# Texas Air Nat'l Guard--why does Texas need fighter jets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460 "2004-09-14T19:55:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/1 "2004-09-14T19:55:29Z")
With all the talk about Bush’s service( and lack therefof) in the National Guard, I’ve never seen anybody tell me what he was supposed to be doing there. If he hadnt missed his physical exams, and if he had fulfilled all the obligations of keeping his flight status active, what duties where there for him to perfom in the first place? Or, basically, I’m asking :“so what is the National Guard, anyway?” I’ve always thought it’s a full-fledged branch of the army, except its commander-in-chief is the state’s governor.(unless overruled by the president . ) If the Guard is part of the army, why not just integrate it into the regular army?. And if it’s a state-level force,to maintain public order during earthquakes or mass riots, then why does it include the Air Force? Why pay millions to maintain jets and pilots who never do anything? Bush presumably used his family connections to get into the Nat’l Guard because he knew in advance that he wouldn’t be sent to Vietnam. (I knew people who volunteered for the Nat’l Guard for just that reason, praying that being an army truck driver in Louisiana would keep them out of the war) But what’s the logic of having Air Force units in the National Guard? . Why keep the best high-tech combat jets sitting on the ground in Texas, while a full-scale war is raging? When Bush took his pilot’s training, what duties was his unit expected to carry out? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/2 "2004-09-14T20:04:57Z")
\>Texas Air Nat’l Guard–why does Texas need fighter jets? So they can finally beat a Bob Stoops team. Go Sooners! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/3 "2004-09-14T20:05:20Z")
It’s so they can keep the King of Mexico out of their face! ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/4 "2004-09-14T20:15:55Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Why pay millions to maintain jets and pilots who never do anything? At the very least they stand by in case they might be needed some day to defend their country. That’s all that many armed forces in the world do. Whether this organization is optimal might be debatable, but the troops are there and at least in theory relieve the US forces of part of their homeland defense duties. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/5 "2004-09-14T20:18:15Z")
The National Guard serves two purposes concurrently: first, it acts as the militia of a state, responding to disasters, riots, and so on. Second, it is a reserve military force that can be called into Federal service by the President. When the National Guard serves the governor and his state, they have certain “powers” (for lack of a better word) that allow them to, say, police the streets after civil disorder, carry out anti-drug missions, and various other law enforcement like operations. The Federal government prohibits the Army from doing law enforcement operations. It’s called the Posse Comitatus Act, and the prohibition is in place because the British/American political thought generally holds that militaries are for defending the country, not policing our streets. The reason that the Army and the Army National Guard of the various states are not, strictly speaking, one entity is that the states want the National Guard to be free to respond to the call of a governor in times of emergency. You should also know that the National Guard does NOT get the best high-tech equipment, generally speaking (and specifically speaking in terms of Vietnam-era aircraft). They more or less get hand-me-downs from the active duty military. Air National Guard units, as I said before, can act as reserve forces for the active military, and ANG is often called upon to perform continental air defense missions, such as checking out suspicious aircraft entering US territory. You should also know that the role of the National Guard has changed dramatically in US military strategy since Vietnam. Back then, the Guard simply did not get called up. Today, we cannot deploy our military without large numbers of Guard and Reserves being called to duty. The basic idea is that the American people would “feel” the number of missing reservists from their communities, and that would make it harder for the President to get involved in a long war like Vietnam. (There are also budget issues, but we need not go into those right now.) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/6 "2004-09-14T20:27:15Z")
Texas Air National Guard jets kept our president safe on 9/11, when they provided the [escort service for Air Force One](http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:PwFLjVTEkOgJ:www.click2houston.com/news/2963507/detail.html+9/11+%22texas+national+guard%22+escort+%22air+force+one%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8): > [@](#): > > The Texas National Guard jets based there (Ellington) provided escort for Air Force One after terrorism attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. They also have patrolled the skies over Houston during times of heightened security alert or for special events, like the Super Bowl earlier this year. As mentioned, they’ve also guarded the Superbowl. In these troubled times, there’s really no telling when they might be needed for one thing or another. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/7 "2004-09-14T21:34:53Z")
Oklahoma and North Dakota ANG jets helped intercept and track Payne stewart’s charter flight until it crashed. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/8 "2004-09-14T21:41:19Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > You should also know that the role of the National Guard has changed dramatically in US military strategy since Vietnam. Back then, the Guard simply did not get called up. That’s not entirely true. Twenty Army National Guard units served in Vietnam, as did four Air National Guard units (120th Tactical Fighter Squadron[Colorado], 174th [Iowa], 188th[New Mexico] and the 136th[New York]) Other Air National Guard units went to Korea. It’s true that there wasn’t extensive Guard callups in Vietnam, but that’s different than saying it didn’t happen at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/9 "2004-09-14T21:58:30Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > It’s true that there wasn’t extensive Guard callups in Vietnam, but that’s different than saying it didn’t happen at all. That is precisely what I meant to say. 7,040 members of the Army National Guard served in Vietnam, all between May 1968 and December 1969. [Cite.](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arng-history.htm) A smaller number of Air National Guard were sent to Vietnam, as you stated. For comparison’s sake, 164,000 Guard _and_ Reserve are mobilized right now for Iraq, Afghanistan, the US, and elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-air-natl-guard-why-does-texas-need-fighter-jets/264460/10 "2004-09-15T05:12:53Z")
One reason for the Air National Guard is to save money. For units that are not needed at 100% strength during peacetime, it is cheaper to operate them as a reserve unit. It is also a good way of maintaining a pool of qualified pilots and other skilled personnel that can be called upon in an emergency.