| Oklahoma Air National Guard | |
|---|---|
 F-16C Block 42E Fighting Falcons of the 125th Fighter Squadron at Tulsa AGB. The 125th is the oldest unit in the Oklahoma Air National Guard, having over 60 years of service to the state and nation. | |
| Active | 10 February 1941 - present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Oklahoma |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | state militia,military reserve force |
| Role | "To meet state and federal mission responsibilities." |
| Part of | Oklahoma Military Department United States National Guard Bureau |
| Garrison/HQ | Oklahoma Military Department, 3501 Northeast Military Circle, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73111 |
| Commanders | |
| Civilian leadership | PresidentDonald Trump (Commander-in-Chief) Frank Kendall III (Secretary of the Air Force) GovernorKevin Stitt (Governor of the State of Oklahoma) |
| State military leadership | Brigadier General Gregory L. Ferguson |
| Insignia | |
| Emblem of the Oklahoma Air National Guard |  |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | F-16C/D Fighting Falcon |
| Reconnaissance | MC-12W Liberty |
TheOklahoma Air National Guard (OK ANG) is the aerial militia of theState of Oklahoma,United States of America. It is a reserve of theUnited States Air Force and along with theOklahoma Army National Guard an element of theOklahoma National Guard of the largerUnited States National Guard Bureau.
As state militia units, the units in the Oklahoma Air National Guard are not in the normalUnited States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of theGovernor of Oklahoma through the office of theOklahoma Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of thePresident of the United States. The Oklahoma Air National Guard is headquartered in Oklahoma City, and its commander is currently[update] Brigadier General Gregory L. Ferguson
Under the "Total Force" concept, Oklahoma Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components (ARC) of theUnited States Air Force (USAF). Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma Air National Guard consists of the following major units:
Support Unit Functions and Capabilities:
The125th Observation Squadron was organized in December 1940 as the Oklahoma National Guard's first flying unit in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was federally recognized in January 1941. For the next three and a half years the squadron was attached to the77th Observation Group and the76th Reconnaissance Group at various locales in the United States before arriving atLiverpool,United Kingdom onD-Day, 6 June 1944. After moving across theEnglish Channel toFrance in August 1944, the 125th Liaison Squadron was attached to theU.S. Ninth Army untilV-E Day, participating in the campaigns of northern France,Ardennes,Rhineland andCentral Europe, and was awarded the BelgianFourragère for gallantry during theBattle of the Bulge in July 1945. Over the course of those five years, the 125th flew theDouglas 0-38E, theCurtiss O-52 Owl, and theStinson L-5 Sentinel.[4]
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.[5]
The 137th Wing traces its origins to the World War II404th Fighter Group, which was allocated to the Oklahoma Air National Guard and re-designated as the 137th Fighter Group on 24 May 1946. The unit was founded on 21 November 1946 at Norman, Oklahoma as the 137th Fighter Group, and received its federal recognition on 18 December 1947.
The 125th Fighter Squadron returned to Tulsa in November 1945 and flew theF-51D Mustang until February 1947 when it was designated the 125th Fighter Bomber Squadron (Jet) and equipped with theF-84 Thunderjet. After receiving the Spaatz Trophy Award in 1950, the 125th was again ordered to active duty under theNinth Air Force and sent toEngland AFB inAlexandria, Louisiana until July 1952. After returning to Tulsa under state control the squadron again flew the F-51 Mustang and theF-80 Shooting Star until becoming part of the 138th Fighter Group (AD) for duty with theAerospace Defense Command flying theF-86D Sabre in August 1957.
January 1960 brought significant change to the 125th as the unit was designated the 125th Air Transport Squadron and assigned to the 137th Air Transport Wing in Oklahoma City. For the next eight years the unit flew theC-97 Stratofreighter, transporting cargo toVietnam and throughout the world before converting to theC-124 Globemaster II in 1968.
The 137th Tactical Airlift Wing received theC-130 Hercules transport in 1972. In October 1972, the 125th was redesignated Tactical Fighter Squadron and converted to theT-33 Shooting Star in preparation for equipping with theF-100D Super Sabre in March 1973. The 125th converted to theA-7D Corsair II in July 1978.
In 1999 two F-16s from the 138th flying wing escorted a Learjet carryingPayne Stewart for 90 minutes intoSouth Dakota. The airplane had lost cabin pressure and its windows were iced over. They coordinated with an E-3 AWACs out of Tinker AFB.[6]
After conversion to theF-16 Fighting Falcon, the 138th Fighter Wing has participated inOperation Provide Comfort,Operation Northern Watch, andOperation Iraqi Freedom. The unit's deployment toIraq in 2008 marked their 10th deployment to theMiddle East. Additionally, the laser targeting pod system for precision guided munitions employment has been incorporated into the unit mission.[7]
The2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission brought an expansion to the 138th Fighter Wing's mission. The wing acquired three F-16 Block 42 aircraft from the57th Wing located atNellis Air Force Base as well as six F-16 Block 42 aircraft from132d Fighter Wing,Iowa Air National Guard. The 138th FW is also the host unit for the Defense Air Sovereignty Alert mission located atEllington Field inHouston, Texas. BRAC also recommended the realignment of the 137th Airlift Wing, which lost its C-130 transport aircraft in 2008. Since then, as the 137th Air Refueling Wing, it shares the aircraft with the507th Air Refueling Wing,Air Force Reserve Command, at Tinker AFB.
On 14 March 2008 a 138th Fighter Wing-assigned fighter aircraft en route to the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range in Salina, Kansas accidentally dropped a 22-pound, non-explosive practice bomb on an apartment complex in Tulsa, damaging a building foundation and knocking out the power to the building. No one was injured and the 138th Fighter Wing announced that they were investigating the incident themselves.[8]
In 2014 theAir Force Magazine annual almanac issue said that thirteenMC-12 Liberty electronic surveillance aircraft would be assigned to the Air National Guard, creating a new AFSOC-aligned surveillance unit atWill Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma.
In 2021, the Oklahoma National Guard helped to distribute food and water afterHurricane Ida.[9]
On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, one F-16 crashed in Louisiana in a joint training exercise. The pilot ejected and was unharmed.[10]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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