in december 1989 and january 1990, ang volunteers participated in operation just cause, the invasion of panama, to secure the arrest of panamanian dictator and accused drug lord, general manuel noriega. air national guard aircrews already deployed tdy to howard afb, panama also participated in just cause. volunteer c-130 crews completed 181 sorties moving 3,107 passengers and 551.3 tons of cargo. in addition, air national guard a-7 corsair ii attack jets from the south dakota air national guard's 114th tactical fighter group and the ohio air national guard's 180th tactical fighter group flew 34 combat missions in support of the invasion. however, the air national guard and the total force concept would be fully tested in the two major operations of the 1990s: operation desert shield and the first gulf war, operation desert storm.