Re: On the Militia of the US Constitution

noone <noone@xxxxxxxxxxx> said:
In article <Xns99F39E96F5CA7loneweaselgml@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
The Lone Weasel <loneweasel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


No, the training is provided in the real militia, the
National Guard, when you actually join up.

The National Guard is the U.S. Army, the very opposite of
the militia.

Wrong. Read this before abusing yourself further.

[begin text]

Army National Guard History

The Army National Guard is the oldest component of the United
States armed forces. Militia companies were formed with the
first English settlement at Jamestown in 1607. The first
militia regiments were organized by the General Court of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, and from the Pequot War in
1637 until the present day, the Army National Guard has
participated in every war or conflict the US has fought. The
militia stood their ground at Lexington Green in 1775 when
the opening shots of the War of Independence were fired. They
fought the British and their Indian allies from the Great
Lakes to New Orleans during the War of 1812, and provided 70%
of the troops that fought in the Mexican War.

The majority of the troops that fought in the Philippines
during the Spanish American War were National Guardsmen, and
the greatest number of combat divisions to fight the Germans
during World War I came from the Guard - including six out of
the eight that the German General Staff rated as "Excellent"
or "Superior."

The Guard doubled the size of the Regular Army when it was
mobilized in 1940, more then a year before Pearl Harbor, and
contributed 19 divisions to that war, as well as numerous
other units, to include Guard aviation squadrons. Over
138,000 Guardsmen were mobilized for Korea, followed by
numerous smaller mobilizations for the Berlin Crisis,
Vietnam, and numerous strikes and riots at home. Over 63,000
Army Guardsmen were called to serve in Desert Storm, and in
the decade since then, Guardsmen have seen a greater role
then ever before conducting peacekeeping in Somalia, Haiti,
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

The history of the Army National Guard began on December 13,
1636 when the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized three
militia regiments to defend against the growing threat of the
Pequot Indians. Patterned after the English Militia systems,
all males between 16 and 60 were obligated to own arms and
take part in the defense of the community. The National Guard
continues its historic mission of providing defense of the
nation.

The oldest units in the National Guard and U.S. Army are the
181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, 101st Field Artillery and
the 101st Engineer Battalion. These units were organized on
December 13,1636, by authority of the General Court at
Boston, as the North, South and East Regiments. The 181st and
182nd Infantry Regiments perpetuate the North Regiment. The
101st Engineer Battalion perpetuates the East Regiment and
the 101st Field Artillery Regiment perpetuates the South
Regiment. These units are among the world's oldest military
units.

In the English Colonies the militia's mission was to defend
the settlement and colony in case of attack. Each militiaman
was required to drill several times a month and to provide
his own arms and equipment. As the threat of attack
diminished, English colonial authorities began to use
militiamen to augment regular troops in campaigns against
French colonial possessions. During the French and Indian War
several hundred militia officers gained valuable experience
which they later used in the Revolutionary War.

During the Revolutionary War that began at Lexington and
Concord on April 19,1775, more than 164,000 militiamen from
the 13 colonies served under the command of the former
Virginia militia colonel, George Washington. Without the
militia, American independence could not have been won. While
the Continental Army, with militia support, fought the main
battles of the Revolutionary War, other militia regiments
kept British forces in check by harassing, foraging and
raiding parties and limiting the royal troops to the cities.

The colonial militiamen held their fire as seven British
regiments, considered the best infantry in the world,
advanced on them. One officer cautioned his men, "Do not fire
until you see the whites of their eyes!" With discipline and
courage the militiamen waited... and fired. The British,
anticipating an easy victory, sustained many casualties. The
American militia proved to the world that civilian volunteers
could be molded into trained fighting men, thus forging the
high tradition of the National Guard.

Primarily the militia fought the battles of Bunker Hill,
King's Mountain, Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse. The
American militia won grudging respect from British regulars.
Lord Cornwallis officially reported in 1781, "I will not say
much in praise of the Militia of the Southern colonies, but
the list of British Officers & Soldiers killed & wounded by
them since last June proves that they are not wholly
contemptible."

