BANGOR (AP) – The Maine Air National Guard, whose responsibilities have grown amid Air Force downsizing and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is observing its 60th birthday.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Guard’s inception at Camp Keyes in Augusta. The 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor, which flies KC-135 tankers, celebrates its own 60-year milestone on Monday.

“The key to Bangor’s success is we’ve done it right, done it on time, and done it safely,” said retired Maj. Gen. Nelson Durgin, former adjutant general for the Maine National Guard.

Since 2003, Bangor has been scheduling all refueling flights for the Northeast Tanker Task Force Trans-Atlantic Air Bridge, which includes Bangor, Pease Air National Guard in New Hampshire, Niagara ANG in New York, Pittsburgh ANG in Pennsylvania and both the McGuire ANG and McGuire Air Force Reserve units in New Jersey.

The six locations team up to offer landing and refueling facilities for aircraft and to provide midair refueling of fighter aircraft and cargo planes flying just northwest of Goose Bay Labrador, and over Nova Scotia.

“When the Air Force withdrew air refueling wings to the center of the country, it only left the perimeter with National Guard flying tankers…,” Durgin said. “Bangor joined them because its on the right path, right in the Great Circle, the shortest path from the continental United States to continental Europe.”

The closings of Bangor’s Dow Air Force Base in 1968 and Loring, Pease and Plattsburgh AFBs in the 1990s have had a direct effect on the Bangor operation.

“Our role over the years has been to assume more responsibility because were all thats left,” said Col. Stephen Atkinson, Bangor wing commander. “We have a real strong work ethic and desire to be the best and get the job done in an environment of shrinking resources.”

Out of the six units in the task force, Bangors wing performs 20 percent of the refueling missions.

“We offload more fuel than any other Guard unit in the nation,” Lt. Col. Mark Twitchell said. “And we come close to rivaling some big super (active duty) refueling wings.”

Within three hours of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, 98 percent of the wing’s members reported for duty. Five of the tankers were soon in the air, refueling fighter aircraft that were patrolling U.S. air space.

“The whole crew realized that day that the world as we had known it had changed,” said Col. John DErrico, vice wing commander and one of the five pilots on that mission.

Since then, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have directly involved more than 80 percent of the Maine National Guard members, which include Air Guard and Army Guard units, Durgin said.

Many guardsmen who used to work one weekend a month and two weeks a year have been called up to active duty. The wing now employs approximately 350 full-time guardsmen, and another 175 work temporarily full time, said Maj. Debbie Kelley, the wing’s community manager.

While flying and maintenance crews are frequently deployed for refueling missions, others from the wing – including medical and security personnel, firefighters, civil engineers, even chaplains – have been sent overseas.

Traditional tensions between active duty and Guard troops have eased in this war, Durgin said, and the Guard’s active involvement in the national forces has bolstered public support for troops.

“Theres always been some resentment from the active duty,” Senior Master Sgt. Dennis Wellman said. “Now theyre depending on us. A majority of the Guard and Reserve units bring something different to the table, and the Air Force is recognizing that and depending on that.”

Baginning in April, the wing will begin replacing its 10 KC-135E tankers with the newer KC-135R model, a conversion set to be completed by 2012.

“The engines are bigger, faster and more powerful,” said Lt. Col. Gerry Lincoln, director of the Northeast Tanker Task Force. “It has more capabilities, it can climb quicker, its quieter, can offload more fuel, will require less maintenance and is a lot more fuel-efficient.”