Air National Guard Jet Fighters

Introduction T

ABOUT THE ARTIST

he famous 27-word Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. And the Air National Guard, at its core, is just such a militia – volunteer citizen-soldiers armed with jet fighters!

Immediately after the Second World War, each Air National Guard (ANG) unit existed almost as a mini state air force.

Fiercely independent and backed by political muscle, they received good equipment but lacked training and in the worst cases amounted to little more than flying clubs for wartime veteran pilots. Their mission too was ill-defined, being best summed up as ‘aerial defence’.

The Korean War brought about significant changes; ANG pilots demonstrated their abilities and made a meaningful contribution but their mobilisation exposed deep flaws in the organisation of the USAF, of which they were a part. Postwar reorganisation gave the ANG a new purpose with the runway alert programme – putting fighters on alert round the clock, ready to scramble at a moment’s notice to repel incoming Soviet bombers.

And during the 1960s individual ANG fighter units were bonded to the major air commands of the regular USAF under the gaining command concept, improving training and broadening the range of missions available. Several ANG units flying F-100 Super Sabres served with distinction in Vietnam during the late 1960s, providing close air support for ground forces.

The 1970s brought further reorganisation with the Total Force concept. This was a reaction to the mass conscription employed

JP Vieira is an illustrator producing military history and aviation-themed artwork.

He is entirely self-taught and aims to constantly improve both his technical and digital methods. His attention to detail and constant pursuit of improvement makes his artworks both accurate and artistically pleasing.

JP has collaborated with numerous authors, editors and publishers on a wide variety of publications – including USAF Fighters, US Navy Jet Fighters, Marine Corps Jet Fighters, US Jet Fighters in Foreign Service and most recently French Combat Jets for Tempest Books.

for the Vietnam War, with the Air Guard and other reserve forces being enhanced so that they – rather than unwilling members of the public – would be available to provide additional personnel and equipment as and when the regulars needed it. During the 1980s, the Reagan administration pumped billions of dollars into the US military and the ANG was revitalised with hundreds of new fighters, particularly F-16s, being received from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

The 1990s saw Air Guard fighters flying in the first wave of Operation Desert Storm, providing reconnaissance over Bosnia and taking over the air defence of the continental US. In this latter role, ANG F-15s and F-16s were scrambled to intercept the hijacked airliners on the morning of September 11, 2001, albeit too late to prevent the ensuing terror attacks. And the 2000s would see Air Guard fighters called on time and again to support their regular counterparts with deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as flying sorties against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.

Throughout their existence, ANG units have flown the USAF’s best fighters – though their airframes have usually been well worn in advance. And they have often given them bright, colourful and intricate paint schemes and markings.

This publication chronicles the jet fighters flown by Air National Guard units from 1948 right up to the present day through the beautiful artworks of renowned aviation illustrator JP Vieira. I hope you enjoy marvelling at the incredible variety of designs as much as I have.

Dan Sharp

AN F-16C FIGHTING FALCON Assigned to the 120th Fighter Squadron, Colorado ANG, flies over Denver wearing a commemorative 100th anniversary scheme on May 8, 2023.

US JET FIGHTERS IN FOREIGN SERVICE USAF FIGHTERS

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AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS

CONTENTS 

006 1947-1959 BAPTISM OF FIRE – THE KOREAN WAR

AND ITS AFTERMATH

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040

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058

004

1970-1979 THE TOTAL FORCE – MODERNISATION AND CONSOLIDATION

AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS

1960-1969 GAINING COMMAND – BERLIN CRISIS AND THE VIETNAM WAR

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080 1980-1989 EAGLES AND FALCONS – REAGAN REARMS THE

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100

AIR GUARD

1990-1999 DECADE OF CONFLICT – DESERT STORM AND PEACEKEEPING

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108

2000-2009 WAR ON TERROR – NOBLE EAGLE, ENDURING FREEDOM AND IRAQI FREEDOM

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114 2010-NOW RAPTORS AND LIGHTNINGS – RENEWAL FOR THE MODERN AIR GUARD

All illustrations: JP VIEIRA

Publisher: STEVE O’HARA

Published by: MORTONS MEDIA GROUP LTD, MEDIA CENTRE, MORTON WAY, HORNCASTLE, LINCOLNSHIRE LN9 6JR

Production editor: DAN SHARP

Tel. 01507 529529

Design: DRUCK MEDIA PVT. LTD.