On October 19, 1781, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at
Yorktown, former militiamen of the Maryland, Delaware and
Virginia Lines were there. Twenty-eight of today's Army
National Guard units carry battle streamers on their colors
embroidered with the names of the battles of the
Revolutionary War: Lexington, Boston, Trenton, Princeton,
Brandywine, Cowpens, Monmouth, Guilford Courthouse and
Yorktown.

After the war, the militia was governed by the Militia Act of
1792. States were required to enroll men between the ages of
18 and 45 into companies, regiments and brigades. Each state
appointed an adjutant general and brigade inspectors. As the
enrolled militia declined in importance, the volunteer
companies of the organized militia grew in strength. These
uniformed, trained and equipped units, grew to a strength of
25,000 by 1804.

The Marquis de Lafayette, who commanded a Virginia brigade
during America's War of Independence, coined the phrase
"Garde Nationale" for his French Revolutionary Army during
the French Revolution in the 1790's. Lafayette popularized
the term in the United States, during a return visit in 1824,
by applying it to all organized militia units in America. The
term immediately began to appear in newspapers and magazines
as popular slang for the militia.

The 2nd Battalion, 11th Regiment of Artillery, New York
Militia, voted to rename itself the "Battalion of National
Guards" in 1824 in tribute to Lafayette's command of the
Paris militia. New York, by state statute, adopted the term
National Guard for its militia during the Civil War. Many
states followed New York's lead after the Civil War by
renaming their militias "National Guard." The term was not
recognized as the militia's formal title by federal
legislation until the 1916 National Defense Act.

With the start of the War of 1812, the U.S. Army consisted of
only 10,000 men. The militia of the states was called into
federal service and 489,173 militiamen responded. The most
famous militia commander during the War of 1812 was Major
General Andrew Jackson, whose backwoods sharpshooters
defeated British regulars at the Battle of New Orleans in
1815.

Following the admission of Texas into the Union in December
1845, a dispute rose between Texas and Mexico over the
southern border of the new state. This resulted in the
Mexican War of 1846-1848, with more than 73,000 militiamen
called into federal service. On February 23, 1847, a regiment
of Mississippi militiamen, the famed "Mississippi Rifles,"
led by their commander, Colonel Jefferson Davis, defeated a
much larger Mexican force in hand-to- hand combat in the
mountains near Buena Vista, Mexico. The defeat of the
Mexicans at Buena Vista enabled the U.S. forces to continue
their assault, resulting in the capture of Vera Cruz in March
1847 by General Winfield Scott and his 12,000 troops, two-
thirds of whom were militiamen.

Most states recognized the volunteer militia companies -
uniformed units that drilled on a regular basis - as the
State Organized Militia. These units responded to President
Lincoln's call in April 1861 for 75,000 militia to form the
bulk of the Union Army for the first several months of the
Civil War.

No accurate figure can be determined as to the number of
militiamen in the Civil War. The figure of 1,933,779 is used
for the number of all volunteers who served in the Union
Army. Many militia regiments that responded to the call of
1861 remained in service for the duration of the war. Other
regiments returned to state status and served as cadres for
the many volunteer regiments the states furnished to the
federal forces. The initial bulk of the Confederate Army was
made up of volunteer militia regiments.

The Battle of Gettysburg is considered to be the turning
point of the Civil War. One episode, which helped turn the
tide, involved the militia from Maine. Josua L. Chamberlain,
a former professor at Maine's Bowdoin College, commanded the
20th Maine Volunteer Militia. The 20th was ordered to hold
critical terrain between Big and Little Round Top at all
cost. They held off six attacks by determined Alabama
regiments. Chamberlain knew his men didn't have the
ammunition to fight off a seventh attack. So he ordered his
men to "Fix bayonets!" and charge downhill. The assault
stopped the Confederate threat to the Union flank and
contributed mightily to an important Union victory.

With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, close
to 165,000 National Guardsmen volunteered for active duty.
Although only a few National Guard regiments were sent to
Cuba, many Guardsmen were shipped to the Philippines to fight
in the Philippine Insurrection.

One of the most famous regiments of the war were the Rough
Riders, made up of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
Guardsmen who, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Theodore Roosevelt, assaulted San Juan Hill. Led by Lt.
Colonel "Teddy" Roosevelt, the 1st New Mexico Cavalry, known
as the "Rough Riders," actually charged up Kettle Hill.
Despite heavy enemy fire they succeeded in reaching the top.
Continuing with the attack, they seized the heights
overlooking the city of Santiago. This action is known as the
Battle of San Juan Hill, which led to the Spanish surrender
two weeks later.

