The nation needs all 25 of the Air National Guard's fighter squadrons, two of the service's senior officers told congressional staffers at an event NGAUS sponsored last week.

The Guard's 25 fighter squadrons must also have modern aircraft to defend the homeland and fight alongside the Air Force overseas, the pair added.

"The Air Force’s fighter structure is geriatric and rapidly declining," said Brig. Gen. Timothy J. Donnellan, the Idaho Guard’s assistant adjutant general-Air, on Capitol Hill Nov. 2. "We’ve got to start procuring fighter aircraft now.

"The Total Force can’t lose a single fighter squadron," he continued. "We need 25 fighter squadrons in the National Guard going forward."

Last week's event at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. — which NGAUS co-hosted with Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., — was attended by more than 50 congressional staffers.