10 Interesting Things About The Michigan Air National Guard

How much do you know about Michigan's hometown Air Force?

1. History Favors the Strong

Michigan is the home to one of the oldest flying units in the Guard, the 107th Fighter Squadron. The squadron operated primarily as an aircraft maintenance unit in World War I. It was re-constituted in 1925, passed its first federal inspection in 1926 and has been flying ever since.

2. Biggest & Best

The 127th Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base is one of the biggest Air National Guard wings in the entire country. Most wings are assigned one type of aircraft; the 127th is one of only five wings in the nation with two aircraft assigned. The 127th flies the KC-135 Stratotanker and the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

3. Severe Weather Warning

Special Forces Airmen are assigned to the Michigan Air Guard. The 107th Special Operations Weather Team at Selfridge is assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command. The SOWT provides Airmen trained to be inserted into hostile areas and provide weather forecasting, allowing air power to be directed

4. Conspicuous Gallantry

A former Michigan Air Guardsman earned the Medal of Honor in World War II. Lt. Col. Addison E. Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor for his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity” during a bombing raid on oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, in 1943. Baker was a pilot with the 107th Observation Squadron in 1934-35. He then moved back to his native Ohio and joined the Guard there before being mobilized for World War II.

5. Michigan Six-Pack, Anyone?

The Guard is home to the Michigan Six-Pack. The 171st Air Refueling Squadron has been known by this refreshing nickname since the early 1970s, when the squadron was first assigned an aircraft known as the “Delta Dart” – the F-106.

6. Going Up North

Northern Michigan is home to two key airpower assets: the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center and the Grayling Air Gunnery Range. Among only four similar complexes in the nation, these facilities provide for integrated live-fire exercises for air, land and sea-based warfighters.

7. African Mission

Part of the command structure for the military’s African Command resides in Battle Creek. The 110th Air Operations Group is fully integrated into U.S. Africa Command, with Airmen providing direct support in the logistics, communications, planning and other operational aspects of the command, from Battle Creek, an operations center in Germany and in locations across Africa.

8. Homeland Defense on 9/11

Michigan Air National Guard fighter aircraft were in the air on Sept. 11, 2001, returning from a training mission in Grayling. Following news of the terror attacks, the aircraft quickly landed, re-fueled and took on a combat load of weapons and began to guard the sky over the Great Lakes region.

9. All Around the Mitten -- and Da U.P., Eh?

While the Michigan Air National Guard’s operations are primarily centered in metro Detroit (at Selfridge), Battle Creek and Alpena, Air Guardsmen live in every county in the state.

10. Ready to Serve

Michigan ANG aircraft deployed to the region around Iraq and Afghanistan more than a dozen times between 2001 and 2014. During that time, thousands of Michigan Airmen deployed to that region, many of them several times.