America's mobilization for the Spanish-American War
demonstrated that both the Regular Army and the National
Guard were unprepared for modern warfare. Subsequent
battlefield successes notwithstanding, the need for reform
was clear to all. The process of reform was initiated, in
1899, by the distinguished Secretary of War, Elihu Root.
Advances in weapons, training, financing and organization
aided the Regular Army but failed to benefit the National
Guard.

In 1902, Major General Charles W. ***, commander of the Ohio
Division of the National Guard and a member of the U. S.
House of Representatives, became president of the National
Guard Association. General ***, working with Secretary of
War Root, proposed legislation which would place the National
Guard on an equal footing with the Regular Army. The final
version of the law was a compromise between what National
Guard Association wanted - an organization properly funded,
equipped and trained, and what many career officers of the
Regular Army wanted - a federally oriented reserve force,
freed from state control.

The modern image of today's National Guard began to emerge in
1903, when the Militia Act (also called the *** Act) thrust
the federal government into the picture by establishing
procedures for a more direct and active role in organizing,
training and equipping the National Guard in line with the
standards established for the regular Army.

The 1903 *** Act, which replaced the old Militia Act of
1792, divided all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45
into the organized militia (National Guard) and the reserve
militia. In addition, it mandated that, within five years,
the organization, pay, discipline and equipment of the
National Guard be the same as that of the Regular Army.
Increased federal funding would compensate Guardsmen for
summer training camps and joint maneuvers with the Regular
Army. States were required to hold at least 24 drills
(instructional periods) each year, and some National Guard
officers could now attend Regular Army schools. The War
Department assigned Regular Army officers to each state as
advisors, instructors and inspectors and enabled states to
exchange outdated weapons and equipment for current issue.
The War Department also created the Division of Militia
Affairs, the forerunner of the National Guard Bureau, to
oversee National Guard organization and training.

Membership in the National Guard remained voluntary, and
governors retained control over National Guard mobilization.
The *** Act's nine-month limit on federal service was an
improvement over previous restrictions. Most National Guard
leaders, however, favored removing all limits to federal
service. A 1908 amendment lifted the nine-month restriction
and permitted Guardsmen to serve outside the continental
United States.

The *** Act was a landmark. It created a stronger and more
professional National Guard to serve as the nation's second
line of defense. To some extent, the new law formalized many
already existing practices.

As the result of raids by Pancho Villa on Columbus, NM, and
two Texas towns in 1916, President Wilson called the National
Guard into service to patrol the Mexican-American border
where more than 158,000 Guardsmen served. Although the
National Guard did not see any combat action, the training
received was invaluable when the U.S. entered World War I. In
late 1916 and early 1917, as the threat of war with Imperial
Germany began to loom larger, U. S. forces were gradually
withdrawn from Mexico.

In June 1916, the National Defense Act was passed which
essentially created the modem National Guard. The new act
provided increased federal support and regulation. When
officers and units reached Army standards in regard to
strength, equipment and skill, they were federally recognized
and eligible for federal support.

Many of the Guardsmen returned from their Mexican border duty
only to be called again into federal service in 1917 for
World War I, with more than 379,000 Guardsmen being ordered
to active duty. During the war, National Guard units
throughout the country were organized into combat divisions
of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), and soon
afterwards departed for France to enter combat during World
War I.

During World War I, the National Guard supplied 17 combat
divisions, or about 40 percent of the entire American
Expeditionary Forces. The Guard also provided three black
infantry regiments, the 369th, 370th, and 372nd to the
all-black 93rd Division. National Guardsmen from the 26th,
27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th,
37th, 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st and 42nd Divisions saw World War
I service. Eleven of these divisions were noted to have spent
more days in actual combat than did the regular Army
divisions.

After the end of World War I, following a rapid and haphazard
demobilization, it was necessary for many states to rebuild
their National Guard units. The National Guard began the
difficult process of reorganizing into companies, regiments
and divisions. The National Guard was reorganized to consist
of four cavalry divisions and 18 infantry divisions.

