The Colorado Air National Guard passes the century mark this month, with its heritage stretching back to the earliest days of military aviation. As the 140th Wing of the Colorado Guard — based at Buckley Space Force Base — celebrates this milestone, and looks back on its history of achievements, the question before Colorado and the country is what the future truly holds for this storied pillar of our national defense.

Most Coloradans have heard their thunder and glimpsed their shining metal, perhaps taking their protection for granted. We shouldn’t, because those jets might disappear from our skies, unless we act to ensure that this unit is modernized.

To remain relevant and integral to our nation’s defense, the 140th needs a modern fighter aircraft because its F-16 fighters will sunset in only five years. Its jets are more than 34-years-old — older than most of the pilots who fly them. After thousands of flight hours, these airframes have battle fatigue. Their pilots do not. These Colorado airmen perform a wide range of air combat missions while supporting multinational joint overseas operations and exercises in support of our national defense strategy. The 140th is also on alert 24/7 to protect America from airborne threats. They are our first responders.

Historic mission

Why do we, as a nation, need a Colorado Air National Guard? It’s a time-tested way to provide a reserve capability to our Air Force to assure we have the forces needed to deter our enemies. Beginning with the Colonial Militia in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, the citizen-soldier has been the backbone of a military that has proven to be unlike any other in the history of the world. When you fight for your home (as we are seeing in Ukraine), you are unstoppable.

As a reserve of the Air Force, the 110,000 members of the Air National Guard, serving in every state and territory, have provided our nation a vital surge capability throughout that century of service we celebrate today. That surge capability has been called upon time and again, and our history is replete with examples of the difference it has made.

Our nation must provide new aircraft to Colorado’s top-rated unit today. We can do that using resources and technology that we have. Yet that is not happening.

Without next-generation aircraft to fly, the readiness of the pilots and maintenance crews at Buckley, built through countless hours of training and wartime missions, will be lost to our nation. If the Air Force decides to end the flying mission, we will significantly diminish our air combat capability at a moment when Russia is at war in Europe and China is emerging as a threatening force. This would compromise our ability to deter those belligerents, putting our National Security at risk. We’d lose a cost-effective fighter force and millions of federal dollars and thousands of jobs from our Colorado economy upon which we depend.

Members of the Colorado Guard, who were first in the nation to assume the responsibilities of a national space mission, are also in limbo due to the delay in the establishment of a Space National Guard though we again have the resources in hand now to preserve and enhance this capability. Nationally, the Air Guard space operators are orphaned in the Air Force because they are not aligned with the Space Force. About 300 of these airmen work at Greeley Air National Guard Base and Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs. Their service to U.S. taxpayers costs a fraction of what Active component Space Guardians would cost.

Readiness at risk

Altogether, more than 1,600 highly trained and experienced citizen-airmen in Colorado face remissioning or possibly the end of their military service. Five years ago, this happened to 30 airmen serving in the Colorado Guard’s 200th Airlift Squadron, based at Peterson, when the Air Force deactivated the unit. Their C-21s and their mission are now gone. The aircraft that replaced them, based in Omaha, Neb., have added a significant and unnecessary cost to provide an identical mission capability.

“The COANG has faithfully served our nation for a century. We owe it to our citizen-airmen to give them the opportunity to continue this legacy and their dedicated service to our state and nation,” said 140th Wing Commander Col. Jeremiah Tucker.

To understand how losing either or both of Colorado Air Guard’s fighter or space missions and the expertise of the professionals who serve in those units would prove too great a loss to our state and nation, we gain perspective through the lens of history.

It was the golden age of aviation. World War I had been over for five years, but the lessons remained, which included the benefits of airpower. The War Department began to assign flying units to National Guard units across the nation since the regular Army had too few of these types of units. Part-time soldiers provided a cheaper solution than full-time troops just as they do today.

Roots run deep

The 120th Observation Squadron, 45th Division Air Service, Colorado National Guard, mustered into state service June 27, 1923, as the first unit of its kind, either regular or reserve, in Colorado.

In the beginning, they had no aircraft, no equipment, no facilities, and no flight line. By the following year, they had an airfield and two hangars, and the installation had a name: Lowry Field, a tribute to 2nd Lt. Francis Lowry, shot down and killed in France in 1918. The original Lowry Field lay east of Park Hill Golf Course in Denver. Soon afterwards, Curtis JNSE “Jenny” aircraft, biplanes made of unassembled wood and canvas parts, arrived by rail. People expressed concern that the aircraft were underpowered and would not be able to fly above the altitude of the airfield. The 120th got them to fly. Because of the turbulent air, its pilots had to fly during sunup and sundown. Things only got better. In 1940, the unit won the Sherburne Trophy, given to the most efficient National Guard squadron.

