The military defense of Puerto Rico is the responsibility of the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris. Locally, Puerto Rico has its own National Guard, the Puerto Rico National Guard, and its own state defense force, the Puerto Rico State Guard, which, by local law, is under the authority of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The commander-in-chief of both forces is the governor of Puerto Rico, currently Pedro Pierluisi, who delegates his authority to the Puerto Rico Adjutant General, currently Major General José J. Reyes. The Adjutant General, in turn, delegates the authority over the State Guard to another officer but retains the authority over the Puerto Rico National Guard as a whole. At the national level, the commander-in-chief is the President of the United States, currently Joe Biden.
In the United States, state defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. State defense forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state, ,.
Major General Orlando Llenza was the second Puerto Rican to reach the rank of Major General in the United States Air Force. Llenza served as commander of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard (PRANG).
Buckley Space Force Base is a United States Space Force base in Aurora, Colorado named after United States Army Air Service First Lieutenant John Harold Buckley. The base is run by Space Base Delta 2, with major units including the U.S. Space Force's Space Delta 4, the Colorado Air National Guard's 140th Wing, the Denver Naval Operations Support Center, and the National Reconnaissance Office's Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado.
Colonel Héctor Andrés Negroni is a United States Air Force officer, historian, senior aerospace defense executive, author, and the first Puerto Rican graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He was commissioned by Spain's Fifth Centennial Commission to write the "Historia Militar de Puerto Rico".
The Puerto Rico National Guard (PRNG) –Spanish: Guardia Nacional de Puerto Rico– is the national guard of the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions, which includes to provide soldiers and airmen to the United States Army and U.S. Air Force in national emergencies or when requested by the president of the United States, and to perform military operations at the state level or any other lawful service as requested by the governor of Puerto Rico. The PRNG responds to the governor of Puerto Rico, who serves as its commander in chief and imparts orders with the Puerto Rico adjutant general acting as conduit, and its local mission is to respond as requested in military or civilian tasks. Abroad, its main function is to train a reserve capable of providing additional personnel in a war scenario.
The structure of the United States Air Force refers to the unit designators and organizational hierarchy of the United States Air Force, which starts at the most senior commands.
Muñiz Air National Guard Base is the home base for the Puerto Rico Air National Guard. This installation is located within the grounds of Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico 14 km east of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rico Air National Guard(PR ANG) —Spanish: Guardia Nacional Aérea de Puerto Rico— is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. It is, along with the Puerto Rico Army National Guard and the Puerto Rico State Guard, an element of the Puerto Rico National Guard. After beginning as four units, the PRANG expanded to 11 units by the 1980s, including the 1956th Tactics Combat Group, the 140th Radar Squadron and others.
The 156th Wing is a unit of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, stationed at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. If activated to federal service with the United States Air Force, the wing is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC).
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes members from all backgrounds. The program is established as an organization by Title 10 of the United States Code and its purposes defined by Title 36.
The North Carolina Air National Guard (NCANG) is the aerial militia of the State of North Carolina, United States of America. It is, along with the North Carolina Army National Guard, an element of the North Carolina National Guard.
The 156th Airlift Squadron is a unit of the North Carolina Air National Guard 145th Airlift Wing. It is assigned to Charlotte Air National Guard Base, North Carolina and is equipped with the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.
The 198th Airlift Squadron was the last flying squadron of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard (PRANG) 156th Airlift Wing located at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The 198th last assigned aircraft was the WC-130H Hercules. The 198th was established in October 1944 as the 463d Fighter Squadron, was re-designated as the 198th and allotted to the PRANG in May 1946, redesignated from fighter to airlift in October 1998, and was inactivated on 31 December 2019.
Brigadier General Hector E. Pagan is a United States Army officer who is the first Hispanic of Puerto Rican descent to become Deputy Commanding General of the U.S.Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The Puerto Rico State Guard (PRSG) —Spanish: Guardia Estatal de Puerto Rico— is the state defense force of Puerto Rico that operates under the sole authority of the governor of Puerto Rico who, in turn, delegates such authority to the Puerto Rico Adjutant General. The Guard's secondary purpose is to assume the state mission of the Puerto Rico National Guard in the event that the National Guard is mobilized. The first incarnation of the PRSG was created in 1941 in response to World War II and it disbanded in 1946. The PRSG was revived in 1971 and has remained in continuous existence since then. The PRSG is one of the few state defense forces of the United States that has an air division.
Brigadier General Alberto A. Nido is a former United States Air Force officer who during World War II served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, the British Royal Air Force and in the United States Army Air Forces. He was also the co-founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard.
Brigadier General José M. Portela (Ret.),, is a retired officer of the United States Air Force who recently retired from the position of Assistant Adjutant General for Air, which he held while also serving as commander of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard. In 1972, Portela became the youngest C-141 Starlifter aircraft commander and captain at age 22. Portela is also the only reservist ever to serve as director of mobility forces for Bosnia. He is also the first native of Puerto Rico to hold the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve.
Lieutenant Colonel José Antonio Muñiz was a United States Air Force officer who during World War II served in the United States Army Air Forces. He co-founded the Puerto Rico Air National Guard together with then-Colonels Alberto A. Nido and Mihiel Gilormini. In 1963, the Air National Guard Base, at the San Juan International Airport in Puerto Rico, was renamed "Muñiz Air National Guard Base" in his honor.
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