The National Defense Act of 1920 established the Army of the
United States, to consist of the Regular Army, the Organized
Reserve Corps and the National Guard, when called into
federal service.

An amendment to the National Defense Act passed on June
15,1933 created a new Army component, the National Guard of
the United States. This component, while identical in
personnel and organization to the National Guard of the
states, was a part of the Army at all times, and could be
ordered into active federal service by the president whenever
Congress declared a national emergency. Thus it became
possible for the National Guard to be given an Army mission
without having to wait for a "call" to be issued by the
various state governors.

In August 1940, President Roosevelt ordered the National
Guard of the United States into active service. Between
September 16, 1940, and October 6,1941, the National Guard
brought into federal service more than 300,000 men, in 18
combat divisions, as well as numerous non-divisional units,
including 4,800 men from the 29 National Guard observation
squadrons. The number of Guardsmen federalized doubled the
strength of the active Army, and the National Guard
observation squadrons, due to their high state of training,
helped to expand the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Not only did the Guard provide the Army with an experienced
source of manpower, it also provided the expanding Army with
leaders as over 75,000 National Guard enlisted men became
commissioned officers during World War II, either through OCS
programs or by battlefield commissions.

During World War II, National Guard units participated in 34
separate campaigns and numerous assault landings in the
European and Pacific Theaters of Operation. Of the first five
U.S. Army divisions to enter offensive combat, four of them,
the 32nd, 34th, 37th and Americal Divisions, were Guard
divisions. One Guard division participated in the Normandy
Omaha Beach D-Day landings on June 6,1944. Again Guard units
served well, with 148 presidential citations awarded to
National Guard units for outstanding performance of duty, or
for conspicuous valor or heroism. Individual Guardsmen
received 20 Medals of Honor, 50 Distinguished Service
Crosses, 48 Distinguished Flying Crosses and over 500 Silver
Star Medals.

From the streets of Harlem and other New York City
neighborhoods came the African-American National Guardsmen of
the 369th Infantry Regiment. They were assigned to the French
Army and took part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. During the
attack, the New York City militiamen fought a brutal struggle
with defending German troops. Heavy casualties were sustained
on both sides. The Germans nicknamed these troops "Hell
Fighters." Their brave actions earned the French Croix de
Guerre award for the entire regiment which was cited as "the
regiment that never lost a man captured, a trench or a foot
of ground..."

The 37th Ohio National Guard "Buckeyes" Division took part in
the assault to drive Japanese forces out of Manila. It was
treacherous fighting. The Japanese had fortified buildings
and the 37th found themselves fighting block-by-block,
floor-by-floor and room-by-room. One squad leader found
himself the object of a bayonet charge by six Japanese
soldiers from 30 yards away. Sergeant Billy E. Vinson warded
off the first bayonet thrusts, then opened up with his rifle
and dispatched the attackers with a single sustained burst of
gunfire. He held his ground until all wounded soldiers in the
vicinity could be evacuated. As their Division history
states, "For those who missed Normandy or Casino, Manila
would do."

With the end of World War II in 1945, National Guard units
were demobilized and personnel were returned directly to
civilian life through Army separation centers. For a short
period during the winter of 1945-46, there was no National
Guard.

The Secretary of War approved plans on October 13,1945,
calling for the reorganization of the National Guard. Under
those "approved policies" the Guard was established with a
dual status and mission. The National Guard of the United
States (NG US), as a reserve component of the Army of the
United States (AUS), was to be an "M-day" (Mobilization Day)
force, thoroughly trained, equipped and ready for immediate
service to the nation in case of enemy aggression or a
national emergency. The National Guard of the sever2l states
was to provide organizations and personnel for the Reserve
(federal) Component, and to preserve peace, order and public
safety in their states and during local emergencies. The
Secretary of War's policies provided that the federal
government was to supervise military instruction, furnish
field training facilities, pay, uniforms, equipment and
ammunition, and contribute a fair portion of the expenses for
construction of National Guard armories. The federal
assistance in armory construction marked a new development in
the history of the Guard.

The first four post-World War II Guard units were granted
federal recognition on June 30, 1946, as was the first Air
National Guard unit to reorganize, the 120th Fighter Squadron
of Colorado. On September 18,1947, with the establishment of
the U.S. Air Force, a new reserve component was established,
the Air National Guard, and since that date the National
Guard has consisted of the Army and Air National Guard.

