The 100-year history of the 133rd Airlift Wing is rich in perseverance and courage. These qualities built the First Federally Recognized National Guard Flying Unit and remain strong today. The book allows you to experience the dangers of flying in open-air aeroplanes, fighter jets and the tactical airlifters of today. The book is founded on first-person accounts of missions that spanned the globe. Experience aviation in the early days of open-air planes. Pilot the mighty P-51 on the eve of D-Day. Live in the desert with the airmen during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Amaze at the C-130 tactical flying through the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan. Feel the heat of an explosion as it rocks the soil ahead of you. Enjoy the warmth of a neighbor’s smile as they thank you for serving your community during a flood, forest fire, riot or pandemic. Be an ambassador for all that is good in the U.S.A. Be a member of the Air National Guard!

Brigadier General (Ret) Greg A. Haase continues to serve the community as the Chairman of the Board for the Minnesota Air National Guard Historical Foundation. He also volunteers in his local church and various educational opportunities for member of the 133rd Airlift Wing. Prior to his retirement he served as the Special Assistant to the Director, Air National Guard, and was assigned to the Headquarters, Air Force, Total Force-Continuum (TF-C), the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. On behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Total Force-Continuum works to identify the appropriate balance of active and reserve components assigned to Air Force missions; and to reduce legal, organizational, policy, and cultural barriers to become a more fully integrated Air Force. General Haase's prior assignment was the Vice Director Domestic Operations and Force Development for the National Guard Bureau. The directorate coordinates and facilitates missions and operations for homeland defense, homeland security, defense support to civil authorities and mission assuredness of critical infrastructure. Key elements of the directorate include current operations, counterdrug, force protection, future operations, cyberspace, joint exercises and combating weapons of mass destruction.

General Haase graduated from North Dakota State University in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He then enlisted in the ND Air National Guard and attended Avionics Aerospace training at Lowry Air Force Base. After completing the course as an honor graduate in 1984, he trained as a guardsman on the F-4 Phantom while pursuing a master's degree in civil engineering. General Haase was selected for undergraduate pilot training with the 133rd Airlift Wing in 1985. He completed the course as an "Academic Ace" in 1987. In 1998 he was selected as the 109th Airlift Squadron commander, his first of three command assignments to include the Maintenance Group and the Airlift Wing. He then became the Director of the Joint Interagency Counter Trafficking Center for European Command focusing on Counter Narcotics, Counter Threat Finance and Countering Transnational Threats to build partnership capacity to defend the homeland forward.

Lowell Ueland is a retired high school history and political science teacher with 40 years as a classroom teacher. He, also, served 34 years in the Minnesota Air National before retiring as a LtCol. He served many capacities in the MNANG and as a squadron commander of the 133d CSS. Lowell successfully completed Command Staff College and the Air War Collage Seminar Programs. He was the first Curator of the Minnesota Air Guard Museum. He currently serves on the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum Board and is a Charter Member of Minnesota Air National Guard Historical Foundation.

Lowell received his BS and MS in history and political science from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and a MS in economics from Bradley University in Peoria, IL. Lowell served 3 terms on the Glencoe, MN City Council, as well as other Boards and Commissions. His passion is history, especially the history of the MNANG and the Dakota War of 1862. Until recent years he traveled all over the United States and Europe visiting battlefields, museums and almost anything of interest. He and his wife have visited all the major Civil War Battlefields in the United States and most of the major WW2 Battlefields in Europe and Italy.

Lowell's mission is to preserve the history of the Minnesota Air National Guard through writing histories and preserving the memorabilia of the history of the Minnesota Air National Guard.