Air Force Times reports that “of all the organizations that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, impacted, it may have affected the greatest change on the National Guard, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said.”

“’There’s no single institution that has been transformed in the last 15 years as much, I think, as the National Guard has been transformed,’ said James, speaking Saturday to the National Guard Association of the United States annual conference.”

“Once considered to be a back-up for the active component, the Guard has instead become an integral part of military operations worldwide, the secretary said.”