Black National Guard units had survived since Reconstruction
in a few states. In 1946, New Jersey became the first state
to officially integrate its National Guard, two years before
the integration of the active Army. But many states in the
Deep South with large black populations had rio blacks at all
in their National Guards. This could have been a problem
during the civil unrest that sometimes accompanied
desegregation in the 1950s and 60s. In 1956, President
Eisenhower federalized the entire Arkansas National Guard for
a month to prevent the segregationist governor from using it
to stop the court-ordered integration of Little Rock High
School. The scene was replayed in 1962 during the
desegregation of the University of Mississippi. In both
cases, Guardsmen obeyed the President and helped enforce the
law.

On June 30th, 1950, five days after North Korea invaded South
Korea, President Truman signed the Selective Service
Extension Act. It continued the draft that had been in effect
since 1948 and authorized the call-up of reserve component
units for Federal service not to exceed 21 months (later 24
months.

The Korean War brought more than 183,000 Army and Air Guard
members to active duty. Army Guard units included eight
infantry divisions and three regimental combat teams. The Air
Guard call up included 22 wings and 66 tactical squadrons.
During the Korean War, two Army Guard infantry divisions, the
28th of Pennsylvania, and the 43rd of Connecticut, Rhode
Island, and Vermont, and four Air Guard wings were sent to
Europe; four divisions and 17 wings remained in the United
States; and two infantry divisions, the 4Oth of California,
and the 45th of Oklahoma, and two air wings fought in Korea.
Each Guard division was credited with four campaigns, and
four out of 36 jet aces of the Korean War were Air Guard
pilots.

While a small mobilization was planned at first, the
disastrous setbacks of those first few weeks of the war made
it apparent that a far larger number of Guard and Reserve
units would be needed. In early September four National Guard
Infantry Divisions were called to active duty - the 40th
(California), 45eh (Oklahoma), 28th (Pennsylvania) and 43d
(Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont). The 40th and 45th would
both see combat in Korea, while the 28th and 43d would be
sent to Germany to help bolster NATO against the ever-present
threat of Soviet invasion.

These four divisions were among the first of over 700 Army
National Guard units (including four additional divisions)
mobilized for the Korean War. The 138,600 Guardsmen called
represented 37 % of the Army National. In addition to the
40th and 45th Infantry Divisions, 42 other Army Guard units
were sent to Korea and thousands of individual Guardsmen went
as replacements.

Most Guard units began arriving in Korea in early 1951, at
the same time massive Chinese and North Korean attacks were
pushing UN forces south. That spring, as UN forces regrouped
and repulsed these massive attacks, three National Guard
Artillery battalions, the 196th (Tennessee) the 937th
(Arkansas) and the 300th (Wyoming), and a Transportation
Company - the 252d Transportation Truck Company (Alabama)-
won Presidential Unit Citations, the highest award that the
Army can bestow upon a unit. A fifth Presidential Unit
Citation was awarded to Pennsylvania's 176th Armored Field
Artillery battalion for heroic action in June 1953; in
addition, 18 Army National Guard units in Korea were
recognized for their superior service with the Army's
Meritorious Unit Commendation.

By the summer of 1951, UN forces were mounting successful
limited attacks and peace negotiations had begun. Meanwhile,
the 40th and 45th Divisions remained in Japan, where they had
trained and served as the defensive garrison for the island
since April 1951. The UN Commander, General Matthew Ridgeway,
was reluctant to send these divisions to Korea, preferring
instead to use their soldiers as individual replacements for
units already there. Finally, under pressure from Congress
and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Ridgeway agreed in
November 1951 to a "swap in place" of the two Guard divisions
for two of his combat-worn divisions.

The following month Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division
switched places with the 1st Cavalry Division, and in January
1952 California's 40th Infantry Division switched places with
the 24th Infantry Division. While the Guardsmen complained
about the miserable condition of the vehicles and equipment
they "inherited" from the units they replaced, the relative
lull in combat brought on by the frigid Korean winter gave
them time to make repairs before more active hostilities
resumed in the spring.

