The Maryland Air National Guard; A Commemorative History 1921-2000
Charlotte, NC: Fine Books Publishing Company, LLC, 2000. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 334, [2] pages. Illustrations (some in color). Illustrated endpapers. Inscribed to Congressman (now Senator) Ben Cardin by Major General Bruce Tuxill (Assistant Adjutant General for Air). Format is approximately 9 inches and 12 inches. Cover is decorated by the outline of the State of Maryland and a Minuteman in gold lettering, as is the title. Gold lettering on spine. This work includes an interview with Major General Tuxill. The Maryland Air National Guard traces its origins to 29 June 1921. On that date the 104th Observation Squadron was federally recognized in Baltimore. It became the first post-World War I National Guard unit to be equipped with its own aircraft, 13 Curtiss JN-4 Jennies, which it flew until 1923. The unit was based at Logan Field in Baltimore. The 104th was initially assigned as division aviation for the 29th Infantry Division. Their annual summer training encampments were at Langley Field, Virginia (until 1931) and Detrick Field, Maryland (1931–41). (Detrick Field, now Fort Detrick, was named for the squadron's flight surgeon, Captain Frederick Detrick.) In addition to Jennies, the 104th flew a variety of other aircraft during the interwar period. Shortly before the U.S. entry into World War II, the unit was transferred to the 59th Observation Group (now the 59th Medical Wing) as part of a larger reorganization of the U.S. Army Air Forces. The Maryland Air National Guard (MD ANG) is the air force militia of the State of Maryland, United States of America and a reserve component of the United States Air Force. It is, along with the Maryland Army National Guard, an element of the Maryland National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the Maryland Air National Guard are not actively in the United States Air Force chain of command until federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Maryland though the office of the Maryland Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Maryland Air National Guard is headquartered in Baltimore, and its commander is Brigadier General Scott L. Kelly. Under the "Total Force" concept, Maryland Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components (ARC) of the United States Air Force (USAF). Maryland ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. In addition, the Maryland 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 Maryland 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. Despite the end of the Cold War, the Maryland Air National Guard remained heavily involved in operations around the world through the remainder of the century. During the build-up to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a number of unit personnel were mobilized to fill support roles. Three Maryland C-130s were mobilized and deployed to Germany to “backfill” for aircraft being sent into the combat theater, while the unit’s Mobile Aerial Port Flight was called up and sent to Dover Air Force Base, Del. The same year, the 175th won Gunsmoke, the U.S. Air Force Worldwide Gunnery Competition, earning recognition as the best fighter unit in the Air Force. The 135th participated in humanitarian relief efforts in Somalia, peacekeeping and humanitarian relief in Bosnia, the U.S. intervention in Haiti, and enforcement of U.N. sanctions against Iraq during the 1990s. A-10s from the 175th were likewise kept busy patrolling the skies over Bosnia-Herzegovina as a part of the U.N./NATO task force and enforcing the “no-fly” zone over southern Iraq, where it was called upon to fly retaliatory strikes against Iraqi targets. On 15 June 1996, the two flying groups of the Maryland Air National Guard merged to form the 175th Wing. The 175th Wing, which carries on the lineage and honors of the 175th Fighter Group, is a composite organization with an Air Combat Command-gained fighter unit, and Air Mobility Command-gained airlift unit, a U.S. Air Forces in Europe-gained civil engineer flight, and, since 2006, an information operations squadron. The wing has been deeply involved in fielding the latest Air Force aircraft. In 1999, it dedicated its first C-130J, the latest and most advanced version of the venerable transport. The 135th played a major role in the operational test and evaluation of the aircraft, procedures development and evaluation, and was the first fully equipped C-130J unit in the U.S. Air Force. In 2011, the unit again transitioned aircraft, this time to the new C-27J Spartan. The wing was also selected as the lead unit to convert to the new A-10C – the first A-10 aircraft in the U.S. Air Force to be modified for precision engagement. Beginning in 2006, wing personnel were deeply involved in the test and evaluation process and in September 2007, the 104th Fighter Squadron became the first unit to take the A-10C into combat, when it deployed to Iraq. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Maryland Air National Guard, 175th Wing, MdANG, Fighter Squadron, Logistics, Airlift, Civil Engineering, Military Security, Military Unit, Military Aircraft, Aviation Maintenance
[Book #73943]
Price: $125.00