Not only the military felt the unit’s impact. 120th pilots advanced aviation in our state through air demonstrations and books about aerial navigation that furthered public interest. They helped our communities during emergencies with mercy missions delivering medicines to remote areas of our state.

Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, National Guard squadrons were on full war alert. The 120th had been activated for federal service by 1941. Squadron members performed missions across the world, as far afield as Asia. Many commanded units, others flying and maintaining aircraft during World War II. Two of the airmen became the first flying sergeants to arrive in England. 12 made the ultimate sacrifice during the war.

Turning point

Rapid demobilization after the war shrank the Army Air Forces so much that the air component of the National Guard gained importance. This led to a reorganization of these National Guard units.

In anticipation of the formation of the Air Force as a separate service, the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron became the first National Guard flying squadron in the nation to receive federal recognition June 30, 1946. The airmen again started from scratch with no equipment and no permanent base. They began training at the National Guard Armory on Logan Street in Denver. By 1946, they had secured an aircraft hangar for their North American F-51D Mustangs and support aircraft at Buckley Field east of Denver. The Army had named the installation after 1st Lt. John Harold Buckley, a World War I flier from Longmont who was killed in action. A year later, the base became U.S. Naval Air Station Denver. The Colorado Air Guard would continue to use the base for another 75 years.

The 120th maintained its close connection with the community through military support to events as well as emergency response operations such as the search for aircraft missing in Colorado’s high country. During the blizzard of 1949, the Air Guard dropped hay to stranded cattle throughout the region using its C-47 transports. The 120th would later innovate this type of response during the blizzard of 2005 by using targeting pods on its F-16 fighter jets to locate cattle trapped in snow drifts followed by the Colorado Army National Guard dropping hay from helicopters.

In 1950, the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron was incorporated into the 140th Fighter Wing, based at Buckley. This reduced officer staffing levels. When the Korean War began, 1,500 members of the 140th mobilized. Over just two months, those airmen reactivated the old field at Clovis, New Mexico, now known as Cannon Air Force Base. 120th pilots flew nearly 200 missions in the combat zone in Korea. Their F-51s guided fighter aircraft to their targets. The unit’s North American T-6 Texans performed reconnaissance. Colorado Guard pilots also flew North American F-86 Sabres during dogfights in MiG Alley over the northwestern portion of North Korea.

After the Korean War, the 120th received Lockheed F-80C Shooting Stars, ushering the unit into the jet age. By 1955, the unit transitioned to an air defense mission and focused on air-to-air combat.

Added to the Colorado Guard in the late 1950s, the 138th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, formed in Greeley, manned a 24-hour operational Air Defense Detection Center, filling a radar coverage hole in the western part of the U.S. Before this addition of this unit, fighter pilots would have to fly around for hours looking for unknown aircraft. The 138th could determine an aircraft’s direction, speed and altitude within a few minutes and control scrambled fighters all the way to the target. Typical of the National Guard, the Colorado unit operated the station with a third the number of people needed by a regular Air Force unit.

Buckley reborn

Buckley Field became Buckley Air National Guard Base in 1960, marking the first time that an Air Guard unit operated a base during peacetime. The Air Force moved all transient aircraft servicing from Lowry to Buckley as Lowry approached the closure of its runways. Later that year, Buckley Base Commander Maj. Gen. Joe C. Moffitt, a World War II combat veteran, became the first rated Air Guard officer to serve as a state adjutant general. The 120th had enlisted the former Colorado farm hand in 1932.

In 1961, the Berlin crisis unfolded. The 140th was activated as an in-place Ready Reserve unit. By that time, the 140th flew North American F-100C Super Sabres with a landing speed at Buckley of 200 mph.

As if they had a premonition, they painted their F-100s with camouflage markings just before the Pueblo Incident in 1968 when North Korea captured a U.S. naval intelligence ship. America was already four years into the Vietnam War. Nine hundred 140th airmen were called up to back America’s demand for the safe return of the USS Pueblo crew. Some 140th members were sent to augment operations at Lowry. The 120th became the first Air National Guard unit to arrive in Vietnam and the first to generate combat sorties — only two days later. The 140th Tactical Hospital and Communications Flight also deployed to Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam. The 140th made history again as the first ANG organization to be called to combat duty as an entire unit. Two Colorado Air Guardsmen, one pilot and one intelligence officer, were killed in action. A year later, the unit returned to Colorado, receiving the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with a “V” device for valor.

The wing deployed to Turkey for a NATO Exercise in 1979 becoming the first Air Guard unit to deploy under “bare base” conditions, being provided with only a runway and a water supply. Many more deployments to Turkey and other NATO countries would follow, building critical interoperability with our allies as our nation fought the Cold War.