By the spring of 1952, most of the Guardsmen who had been
called up in the late summer of 1950 were nearing the end of
their term of active Federal service, and began rotating home
in the summer of 1952. While the Guardsmen went home, the
Guard units - now filled with draftees and enlistees -
continued on active duty, even after the war ended in July
1953. Not until 1957 was every unit Federalized for service
in Korea returned to state control.

During the Berlin Crisis of 1961-62, two Army Guard
divisions, the 32nd Infantry Division of Wisconsin and the
49th Armored Division of Texas were mobilized on October
15,1961, along with 104 other non-divisional units, for a
total Army Guard call up of more than 45,115. None of the
Army Guard units were sent overseas.

Prodded by the National Guard Bureau, the states began to
recruit more blacks and minorities, a process hastened by the
landmark Civil Rights Act of 1965. By 1984, minorities made
up one quarter of the Army National Guard, and almost 10
percent of its officer corps.

No massive call-ups of National Guard troops occurred to meet
the country's military manpower requirements during the
Vietnam War. Mobilization of large numbers of Guardsmen would
have been inconsistent with President Lyndon B. Johnson's
attempt to portray the war as a limited conflict that could
be fought with resources already available to the regular
Army. Johnson chose to rely on an increased draft and a
one-year tour of duty rotation policy to fight the Vietnam
War instead of activating significant numbers of National
Guardsmen.

The popular perception that National Guardsmen were not used
in Vietnam, however, is incorrect. On May 13, 1968, in
response to the Lunar New Year (Tet) communist attacks on
South Vietnam, President Johnson activated 20 Army National
Guard combat units and 12 combat support and combat service
support units. Of the 12,234 mobilized, 2,729 reported to
Vietnam with their units. Of the 9,505 initially remaining in
the United States, 4,311 subsequently were assigned to
Vietnam, bringing the total number of mobilized Army Guard
members in the Republic of Vietnam to 7,040. All Army Guard
units were released from active duty by December 12, 1969.
Included among the more than 4,000 awards earned by Army
Guard members in Vietnam were 55 Silver Stars, 681 Purple
Hearts, one Distinguished Flying Cross, 16 Distinguished
Service Medals, six Legions of Merit, and over 1,000 Bronze
Stars.

Company D (Ranger) of the 151st Infantry, Indiana Army
National Guard arrived in country in December of 1968. The
Indiana Rangers were assigned reconnaissance and
intelligence-gathering missions. Operating deep in enemy
territory, Ranger patrols engaged enemy units while
conducting raids, ambushes and surveillance missions. "Delta
Company" achieved an impressive combat record; unit members
earned 510 medals for valor and service.

Many National Guard units not mobilized for the Vietnam War
saw action of a different sort during the 1960s. Beginning
with Newark, New Jersey in 1964, racially motivated riots
broke out in many large American cities. Units of the
National Guard were called out to stop burning and looting in
Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Detroit, and a host of other
cities. As the anti-war movement gathered momentum in the
late 1960s, Guardsmen were called out to maintain order
during large demonstrations.

Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird explained the new "Total
Force Concept" in a press conference on 21 August 1970. Laird
explained that the president's requested reductions of
defense expenditures would require reductions in all facets
of the active forces and increased reliance on the combat and
combat support units of the National Guard and the Reserves.
He further stated that "a total force concept (would) be
applied in all aspects of planning, programming, manning,
equipping, and employing Guard and Reserve forces. The Total
Force Concept brought a new level of support for the National
Guard and Reserves. General Creighton Abrams, United States
Army Chief of Staff, reorganized the "Total Army" so that the
Regular Army could not conduct an extended campaign without
mobilizing the Guard and Reserves, thus gaining the
involvement and, hopefully, the support of small-town
America.

During the 1970s, as America entered the "all-volunteer era,"
and the Total Force Policy came into being, the Army and Air
National Guard began to receive more modem equipment in
larger quantities than it had in decades. Following was the
Army's "Steadfast" reorganization in 1972-73. Under this
program the Army greatly increased the manpower available to
assist the Army Guard in advisory and training missions. The
Army's "affiliation" program also came into being; whereby
Army Guard battalions and brigades were affiliated with
active Army combat units with whom they would train and later
deploy. Newer helicopters and fixed wing aircraft were
received by the Army Guard in addition to upgraded tanks and
artillery pieces, while infantry units replaced their
recoilless rifles with TOW and Dragon antitank missiles.

