Air National Guard Flies B-2

I didn't know they would ever let ang units fly this.Surprises me...anyone might know why they would?I know the ang don't even carry bombers.

www.strategypage.com...

Why wouldn't they? Do you have any idea of how much of the ANG and Reserves make up the total mission of the USAF? Most of the tanker fleet, and a huge number of the fighter units are ANG/Reserve.

As for the ANG not having bombers, until recently they were flying B-1s and B-52s. The 184th at McConnell flew them from 1994-2001, when they retired all 33 and went to the KC-135R. Many ANG units have flown bombers, before transitioning back to something else. Usually because their aircraft were retired.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
Most of the tanker fleet, and a huge number of the fighter units are ANG/Reserve.

That's nothing. Do you know how much of the Airlift is done by the Guard/Reserve? I think we do 80% of the airlift.

At least. The Guard/Reserve does a HUGE portion of the USAF mission, so there's no reason why they couldn't fly the B-2 as well. There's even an RAF pilot that is a Mission Commander on the B-2s and has been for years.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
Why wouldn't they? Do you have any idea of how much of the ANG and Reserves make up the total mission of the USAF? Most of the tanker fleet, and a huge number of the fighter units are ANG/Reserve.

I guess that I've always thought that ANG units were in the background as well. You (or maybe it's just me!) never here of them on a regular basis.
The common thought that I've always had we that only the elite pilots flew the B-2
Glad to have a new way of looking at those guys now.
Thanks

You really don't, but let me give you a numbers breakdown to show you just how much the Guard/Reserve really does.


KC-135:
Active-187 Guard-217 Reserve-77

KC-10:
Active-59 Guard-0 Reserve-0

C-5:
Active-70 Guard-11 Reserve-28

C-130:
Active-186 Guard-222 Reserve-106

That doesn't count that they fly the E-8 JSTARS or any of the other missions they do. Those are only the "big" planes that you always hear about, and not getting into the fighters.

I wonder how the qualifications are for the reserves compared to that their active duty counter-parts.

They're exactly the same. You're still in the Air Force, just that you are only serving part time. Other than that the qualifications are identical. Many reservists are troops that got out earlier from active duty.

I was under the impression that the national guard units always received the 'older' equipment during their normal training and active duty time. If true then the B-2 must already be 'old' and replaced by something else. Of course I am probably wrong after reading a few previous posts.

The Missouri ANG has been a "sister" unit of the 509th for years now. The Guard DOES get a lot of older equipment, but not always. Many of the F-15s or F-16s they fly are older A/B models. But they were flying B-1s for years, and they were pretty recent birds. It all depends on what units give up the aircraft. Many of their C-130s aren't that old.

If the main role is defending the us by their title and also backup reserves for the Air force since the switch the ang here use to fly a10's then they switched to the f16.How would u defend a state or nation with just a a10?

Because not all ANG units are to defend the states. Most states have multiple ANG units, one of which is a fighter unit. Their primary mission is pretty much whatever is needed. If their only mission was to defend the state, you wouldn't have nearly as many units, and they wouldn't be flying trash haulers. They'd all be fighter units.

There can also be Reserve personnel in an Active Duty unit too.

Yes, like he said above, qualifications are the exact same, that goes for Guard and Reserve fighter pilots too. An F-16 pilot in national guard, flying part time, has to keep the same yearly currently on his skills as a full time person.

The days of the Air National Guard just getting the worn out older fighters has been over with for a while. I believe there are ANG pilots flying the F-22.

reply to post by Zaphod58


There are no A or B F-16 being flown in the US. The last one was retired a few months ago.