South Carolina Air National Guard

South Carolina Air National Guard
157th Fighter Squadron F-16C Fighting Falcon Block 52 aircraft flies next to a Lockheed C-130H-LM Hercules from the 169th Operations Support Flight, 169th Fighter Wing. The 157th is the oldest unit in the South Carolina Air National Guard, having over 50 years of service to the state and nation
Active	9 December 1946 - present
Country	United States
Allegiance	South Carolina
Branch	Air National Guard
Role	"To meet state and federal mission responsibilities."
Part of	South Carolina National Guard United States National Guard Bureau
Garrison/HQ	South Carolina Air National Guard, 1 National Guard Road, Columbia, South Carolina, 29201
Commanders
Civilian leadership	President Donald Trump (Commander-in-Chief) Deborah Lee James (Secretary of the Air Force) Governor Nikki Haley (Governor of the State of South Carolina)
State military leadership	Major General Robert E. Livingston, Jr.
Insignia
Emblem of the South Carolina Air National Guard
Aircraft flown
Fighter	F-16C/D Fighting Falcon
Transport	C-130H Hercules

The South Carolina Air National Guard (SC ANG) is the air force component of the State of South Carolina, United States of America. It is, along with the South Carolina Army National Guard, an element of the South Carolina National Guard.

As state military units, the units in the South Carolina Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of South Carolina though the office of the South Carolina Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The South Carolina Air National Guard is headquartered in Columbia, and its commander is Major General Robert E. Livingston, Jr.

Under the "Total Force" concept, South Carolina Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components (ARC) of the United States Air Force (USAF). South Carolina ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. In addition, the South Carolina Air National Guard forces are assigned to Air Expeditionary Forces and are subject to deployment tasking orders along with their active duty and Air Force Reserve counterparts in their assigned cycle deployment window.

Along with their federal reserve obligations, as state military units the elements of the South Carolina ANG are subject to being activated by order of the Governor to provide protection of life and property, and preserve peace, order and public safety. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of vital public services, and support to civil defense.

Air National Guard Element, JFHQ-SC

Support Unit Functions and Capabilities:

On 24 May 1946, the United States Army Air Forces, in response to dramatic postwar military budget cuts imposed by President Harry S. Truman, allocated inactive unit designations to the National Guard Bureau for the formation of an Air Force National Guard. These unit designations were allotted and transferred to various State National Guard bureaus to provide them unit designations to re-establish them as Air National Guard units.