The designation of the Field Training Equipment Concentration
Site (Con-Site) was changed to Annual Training Equipment Pool
(ATEP) in 1970. A series of Secretary of Defense (OSD) tests
were initiated in 1971 in an attempt to maximize reserve
components readiness. One of these tests, known as OSD Test
3, occurred mainly at Fort Irwin. The objective of the test
was to determine if higher battalion level proficiency is a
attainable and maintainable for select Reserve Component
units when such units are closely associated with and
supported by active Army units. A test group and a control
group, each consisting of three National Guard battalions
(one armor, one infantry and one artillery), were compared as
to readiness improvement during a year period. The greatly
increased training requirements of OSD Test 3 put an
extremely heavy work load on the 44 Fort Irwin ATEP
technicians. Aggressive training of OSD Test 3 units and
other supported units caused equipment issues to be made
three weekends per month. ATEP technicians worked 6 days a
week to make the issues to the brigade. ATEP personnel only
had time to repaired equipment required for issued and by the
end of September 1973 the maintenance deadline rate for the
559 vehicles on hand was 38%. With Fiscal Year 1975, the
designation of Annual Training Equipment Pool (ATEP) was
changed to Mobilization and Training Equipment Site (MATES).

Women found a place in the National Guard in the 1970s.
Because the Militia Act of 1792 and the National Defense Act
of 1916 had both referred specifically to males, legislation
was required to allow women to enlist. The first female in
the National Guard was a nurse, commissioned in the Air
National Guard in 1956. For the next 12 years, nurses were
the only women in the Guard. A 1968 law authorized
prior-service enlisted women to join the Guard, but the
numbers recruited were small. In 1971 non-prior-service women
were allowed to enlist. As all branches of the military began
opening previously restricted jobs to women, the number of
women in both the Army and Air National Guard rose
dramatically.

Opportunities for realistic training began to increase during
the 1970s. The first Army National Guard units went overseas
to train in 1977. The first battalion-sized overseas
deployment was in 1980, and in 1983 the first Army Guard unit
deployed overseas with its equipment. In the winter of 1986,
some 8,000 Guardsmen, including the entire 32nd Brigade from
Wisconsin, were sent to Germany for REFORGER, NATO's major
military exercise. Other overseas deployments sent Army Guard
units to Korea for Operation Team Spirit and to Central
America, where Guard and Reserve engineers joined forces to
conduct major road-building exercises throughout the region.

With more modern equipment and communications capabilities,
the Guard was used more for State missions in the 1980s than
ever before in the Guard's history. Floods, forest fires,
tornadoes, snow emergencies and energy shortages resulted in
hundreds of call-ups during the 80s. Civil disturbances,
police and firemen's strikes and walkouts by state prison
employees resulted in other call-ups for domestic emergencies
to maintain safety and law and order.

In the 1980s the Army Guard embarked on the most ambitious
modernization program in its history with a goal to be fully
equipped with the Army's best equipment by FY-91. By the end
of the 1980s, the Guard had 77 percent of its "go to war"
equipment on hand, but needed to procure additional equipment
to be fully combat-ready. By FY-91, the Guard had received
315 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 557 Improved TOW Vehicles.

In 1984, when the National Guard was asked to take active
roles in the nation's war against illegal drugs, 14 states
participated in 14 support missions. The number of states
participating and the number of missions supported has
increased each year.

The 1989 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the
Secretary of Defense to provide funding to governors who
submit plans to use their National Guard members to support
drug law enforcement agency requests. Since that time, the
National Guard has played a major role in supporting Federal,
state, and local drug enforcement agencies.

Both the Air and Army National Guard were active participants
during Operation Just Cause, the United States' invasion of
Panama in December 1989. Missouri's 1138th Military Police
Company and Minnesota's 125th Public Affairs Detachment were
both in Panama for annual training at the start of Just
Cause. The 1138th MP Co. was, at the time, the only military
police unit in Panama trained to process prisoners of war.

