Vermont Air National Guard
Vermont Air National Guard | |
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F-4D Phantom II, F-16A/B/C/D Fighting Falcon, Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II |
The Vermont Air National Guard (VT ANG) is the aerial militia of the
Overview
Under the "Total Force" concept, Vermont Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components (ARC) of the
Along with their federal reserve obligations, as state militia units the elements of the Vermont 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.
History
On 24 May 1946, the United States Army Air Forces, in response to dramatic postwar military budget cuts imposed by President Harry S. Truman, allocated inactive unit designations to the National 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]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/134th_Fighter_Squadron_F-51H_Mustangs.jpg/220px-134th_Fighter_Squadron_F-51H_Mustangs.jpg)
The Vermont Air National Guard origins date to the formation of the 134th Fighter Squadron at Burlington International Airport, receiving federal recognition on 14 August 1946. It was equipped with F-47D Thunderbolts and its mission was the air defense of the state. It was assigned initially directly to the Vermont Air National Guard until the Massachusetts ANG 67th Fighter Wing, was federally recognized on 15 October 1946. The 67th Fighter Wing was the first ANG command and control organization in New England. On 4 April 1947, it was transferred to the Maine ANG 101st Fighter Group.
During the Korean War, the 134th was federalized on 10 February 1951 and assigned to the federalized Maine ANG
In line with an Air Force-wide redesignation, the wing became simply the 158th Fighter Wing in 1992. Today the Vermont Air National Guard provides air defense as part of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)/North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in time of war or national emergency for the defense of the North American continent. From 1989 to 1997 the wing had aircraft on 5-minute alert, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
After the
In December 2013 the
The last of the Vermont Air National Guard F-16s left in April 2019 to make way for the arrival of the
On September 19, 2019, the first two F-35s arrived at Burlington International Airport with another eighteen being delivered at later dates.[2][3]
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ "Rosenfeld, Susan and Gross, Charles J (2007), Air National Guard at 60: A History. Air National Guard history program AFD-080527-040" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 13, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Ring, Wilson (September 19, 2019). "Why the Vermont Air National Guard Is Getting the Most Advanced Fighter Jet in the World". Time. Archived from the original on September 19, 2019.
- ^ Syed, Maleeha (September 19, 2019). "Two F-35s land in Vermont: How representative are these landings of what's to come?". Burlington Free Press.
- Gross, Charles J (1996), The Air National Guard and the American Military Tradition, United States Dept. of Defense, ISBN 0160483026
- Vermont Air National Guard first Air Guard Base to receive F-35A
External links
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