Fresno Air National Guard Base Fresno Air National Guard Base is the home base of the California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing . Overview . The Fresno Air National Guard Base in California is home to the 144th Fighter Wing . The 144th Fighter Wing ( FW ) of the California Air National Guard occupies two separate parcels of land ( the main base area and the Munitions Storage Area ) totaling of leased land on the Fresno Yosemite International Airport ( formerly named Fresno Air Terminal ) , located approximately east of downtown Fresno , California . Operationally gained by the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) , the mission of the 144th FW is to provide air defense protection for California from the Mexican border to Oregon utilizing F - 16 Fighting Falcon aircraft . The 144th FW occupies six administrative , 16 industrial and two services buildings totaling approximately with 325 full - time personnel , primarily Active Guard and Reserve ( AGR ) and Air Reserve Technician ( ART ) personnel . A unit training drill is conducted once a month and results in a surge of up to a total of 990 personnel when " traditional " part - time air national guardsmen are included . The part - time personnel , particularly pilots , also perform additional drills , additional flying training periods and / or additional active duty every month throughout the year . The Composite Support Facility , completed in late 2001 , added an additional of building area . The 144th FW occupies 6 administrative , 16 industrial and 2 services buildings totaling approximately with 325 full - time personnel . A unit training drill is conducted once a month and results in a surge of up to a total of 990 personnel . There is currently an ongoing construction project ( Composite Support Facility ) , which when completed by the end of FY 2001 , will add an additional of building area . In addition to its Fresno ANGB facility , the 144 FW also maintains a permanent F - 16 alert detachment / operating location ( OL ) at March Air Reserve Base , near Riverside , California . The California Army National Guard [ CAARNG ] aviation units are based at the Mather Army Aviation Support Facility ( AASF ) located at the former Mather Air Force Base ( AFB ) in Sacramento , the California Aviation Classification Repair Depot ( AVCRAD ) in Fresno , the AASF in Stockton , and the Armed Forces Reserve Center ( AFRC ) in Los Alamitos . All sites include hangar facilities , aircraft parking aprons , and armories . The 1106th AVCRAD ' s mission is to provide aircraft support to the National Guard ' s aviation units of thirteen western states . It performs the highest level of maintenance possible on Army aircraft . History . Hammer Field , Fresno County , Fresno , California , also known as Fresno Air Base and previously known as Fresno Air Field and Municipal Airport at Fresno , was located northeast of Fresno . The Army Air Force acquired this area for the Airways Detachment to set up a sub - base of Camp Pinedale for an extension of ordnance storage facilities and additional land for housing construction , an Army Air Forces regional hospital , laundry , drainage facilities , cold storage , fire station , school building , rifle ranges , high tower shot gun range , motor pool areas , chemical warfare storage area , a concrete underground igloo magazine arms storage . Known Army Air Force units at Hammer Field were : Night Fighter Training . On 1 January 1944 , the Army Air Forces Night Fighter School was reassigned from the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Airfield , Florida to IV Fighter Command . The 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group ( NFOTG ) was moved to Hammer Field on 30 January . The group operated a combination of modified Douglas A - 20 Havoc s for night fighter operations , designated P - 70 , and brand - new prototype YP - 61 Black Widow purpose - built night fighters manufactured by Northrup in Hawthorne , California . Along with the headquarters and main base at Hammer Field , other auxiliary fields used by the 481st NFOTG operated from : The 348th Night Fighter Squadron was the Operational Training Unit ( OTU ) under the 481st which provided instructional training to new pilots . Newly manufactured aircraft were transferred from Northrup at Hawthorne to the newly formed operational squadrons at Hammer Field prior to their deployment to the overseas combat theaters . When the school moved from Florida , the 425th Night Fighter Squadron was in training at Orlando AAF . It was reassigned initially to Hammer Field on 30 January 1944 , and was further reassigned to Visalia AAF on 25 February . It eventually was deployed to England in May . Night Fighter Squadrons which were formed and / or trained at Hammer Field were : With the 550th NFS deploying to the Pacific in December 1944 , the 481st NFOG was inactivated . It was replaced by the 450th Army Air Forces Base Unit ( AAFBU ) , and the mission of Hammer Field and the Night Fighter Training School became Replacement Pilot Training ( RTU ) . The 450th was made up of a number of lettered squadrons , which were expressed as the 450th AAFBU ( A Squadron ) , and so on . These replacement training squadrons operated at the same airfields as was used by the 481st NFOG in the San Joaquin Valley . The 441st AAFBU provided gunnery training from Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley and the 403d AAFBU at Hammer Field provided ground training for support personnel . All of these Army Air Force Base Units were under the operational control of the IV Fighter Command 319th Wing , headquartered at Hammer Field . The 319th Wing concluded its training of replacement pilots in May 1945 and operations at the airfield were phased down to a standby status . The 319th was moved to San Francisco in September 1945 taking over the air defense mission of the San Francisco Air Defense Region . Postwar use . With the end of the war in September 1945 , Hammer Field was inactivated and was disposed of though the War Assets Administration ( WAA ) . By 1949 the facility was completely in civil hands ; the sources included the city of Fresno ( 804 . 59 acres by lease ) , 21 individual landowners ( 781 . 96 acres by fee and by lease ) , easement right - of - ways ( 1 . 42 acres ) and permit ( 1 . 64 acres ) . In 1943 , the lease on was terminated . In 1945 and 1946 , the leases for and were terminated , respectively . Effective January 15 , 1947 , were reassigned for the Hammer Field National Guard training area . In 1948 , were quitclaimed and the lease on was transferred to the city of Fresno . In 1948 and 1949 , were quitclaimed to the state of California . In 1945 and 1946 , the leases for and were terminated , respectively . Effective January 15 , 1947 , were reassigned for the Hammer Field National Guard training area . In 1948 , were quitclaimed and the lease on were transferred to the City of Fresno . In 1948 and 1949 , were quitclaimed to the State of California .