United States Air National Guard The Air National Guard ( ANG ) , often referred to as the Air Guard , is an air force militia and a reserve component of the United States Air Force . Air National Guard organizations are organized by each of the fifty U . S . states , the commonwealth of Puerto Rico , the territories of Guam and the U . S . Virgin Islands , and the District of Columbia of the United States . Each state , the District of Columbia and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico each have a minimum of one ANG flying unit with either assigned aircraft or aircraft shared with a unit of the active duty Air Force under an " Associate " arrangement . The ANG of the territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands have no aircraft assigned and perform ground support functions . Air National Guard activities may be located on active duty air force bases , air reserve bases , naval air stations / joint reserve bases , or air national guard bases and stations which are either independent military facilities or collocated as tenants on civilian - controlled joint civil - military airports . Overview . Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U . S . Code , the Air National Guard is part of the state National Guard and is divided up into units stationed in each of the 50 states and U . S . territories and operates under their respective state governor or territorial government . The Air National Guard may be called up for active duty by the state governors or territorial commanding generals to help respond to domestic emergencies and disasters , such as those caused by hurricanes , floods , fires , and earthquakes . With the consent of state governors , members or units of the Air National Guard may be appointed , temporarily or indefinitely , to be federally recognizedmembers of the armed forces , in the active or inactive service of the United States . If federally recognized , the member or unit becomes part of theAir National Guard of the United States , which is one of two reserve component of the United States Air Force , and part of the National Guard of the United States . Because both state Air National Guard and the Air National Guard of the United States relatively go hand - in - hand , they are both usually referred to as just Air National Guard . Air National Guard of the United States units or members may be called up for federal active duty in times of Congressionally sanctioned war or national emergency . The President may also call up members and units of state Air National Guard using a process called " federalization " , with the consent of state governors , to repel invasion , suppress rebellion , or execute federal laws if the United States or any of its states or territories are invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation , or if there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the federal government , or if the President is unable to execute the laws of the United States with the regular armed forces . The United States Air National Guard has about 110 , 000 men and women in service . Like the Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) , the ANG is often described as a " reserve " force of " part - time airmen , " although the demands of maintaining modern aircraft mean that many AFRC and ANG members work full - time , either as full - time Air Reserve Technicians ( ART ) or Active Guard and Reserve ( AGR ) personnel . Even traditional part - time air guardsmen , especially pilots , navigators / combat systems officers , air battle managers and enlisted aircrew , often serve 100 or more man - days annually . As such , the concept of Air National Guard service as representing only " one weekend a month and two weeks a year " is not necessarily valid . Many ANG pilots work for commercial airlines , but in the ANG they may train to fly any of the aircraft in the USAF inventory , with the current exception of the B - 1B Lancer bomber and the AC - 130 Gunship . The Georgia Air National Guard and the Kansas Air National Guard previously flew the B - 1B Lancer prior to converting to the E - 8 Joint STARS and KC - 135R Stratotanker , respectively . In addition , the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard recently transitioned from flying the F - 15C / D Eagle at St . Louis International Airport / Lambert Field Air National Guard Station to the B - 2 Spirit at Whiteman AFB as an " Associate " unit and re - designated as the 131st Bomb Wing . In 2012 , General Norton A . Schwartz , the then - Chief of Staff of the Air Force , defended cutting nearly twice as many service members from the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve as from the active duty USAF , in order to maintain the service ' s surge and rotational capabilities in the active duty Regular Air Force .