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The Air National Guard’s most important asset is not its fifth-generation fighters, state-of-the-art tankers, or its cyber and space capabilities. Its greatest strength lies instead with its individual airmen.
That proclamation was made Saturday by Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, the new director of the Air National Guard, during the 142nd General Conference.
The majority of Guard airmen are M-day or “traditional” Guardsmen, Loh said. And because of that, he will “advocate for policies and programs with the drill-status Guard member in mind. Their requirements, their needs.”
Loh recognized ongoing efforts to fight COVID-19, protect citizens during periods of civil unrest and safeguard local and state elections.
Much of the civil unrest that occurred this year is due to racial issues. Loh stated it was necessary for the Air Guard to hold “difficult but necessary” discussions on diversity and inclusion and committed to “fostering an environment where airmen feel safe and genuinely feel they are a valued member of our force.”
Meanwhile, Loh made clear that his opinion on a potential Space National Guard has not changed with his new job. As the adjutant general of Colorado, he advocated for such a force, which does not yet exist within the fledgling Space Force.
Loh again advocated for such a force, but this time did so in his new role as Air Guard director.
“We’ve been in the space mission for over 25 years in key mission areas for our United States Space Force, so our airmen aren’t going to stop those mission areas,” he said.
Loh pointed to the California Air Guard’s recent missions operating both the Military Strategic and Tactical Relay, better known as MilStar, and Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite constellations as proof of the deep depth of space expertise in the Air Guard.
Guard units also play a key role in nuclear missile detection and currently possess the only mobile missile-detection system in the Defense Department, he said.
As Air Force units begin to transfer into the Space Force, Loh said he is concerned that many airmen currently working on space operations “will be left orphaned” due to a culture shift.
“As the Space Force sets its own culture, we absolutely need to take our Air National Guard space professionals with it,” he said.
In addition to lauding Air Guardsmen, Loh also spoke of the importance of acquiring new equipment for them to operate, specifically the F-35 Lightning II fighter, the KC-46 Pegasus tanker and the F-15EX fighter.
“It starts with, very simply, the force structure that we have today, and how do we ensure that force structure is lethal and survivable, and then how do we recapitalize that force structure to make sure we are interoperable with the joint team,” said Loh, adding “You look at the F-35 and the F-15EX, and we need to make sure we take care of these units and that we are absolutely ready when the nation calls.”
