The commander of the District of Columbia National Guard was Major General William J. Walker until he retired following his appointment as Sergeant-at-Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives in April, 2021.

District of Columbia ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized.

The 121st Observation Squadron was ordered into active service on 1 September 1941 as part of the buildup of the Army Air Corps prior to the United States entry into World War II.

[3] The modern DC ANG received federal recognition on 26 October 1946 as the 121st Fighter Squadron at Andrews Army Airfield, Maryland.

It was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of Washington, D.C. On 2 November 1946 the 113th Fighter Group was allotted by the National Guard Bureau, extended federal recognition and activated.

The unit's mission was to receive, maintain, and store equipment as well as provide trained personnel for the soon-to-be formed 231st Airways and Air Communications Squadron (Mobile) (which was to be stationed at Camp Simms, Washington, DC).

Customs officials had also scrambled a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and a UC-35B Cessna Citation jet at 11:47 a.m. to intercept the plane.

One senior Bush administration counter-terrorism official said it was ‘a real finger-biting period’ because they came very close to ordering a shot against a general aircraft.