This is the Oregon Air National Guard base, pictured on April 9, 2024. Kristian Foden-Vencil / OPB Pilots will need training on the new planes, but staffing at the base isn’t expected to increase.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, director of the Air National Guard, speaks to airmen with the 124th Fighter Wing of the Idaho National Guard in August 2022.

Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the outgoing chief of the National Guard Bureau, said a proposal to transfer certain Air National Guard units into the Space Force could take away key resources from states.

As of March, the Air National Guard is about 7% shy of its recruiting goal for fiscal 2024, which ends Sept. 30, according to the Defense Department. In the previous year, ...