ON GUARD AND ON THE OFFENSIVE

摘要

US President George W Bush has recently been defending his military career in the Texas Air National Guard (ANG) in the late 1960s, some sections of the media having indicated that they saw this as a way of avoiding service in Vietnam. Unfortunately, many people equate this as proof that the National Guard was used by people not wanting to fight in Southeast Asia. Few of these critics remember that during that war other Guard units served with distinction. Building on this tradition, Guard aircrew have played a vital role in all recent major military undertakings by the US, starting with the first Gulf War in 1991 through patrolling the no-fly zones over Iraq under Operations Northern Watch and Southern Watch, up to the more recent conflict and aftermath. In addition to this the ANG has been involved in Operations Provide Promise and Deny Flight in Bosnia, Allied Force in Yugoslavia and Operation Noble Eagle in defence of the homeland, as well as meeting continuing requirements for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and elsewhere. All these achievements were made possible by a thorough revamping of the Total Force Policy first promulgated in 1970 and implemented in 1973.