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 Airmen place 60th anniversary wreath at national memorial By Tech. Sgt. Mike R. Smith
                National Guard Bureau
 ARLINGTON, Va. - Air National Guard members, including the director of the Air Guard Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, joined senior Air Force and Department of Defense officials and a crowd of active-duty Airmen for a morning wreath-laying ceremony at the U.S. Air Force National Memorial here Sept. 18 to commemorate the Air Force's 60th anniversary. The ceremony was a culmination of anniversary events that began Oct. 14, 2006, when the memorial  situated on a hillside overlooking the Pentagon and the district was dedicated. Since then, the Air Guard has joined the Air Force in celebrating their anniversary through nearly 100 Guard-based events across the nation. At the memorial, the Air Force's top leaders, including Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Rodney McKinley, spoke from the base of the memorial's three stainless steel spires before centering a wreath made of white flowers and blue ribbons. "All Airmen should be real proud of the Air Force's 60th birthday, and we in the Air National Guard are very proud to be part of it," McKinley said. "Our air units go back a little bit before the formation of the Air Force, but all around the country our units are celebrating their anniversaries along with the Air Force, so we are very proud to be here today." The Air Guard's official birthday is the same as the Air Force, which split from the U.S. Army in 1947 to become the nation's youngest branch of service. During World War II, many Army Air Corps units were moved or broken up and their experienced Soldiers were scattered throughout the Army. After the war, the new Air National Guard Airmen came from a war-expanded and reorganized Army Air Force. These veterans were already forming Air Guard squadrons in their hometowns when Congress established the Air Force and the Air Guard in 1947. "A significant thing about the Air Guard is that it exists at all," said Dr. Charles Gross, chief of the Air Guard's history program. He explained that some Army Air Corps officials wanted only a federal Air Force component in the beginning. "The relationship has changed from a rocky relationship to become a very positive relationship where the Air Guard is in virtually every mission that the Air Force does. It's a very exciting time because as an organization we have always changed with new technology and operational requirements." The morning's sun cast shadows on the speakers, crowd and honor guard assembled on the memorial's granite base as Moseley spoke of the accomplishments and future challenges of the Air Guard, Reserves, civilians and active Air Force. He said America's Airmen have flown, fought and died in military engagements since 1916. "They braved withering anti-aircraft artillery fire that made attacks near suicidal, and they braved real and perceived barriers such as the sound barrier and race and gender bias." Moseley said today's Airmen have the honor to live up to their predecessors by "constantly looking for innovative ways to use air, space and cyber technologies to advance our nation's causes and defend our homeland." "America's Airmen are up to that challenge," Moseley said. "We have served this nation exceptionally-well in 60 years as an independent service and in 100 years of military air service. Thanks to our amazing Airmen, I'm confident that our successors will be able to say the same thing 60 and 100 years from now, and beyond, at this location."
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