The 105,400 men and women of the Air National Guard are “always on mission” despite being part-time airmen, said Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, Air Guard director, at AFA’s Air & Space Conference outside Washington, D.C., on Monday. Regardless of where they are deployed around the world, when they return home, “the very next day, they might have a tornado, fire, flood, earthquake, or something at home and they’ll be right back out” due to their domestic responsibilities, he said. “It’s amazing that we have individuals like this,” said Clarke. Others, too, have similar praise for Air Guard members, said Clarke, noting that a four-star admiral said he “gets more out of a special tactics squadron from the Air National Guard than anybody else” within US Special Operations Command. “That is a heck of a compliment,” said Clarke.
U.S. munitions have been expended at a high rate during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, prompting concerns that the Pentagon is eating into weapons stockpiles it needs to deter threats around the world. Yet the newly released $1.5 trillion defense budget request was developed before the war against Iran and…