When the Air Force reestablished its world-wide air to ground gunnery competition in 1983, the team from the Colorado Air Guard won it all, including the Top Gun award, beating all other active and reserve entries.

Units of the 140th Wing, its Security Police Flight and Tactical Hospital, were called to Active Duty for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. Fourteen of the A-7s and more than 200 airmen saw service during Desert Storm.

F-16s fly in

Recognizing its vital contribution to our nation’s defense, the Air Force, in 1991, again modernized the Colorado Guard with the General Dynamics F-16C/D Fighting Falcons. By then, Colorado pilots had flown the subsonic A-7 for about 20 years. The F-16 Block 30 model, nicknamed “Big Mouth,” had a larger engine and more avionics capability than most other F-16s. These fighters were multi-role, for either air-to-air or air-to-ground attack. Then Maj. John “Buck” Buckingham was one of the pilots in charge of the transition. He called it trading in a Mack truck for a Lamborghini. Conversion involved training pilots and maintenance personnel, modifying and building new facilities, and procuring equipment.

“It felt tremendous,” Buckingham said about his first flight in the F-16, which could reach a speed of 1,200 mph, twice the speed of sound.

The 140th returned to Turkey to participate in Operation Provide Comfort I and II, succeeded by Operation Northern Watch, a joint force operation to protect the Kurdish people in Iraq by enforcing the no-fly zone over northern Iraq. The unit also deployed for Operation Southern Watch also over Iraq.

Despite these ongoing operations, military downsizing occurred in the mid-1990s. The 154th Air Control Group, as it was then known, deactivated. The 137th Space Warning Squadron replaced the 138th Air Control Squadron at Greeley Air National Guard Station and became the first National Guard unit to support Air Force Space Command in 1996. Nearly three decades later, the 137th provides our nation the only survivable and endurable mobile missile warning and nuclear detonation detection capability. Colorado Guard space capabilities further expanded when the 138th Space Control Squadron at Peterson Space Force Base activated in 2020, providing a deployable and cutting-edge electromagnetic warfare capability.

Recognizing the growing missions and importance to the nation, the Guard turned Buckley over to the Air Force. Buckley became an Air Force base. The Colorado Guard retained its oversight of the busy airfield and services to transient aircraft as it does today as a tenant unit.

9-11 events

The events of 9-11 were a national tragedy and the dawn of a new reality for every American. Remember hearing and seeing only the F-16s overhead? After the airborne attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, when every aircraft became a potential threat, 140th pilots launched from Buckley, armed with only training bullets and determination to defend Colorado. Four F-16 pilots and their ground crews supported combat air patrols during the first 52 hours. More than 200 members mobilized.

Brig. Gen. Wayne Schultz was wing commander on that fateful day. A world Top Gun pilot, he led the wing through 24/7 operations while encountering a battlefield of unknowns.

“In the evening the day after the attacks, I walked out on the flight line and looked around. Normally I would see 15-20 airliners in the sky approaching Denver International Airport. There were none,” Schultz said.

“The only sound I heard was the faint drone of our fighters in orbit over the Front Range. Apparently, I was not alone.”

What our nation dubbed Operation Noble Eagle had begun and continues today, an important deterrent to our adversaries. The 140th still sits alert.

“I don’t think the mission will ever go away,” Buckingham said.

The mission continues

Since 9-11, Colorado airmen have deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn, Inherent Resolve, and other overseas contingency operations in support of U.S. combatant commands around the world.

The men and women of the 140th have dutifully and flexibly responded with combat-ready forces to the full spectrum of conflicts, from terrorism to war. The Colorado Air National Guard has never failed to answer the call either with individual volunteers, tailored packages of airmen and equipment, complete air expeditionary units, and now agile combat employment teams which can set up and operate just about anywhere.

These airmen have also assisted our communities and state through emergencies like a cyberattack, extreme weather events, wildfires, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Colorado Air National Guard’s 100-year history traces the evolution of military aviation in our country from biplanes to the high-performance fighter jets of today. Every time they have been called upon, the airmen of the Colorado Guard have proven their value to our state and nation. As citizens of this nation and of the state of Colorado, we must act to ensure the units of our Colorado Air Guard are properly equipped and funded to provide fighter and space capabilities required for our nation to deter would be aggressors.

Hopefully, our COANG airmen do not return to the situation that their predecessors faced a century ago when they had no aircraft and no equipment to perform their mission. This time around, our nation would have something to say about that.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Andy Love spent 37 years in the uniform of the Air Force, a significant portion of which was in the National Guard. He lives in Colorado. Elena O’Bryan is the state public affairs officer for the Colorado National Guard.