the normalUnited States Air Forcechain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of theGovernor of North Dakota though the office of theNorth Dakota Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of thePresident of the United States. The North Dakota Air National Guard is headquartered inFargo, and its commander is currently[update] Major General Alan S. Dohrmann.
Under the "Total Force" concept, North Dakota Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components (ARC) of theUnited States Air Force (USAF). North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota Air National Guard consists of the following major unit:
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.[1]
The North Dakota Air National Guard received federal recognition on 1 February 1947 as the1178th Fighter Squadron atHector Field, Fargo. It was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of the state. 18 September 1947, however, is considered the North Dakota 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.[1]
The North Dakota Air National Guard has been tasked to perform its state mission on many occasions. Prominent examples include Operation Haylift in 1949, providing relief to blizzard-bound farms and ranches, and more recently, Operation Snowball and Operation Good Neighbor in 1997, to combat unprecedented winter snowfall and spring flooding conditions throughout North Dakota.
Federalization of the North Dakota Air National Guard occurred during theKorean War, with the unit mobilized and ordered to active duty in 1951, returning toFargo and state control in 1953. It also occurred following theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001, when hundreds of airmen were voluntarily recalled to active duty status forOperation Noble Eagle, under theNorth American Aerospace Defense Command and the "all States agreement".
Air Defense alert has been a major part of the North Dakota Air National Guard's tasking since September 1953. The unit provided alert coverage at Fargo, with either two or four aircraft continuously on status, until March 1990 when home station alert was discontinued. Other alert sites includeMarch Air Reserve Base,California, andKingsley Field, nearKlamath Falls,Oregon. The most recent permanent alert detachment was atLangley Air Force Base,Virginia with 36 full-time personnel operating aircraft maintenance, munitions, supply, administrative and operational command responsibilities. The detachment closed in October 2006 due to the change from theF-16C fighter to theLearjet C-21A transport.[2]
The first overseas deployment of the North Dakota Air Guard occurred in 1983, with sixF-4D Phantom II fighters and 120 support personnel deploying toNaval Air Station Keflavik,Iceland. Eight SovietTupolev Tu-95 reconnaissance aircraft were intercepted by the "Happy Hooligan" pilots during the deployment. In 1986, the 119th Fighter Group became the first core unit to assume the USAF Zulu alert mission atRamstein Air Base,Germany. Referred to as "Creek Klaxon", the 119th and other air defense units stood continuous alert for one year providing air sovereignty inEurope forNATO. DuringOperation Desert Storm, 107 North Dakota ANG members were mobilized and deployed in support of operations at numerous locations in the United States. TheLockheed C-130 Hercules support aircraft assigned to the North Dakota Air National Guard and aircrew also provided stateside airlift of personnel and equipment to support Operation Desert Storm. Most recently, afterHurricane Katrina destroyed theGulf Coast of the United States, the 119th Fighter Wing answered the call for assistance, responding with less than forty-eight hours notice and deployed 64 personnel from the Civil Engineering Squadron, prepared 228.1tonnes of equipment and supplies and loaded threeC-5A Galaxy and one C-130H transport aircraft for deployment toGulfport,Mississippi, to build and support the tent city required to house over 2,000 National Guard relief workers. The Services Flight also prepared over 210,000 meals over a 60-day period for the relief workers.[3]
In its2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendations, theUnited States Department of Defense recommended to realign the 119th Fighter Wing and retire the wing's 15 F-16s. Hector IAP ranked low in military value. The reduction in the F-16 force structure and the need to align common versions of the F-16 at the same bases argued for realigning Hector IAP to allow its aircraft to retire without a flying mission backfill. As of 2006[update] the NDANG flew theLearjet C-21A executive transport until the mission ended in 2013. The North Dakota ANG was also running aGeneral Atomics MQ-1 Predator flight operations squadron inFargo which flew daily inIraq.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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