Whereas 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of a military installation operating in Harrison Township, Michigan; Whereas Selfridge Air National Guard Base is named after Army 1st Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge, who saw the potential of powered flight; Whereas Lieutenant Selfridge became the first casualty of flight when he was killed during a demonstration flight with Orville Wright in 1908; Whereas the Army commissioned Selfridge Field on July 1, 1917, and the first flight occurred on July 8, 1917; Whereas, on June 27, 1919, Selfridge Field became the home of the 1st Pursuit Group, the oldest combat group in the Air Force; Whereas, on October 14, 1922, 1st Lieutenant Russell Maughan flew the first aircraft to exceed 200 miles per hour at Selfridge Field; Whereas the 332d Fighter Group of the Tuskegee Airmen moved to Selfridge Field on March 29, 1943, and Colonel Benjamin O. Davis became its first African-American commander on October 8, 1943; Whereas, on July 20, 1948, the first transatlantic flight by a fighter aircraft launched from Selfridge Field headed to Berlin during the Berlin Airlift; Whereas, on July 1, 1971, Selfridge Field was transferred to the Michigan Air National Guard, becoming the first major active Air Force base to come under control of the Air National Guard; Whereas, in 1991, Selfridge Air National Guard Base founded the first STARBASE program, a Department of Defense program for students in kindergarten through 12th grade that provides math and science education; Whereas the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard was established at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on April 1, 1996; Whereas Selfridge Air National Guard Base is the host to at least 40 tenant units representing every branch of the Armed Forces, the Coast Guard, and representing members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty, in a reserve component, or in the National Guard; Whereas Selfridge Air National Guard Base is the home to the KC–135 Stratotanker and the A–10 Thunderbolt II