guardsmen gained national visibility starting 27 september when president george w. bush asked the governors for their temporary help at commercial airports, which had reopened a few days after 9/11 with new security restrictions. in the airports they would "temporarily augment the civilian airport security function of the nation's commercial airports with a trained, armed, and highly visible military presence." for more than seven months, several thousand guardsmen performed those security duties, with additional guardsmen called into service during the thanksgiving, christmas, and new year holiday period. although the army guard provided the vast majority of the enhanced airport security force, several hundred air national guard personnel also participated.