Air National Guard

In the US military, the Air National Guard (ANG) is a militia associated with the US Air Force (USAF). Each state, territory, and the District of Columbia has an Air National Guard. As Federally-organized militia, Air National Guard units are liable to activation by both the President of the United States and the governors of the several states.

The ANG is said to be a "reserve" force, of "part-time soldiers"; many ANG pilots are commercial airline pilots. The ANG flies every type of aircraft in the USAF inventory, with the exceptions of the B-2 Stealth bomber and the F-117A bomber.

Many ANG pilots believe that they are more skilled than regular USAF pilots; this may be true as ANG pilots are more likely to have had combat experience during the Vietnam and Gulf Wars.

ANG pilots have flown on active duty continually since the Gulf War of 1991, patrolling Iraq's no-fly zones. Following the terrorist attacks on America of September 11, 2001, a North Dakota F-16 Fighting Falcon unit, undergoing flight training at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, was the first unit to fly air cover over Washington, D.C