BANGOR – People who join the Maine Air National Guard tend to stick around.

According to newly released statistics, the Guard ranks third in the nation for retaining its members, with 93 percent of the force choosing to stay.

A proactive senior leadership and flexible environment are behind the high ranking, as well as community support, according to Air Guard officials.

“The retention rate is a result of the culture we have in the organization,” Master Sgt. Dan Guerin, retention office manager for the Maine Air Guard, said Thursday. “Our people want to stay.”

The statistics tallied 93 units across the country and reflect a nationwide Air Guard retention average that hovers around 90 percent.

Meanwhile, the Army National Guard is beginning to recover from lagging retention and recruiting rates in response to the war in Iraq.

The Maine Army Guard’s retention rate last year was 79 percent, but the branch also faces challenges the Air Guard does not, including longer and larger deployments, officials from both branches agreed.

The Army Guard’s role overseas is more aggressive, and the public has seen that troops killed or injured in the war more often are from the Army side, Lt. Col. John Goulet, commander of recruiting and retention for the Maine Army Guard, said Thursday.

The state Army Guard’s recruiting numbers have improved, however, over the last three months, Goulet said.

On the Air Guard side, Maine’s No. 3 ranking includes the 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor, where the bulk of the state’s Air Guard members are assigned, as well as units in South Portland and Augusta.

Of the Maine Air Guard’s 1,106 assigned members, including full-time and part-time personnel, only 85 left during the fiscal year of October 2004 to September 2005. Just over half of those members left because of retirement.

Another 20 resigned, 15 transferred to other units, and some members left shortly after joining. The remainder left for medical or administrative reasons, such as disciplinary problems.

In general, however, they like their jobs, Capt. Thor Noyes, the Maine Air Guard’s personnel director, said Tuesday. When they don’t, the Air Guard works with its members to relocate them to another profession that better suits their needs, he said.

“Over 30 percent are retirement-eligible, and they stay,” he said. “They stay year after year after year. People don’t necessarily stay where they started.”

Despite the challenges posed by the Maine Air Guard’s growing responsibility for refueling operations since Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, retention rates have only increased over the last three years, Noyes said.

“There’s a palpable sense that we’re necessary,” he said. “We pump a lot of gas, and they need us.”

Adapting to the Air Guard’s evolving mission has been key to keeping its members, Guerin said. Guard personnel constantly work to balance the demands of their families, civilian jobs and military duties, and the Guard’s family and employer support programs help to maintain that balance, he said.

Addressing potential problems before they start prevents many people from walking through his door with concerns, but those who do know they can speak to him frankly, Guerin said.

“If people stop coming to you, you know you have an issue or concern,” he said.

“It’s a safe place to go,” Noyes added.