ISBN: 978-1-911703-20-4 © 2023 MORTONS MEDIA GROUP LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR ANY INFORMATION STORAGE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER.

AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS

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More titles from renowned illustrator JP Vieira Colour schemes and markings of American jet fighters in service around the world.

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AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS

BAPTISM OF FIRE

THE KOREAN WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH

1947-1959

The Air National Guard was formed with the best of intentions and a huge number of piston-engined fighters but post-war funding cuts left it a shadow of what its planners had originally foreseen. All that would change with the Korean War…

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AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS

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hen it was officially established on September 18, 1947, the Air National Guard had precisely zero jet fighters. The parttime force did, however, have a lot of relatively new P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts (soon to be redesignated F-51 and F-47) albeit with a limited supply of spare parts available for them.

This made it significantly better equipped than its funding rival, the Air Force Reserve. It enjoyed this privileged allotment of federally-owned equipment for two reasons; firstly because it was under the complete control of state authorities, rather than the federal government, and state governors wielded considerable political influence. Secondly, the mission that had been set out for the Air Guard in 1945 was the aerial defence of the continental United States. As such, it had a reasonable claim to decent equipment – particularly fighters.

As the aerial arm of the National Guard, the inheritors of the Minutemen legacy, the ANG was protective of its ‘militia’ status and resisted all attempts by the USAF, also newly formed on September 18, 1947, to exercise control, direct or otherwise, over it. Many states considered the local Air Guard to be their own small air force when it wasn’t actively required to participate in federal duties.

This naturally created tension and mistrust between the USAF and the ANG, with the former making several attempts to either dissolve or federalise the latter. In February 1948, however, the ANG was formally established as a legal component of the Air Force – which ended all efforts to get rid of it and took federalisation off the table.

After the Second World War, plans had been laid for the ANG to have 72 fighter squadrons constituting the entire interceptor force of the Air Defense Command (ADC).

This proved to be a real problem since the ADC itself lacked any authority over the ANG’s units. All it could do was hand over equipment to them and, from February 1949, supervise their training.

Just ensuring that each ANG unit had suitable and adequately maintained airbase facilities involved heated debate and legal wrangling between the USAF and the states, via the National Guard Bureau.

Another huge issue was personnel.

Although the ANG included many experienced veteran Second World War pilots who wanted to continue flying fighters on a part-time basis, many units lacked qualified officers who could devote sufficient time and energy to organising and commanding them – especially in rural areas. In some instances the Air Guard had to ‘borrow’ officers from the USAF in order to get units set up.

Finally, the Truman administration (from April 1945 to January 1953) had massively cut the defence budget after the war, which made the goal of establishing so many fully-equipped, fully-trained and combat-ready ANG fighter squadrons practically impossible to achieve.

Even so, the Air Guard’s inventory had grown to 2,503 aircraft by February 20, 1950, including two types of jet fighter: Lockheed’s F-80 Shooting Star, of which it had 116, and Republic’s F-84 Thunderjet, of which it had 79. The remainder of the fleet comprised 982 F-51 Mustangs, 546 F-47 Thunderbolts,

325 B-26 Marauder bombers, 261 T-6 Texan trainers, 157 C-47 Skytrain transports, 33 AT-11 Kansan bombing and gunnery trainers, two C-46 Commando transports and two C-45 Expeditor transports.

LOCKHEED F-80 SHOOTING STAR

Work on developing the F-80 had begun a little under seven years earlier when the Lockheed engineering team led by Clarence L ‘Kelly’ Johnson were given the task of designing a new jet fighter around the British Halford H-1 B engine – later known as the de Havilland Goblin – on May 17, 1943.

They settled on a deceptively simple but undeniably straightforward layout: a centrally-positioned fuselage-mounted engine fed by two wingroot inlets and exhausting beneath the fin of the regular cruciform tail; low-set straight wings and a tricycle undercarriage. A fuel tank was positioned ahead of the engine bay and the cockpit was set ahead of that, leaving the capacious nose free to house six M2 .50 cal machine guns. Alternatively a camera nose could be fitted to create the RP-80 reconnaissance variant. Wingtip fuel tanks could be added to extend range and later variants could carry underwing bomb or rocket racks.

