From left: U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak, deputy director, Air National Guard (ANG), speaks during a panel alongside Lt. Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, commander, Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region – 1st Air Force (U.S. Air Forces Northern and U.S. Air Forces Space), and retired Gen. James M. Holmes, former commander, Air Combat Command, at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in the National Harbor, Maryland, Sep. 13, 2023. During the panel, titled “The Fighter Shortage and Homeland Defense,” Pirak discussed how recapitalizing existing ANG fighter squadrons can address the fighter aircraft shortage across the Total Force. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan)

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, right, commander, Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region – 1st Air Force (U.S. Air Forces Northern and U.S. Air Forces Space), speaks during a panel alongside Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak, left, deputy director, Air National Guard, and retired Gen. James M. Holmes, former commander, Air Combat Command, at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in the National Harbor, Maryland, Sep. 13, 2023. During the panel, Nordhaus and Pirak discussed the shortfall of fighter aircraft across the Total Force and its impact on homeland defense. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan)

U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, center, commander, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, is presented the H. H. Arnold Award by the Air & Space Forces Association at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in the National Harbor, Maryland, Sep. 13, 2023. The award is the Air & Space Forces Association’s highest honor for military members in the field of national security. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan)

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak, deputy director, Air National Guard (ANG), speaks during a panel at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in the National Harbor, Maryland, Sep. 13, 2023. During the panel, titled “The Fighter Shortage and Homeland Defense,” Pirak discussed how recapitalizing existing ANG fighter squadrons can address the fighter aircraft shortage across the Total Force. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan)

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak, deputy director, Air National Guard (ANG), speaks during a panel at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in the National Harbor, Maryland, Sep. 13, 2023. During the panel, titled “The Fighter Shortage and Homeland Defense,” Pirak discussed how recapitalizing existing ANG fighter squadrons can address the fighter aircraft shortage across the Total Force. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan)

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus, commander, Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region – 1st Air Force (U.S. Air Forces Northern and U.S. Air Forces Space), speaks during a panel at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in the National Harbor, Maryland, Sep. 13, 2023. Nordhaus joined Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak, deputy director, Air National Guard, in the panel focused on the shortfall of fighter aircraft across the Total Force and it’s impact on homeland defense. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan)