The struggle was most heated over the Air Guard’s fighter forces. Various press reports and public statements point to instances in which the BRAC panel sided with ANG and turned aside the Air Force’s plans. Examples: the Portland, Ore., ANG unit will not lose its F-15 fighters, as the Pentagon proposed, but will keep all of them and remain open; the Fort Smith, Ark., ANG unit wound up with 18 A-10 fighters, rather than none, as DOD proposed; the Great Falls, Mont., Guard unit will have 15 F-16s instead of none; the Duluth, Minn., ANG unit will keep 15 F-16s instead of none.
The FBI and the Army are screening all National Guard troops supporting the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration for signs of an insider threat to the proceedings, according to the National Guard Bureau. “If there’s any indication that any of our Soldiers or Airmen are expressing things that are extremist views,…