The first XP-80 prototype made its debut flight on January 8, 1944. Powered by an American-made J33-GE-9 jet engine, the production model Shooting Star could reach an impressive 536mph in level flight at 5,000ft – though only when fully painted and without wingtip tanks. The USAAF officially accepted the type into service in February 1945 and placed an initial production order for 344 P-80A examples. A further 180 followed.

LOCKHEED F-80A SHOOTING STAR Lockheed F-80A Shooting Star, 44-85245, 173rd Fighter Squadron (Jet), 132nd Fighter Group, Nebraska Air National Guard, Lincoln Airfield, Nebraska, 1948.

The 173rd FS were among the first ANG units to be equipped with F-80s, receiving their first one in 1948.

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AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS Baptism of Fire – The Korean War and its Aftermath

REPUBLIC F-84E THUNDERJET

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Republic F-84E Thunderjet, 49-2360, FS-360, 182nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 136th Fighter-Bomber Group, Texas Air National Guard, Taegu AB, South Korea, 1952.

This aircraft carries an impressive set of mission markings; it had completed 1,000 combat hours and 400 missions.

REPUBLIC F-84E THUNDERJET

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Republic F-84E Thunderjet, 49-2175, FS-175-A, 159th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 116th Fighter-Bomber Group, Florida Air National Guard, Misawa air base, Japan, 1952.

Equipped with wingtip tank in-flight refuelling probes, Thunderjets from the 159th FB participated in Operation High Tide, the bombing of North Korean targets, flown from air bases in Japan.

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REPUBLIC F-84D THUNDERJET Republic F-84D Thunderjet, 48-680, 121st Fighter Squadron, 113th Fighter Group, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Andrews airfield, Maryland, 1950.

Tasked with air defence, the 121st FS flew F-84s for about two years before receiving the Lockheed F-94 Starfire.

The next significant production model was the P-80B, which featured the improved Allison J33-A-21, thinner wings with thicker skin, underwing rocket launchers, M3 machine guns, cockpit cooling, a canopy anti-frosting system and a Lockheed ejection seat. A total of 240 P-80Bs were made.

The P-80C had the largest production run, with 798 examples built. In addition, 129 P-80As were upgraded to P-80C spec for a total of 927 P-80Cs. The P-80C had an improved Allison J33-A-23, then -35 engine and improved M3 machine guns.

Beginning in 1948, a two-seat trainer variant was put into production – the T-33 – of which 6,557 were built. All P-80s were redesignated as F-80s in June 1948.

REPUBLIC F-84 THUNDERJET

Starting in 1944 it took Republic’s design team, led by Alexander Kartveli, a year to come up with the design that would become the XP-84. It had, if anything, an even less complicated layout than the P-80, with a nose intake, straight wings, a conventional tail, hydraulically actuated tricycle undercarriage and a sliding bubble canopy for the cockpit. Power came from the General Electric J35-GE-7 turbojet.

The slender fuselage housed only the engine, cockpit and four .50 cal M2s, with the wings being made thick enough to carry the aircraft’s fuel supply as well as an additional M2 in each wingroot.

A hydraulic dive brake was installed beneath the fuselage in the centre.

The first XP-84 flew in August 1946 and set a new American national air speed record on September 7 at 611mph. The full production version was the P-84B, powered by an Allisonmade J35 and armed with six M3s. It also had an ejection seat, though this was never approved for use. The type entered service in December 1947 but suffered serious problems with control and stability. The entire P-84B fleet was grounded on May 24, 1948, following a series of structural failures. The P-84C, similar to the ‘B’ but with an improved electrical system and engine, began production in May 1948 and the type was then redesignated F-84 on June 11, 1948.

Republic aimed to resolve all the aircraft’s problems in a new fully revised F-84E variant but in the meantime put together the ‘quick fix’ interim F-84D. This had a more powerful J35, improved landing gear, stronger wings, thicker skin, a usable ejection seat and more reliable fuel system. A total of 154 F-84Ds were delivered between November 1948 and April 1949.

The first F-84E made its initial flight on May 18, 1949, and incorporated further wing reinforcement, a radar gunsight, provision for rocket-assisted take-off, a 12in longer fuselage forward of the wings, resulting in a more comfortable cockpit, and a 3in extension aft of the wings to expand the avionics bay. It also had rocket racks which folded flat against the wing once their rockets had been fired.

AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS

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AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS Baptism of Fire – The Korean War and its Aftermath NORTH AMERICAN F-86A SABRE

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North American F-86A Sabre, 48-0276, 116th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 142nd Fighter-Interceptor Wing, Washington Air National Guard, Larson Air Force Base, Washington, 1952.

The 116th FIS was one the first ANG units to fly the F-86 Sabre; the unit would fly several fighter aircraft before being converted into an air-refuelling squadron in the mid-1970s.

LOCKHEED F-80C SHOOTING STAR Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star, 49-873, 144th FighterBomber Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, 1954.

This unit was tasked with air defence until 1957, when they exchanged their F-80s for the C-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft; with areas painted in high-visibility, this Shooting Star is prepared to operate in the often unforgiving weather conditions of Alaska.

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AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS

Between May 1949 and July 1951, 843 F-84Es were built. The last straight-wing variant was the F-84G, which entered service in 1951 as a stopgap nuclear strike fighter ahead of the introduction of the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak.

It featured a more powerful J35-A-29, framed canopy, refuelling boom, autopilot, instrument landing system and the option to carry a single Mark 7 nuclear bomb.

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NORTH KOREA INVADES

REPUBLIC F-84E THUNDERJET Republic F-84E Thunderjet, 51-542, FS-542, 111th FighterBomber Squadron, 136th Fighter-Bomber Wing, Texas Air National Guard, Taegu air base, South Korea, 1951.

The 111th flew Thunderjets in the Korean War in 1951 and 1952, operating initially from Japan, before being forward deployed to Korea; this aircraft is armed with 5in rockets.

When troops from North Korea invaded the south on June 25, 1950, the US was caught off guard and South Korea’s own armed forces were severely overmatched.

It was clear to President Truman, however, that the invasion was Sovietinspired and he quickly realised that a swift non-nuclear military intervention was essential – non-nuclear because he didn’t want to risk depleting America’s still modest stockpile of weapons in defence of a small foreign nation.

As such, the US Army, Navy and Air Force were mobilised in South Korea’s defence. Unfortunately, Truman’s programme of budget-cutting had left many frontline units understrength.

The USAF had been limited to 400,000 personnel – enough for 48 combat air groups.

During the initial stages of the war, the USAF suffered high casualties among its relatively inexperienced young pilots.

And a shortage of equipment resulted in ANG inventories being raided to provide for the active duty units. This included everything from spare uniforms to actual aircraft, a total of 296 F-51 fighters being stripped from the ANG and sent to the front line.

At least now budget restrictions had now been lifted, a huge campaign of mobilisation and recruitment commencing in October 1950 with the total number of Air Force personnel swelling to 788,381 within the first year of the war. The vast majority of these ‘new recruits’ had come from the Air Force Reserve and federalised Air National Guard units.

From the Air Guard’s total strength of 92 flying squadrons, 66 were called to active duty. Individual Air Guardsmen were also called up to frontline units and overall around 45,000 men, some 80% of the ANG’s personnel, were engaged in active service between 1950 and 1953.

By April 1951, 80% of Fifth Air Force personnel in Korea were either recalled Air Guardsmen or Air Force reservists.

Some ANG units were forced to report for duty without their aircraft, however, since these had been taken from them during the summer of 1950. Indeed, some of the Air Guard’s 12 light bomb squadrons had to be assigned other aircraft and missions.

Mobilised ANG units were given a 90-day period of intensive training with Tactical Air Command (TAC) before being handed their new assignments. Some fighter squadrons were re-equipped with F-80s or F-84s and put through another 90-day cycle of training.

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AIR NATIONAL GUARD JET FIGHTERS Baptism of Fire – The Korean War and its Aftermath NORTH AMERICAN F-86A SABRE North American F-86A Sabre, 48-129, 176th FighterInterceptor Squadron, 128th Fighter-Interceptor Group, Wisconsin Air National Guard, Truax Field, Wisconsin, 1954.

The 176th FIS operated the Sabre for only a year, before being equipped with successive different variants of the F-89 Scorpion.

 LOCKHEED F-80C SHOOTING STAR Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star, 44-85418, 174th Fighter Squadron, 132nd Fighter-Bomber Group, Iowa Air National Guard, Sioux City Airport, Iowa, 1955.

The 174th FS fought in Korea flying North American F-51 Mustangs. On returning to the US, the unit was reequipped with F-80s.

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