in june 1979, the 137th tactical airlift wing of the oklahoma air national guard marked the first time an ang airlift unit was equipped with brand new transport aircraft: it received four factory-fresh c-130h hercules aircraft. several years later, congress institutionalized the practice of purchasing limited amounts of new weapons and equipment for the reserve components via national guard and reserve equipment (ng&re) funding allocations. under the auspices of this separate appropriation for guard and reserve equipment established in 1982 under president ronald reagan, 69 brand new c-130s entered the ang's inventory from 1984 to 1991.