The National Guard Bureau is located in Washington DC and is a joint command operated by the United States Department of the Army and The United States Department of the Air Force to conduct all the administrative matters pertaining to the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. It is headed by a Chief of the National Guard who is usually a Lieutenant General. The Chief is appointed by the President in his capacity as Commander in Chief. ... Seal The Department of the Army is one of the three military departments in the United States Department of Defense. ... Seal The United States Department of the Air Force was formed in 1949 and is a component agency of the United States Department of Defense. ... The United States National Guard is a significant component of the United States armed forces military reserve. ... Jump to: navigation, search Shield of the United States Air National Guard In the U.S. military, the Air National Guard (ANG), as part of the National Guard, is the organized militia of a particular U.S. state and is a reserve component of the U.S. Air Force (USAF... Jump to: navigation, search Commander-in-Chief is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces of a state. ...