On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Saudi Arabia asked
for immediate military support to prevent further aggression
from Iraqi troops into the sovereign nation of Saudi Arabia.
On August 8, the 82nd Airborne Division began movement to the
Middle East as directed by President Bush. Air National Guard
volunteers immediately began transporting troops and
equipment to Southwest Asia.

The mobilization of the National Guard affected units in 51
of the 54 states and territories, including Washington. The
Army National Guard mobilized more than 398 units nationwide.

In this first real test of the Total Force Policy, Army Guard
units were on active duty a little more than two weeks after
Operation Desert Shield began. A majority of the U.S. Army's
combat service support units were now located in the reserve
components, and the majority of the first Army Guard units to
be mobilized were transportation, quartermaster, and military
police units. Later, two field artillery brigades arrived in
the theater, and three "Roundout" brigades were mobilized but
not deployed.

Army Guard units were still arriving in the Persian Gulf in
January 1991 as the offensive against Iraq, Desert Storm, was
launched by the Allied air forces. In all, 62,411 Army
National Guard personnel were in active federal service,
37,848 of them in Southwest Asia. Women made up 10% of the
total.

The Army activated five ARNG combat brigades and one Special
Forces group. Three of these brigades were maneuver and two
were field artillery. The 48th Mechanized Infantry Brigade,
Georgia Army National Guard, received the alert notification
on 15 November 1990, and entered federal active duty on 30
November 1990. It mobilized at Fort Stewart, trained and was
validated at the National Training Center (NTC). The 155th
Armor Brigade, Mississippi Army National Guard, received the
alert notification on 15 November 1990, and entered federal
active duty on 7 December 1990. It mobilized at Camp Shelby,
trained at Fort Hood, and completed a brigade rotation at the
NTC. The 256th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, Louisiana Army
National Guard, received the alert notification on 15
November 1991,and entered federal active duty on 30 November
1990. It mobilized at Fort Polk, trained at Fort Hood, and
was demobilized prior to an NTC rotation.

The 142d Field Artillery Brigade, Arkansas Army National
Guard, with a battalion from Oklahoma, received the alert
notification on 15 November 1990, and entered federal active
duty on 21 November 1990. The 142d mobilized, trained, and
was validated at Fort Sill. The Brigade deployed to Saudi
Arabia on 15 January 1991, was attached to the VII Corps,
supported the 1st Infantry Division during breaching
operations, and supported the 1st United Kingdom Armoured
Division during the ground campaign. The 196th Field
Artillery Brigade, Tennessee Army National Guard, organized
with battalions from Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia,
received the alert notification on 3 December 1990, and
entered federal active duty on 9 December 1990. The 196th
mobilized, trained, and was validated at Fort Campbell. The
Brigade deployed to Saudi Arabia on 17 January 1991, was
attached to the XVIII Airborne Corps, supported the 6th
French Light Armored Division during breaching operations,
and the 24th Mechanized Infantry during the ground campaign.

On February 23, 1991, the coalition forces launched their
ground offensive. Air and Army National Guard units, fully
integrated into the coalition forces, supported the plan of
action. The Oklahoma Army National Guard was one of the many
Guard units assigned to support the advance into Iraq. Armed
with the Multiple-Launch Rocket System, the Field Artillery
men of this battalion provided accurate and devastating fire
throughout the entire campaign. The rockets were so deadly,
the Iraqi soldiers called them "steel rain."

The campaign's successful conclusion did not end the work of
the Army National Guard units in the theater. Army Guard
maintenance units engaged in battlefield recovery of
coalition and Iraqi equipment. Medical units continued their
work with allied and Iraqi sick and wounded. Many units and
individual Guard members initiated civic action work with
Kuwaiti and Iraqi civilians. America's pride in her National
Guard members was shown by the many parades and celebrations
upon the return of units from Saudi Arabia.

General Cohn Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
said on December 3,1990, "The success of the Guard...
participation in Desert Shield cannot be overemphasized."
General Frederick M. Franks, Jr., former Commander, VII
Corps, told National Guard senior commanders on April 3,1992,
"You saved the battle."

Beginning in 1991, the Army National Guard began significant
cuts to its force structure as part of the downsizing of the
U.S. military after the end of the Cold War. The Guard
inactivated several hundred units to include three separate
brigades and two divisions.

Army Guard Special Forces and aviation soldiers took part in
Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti in 1995. Also that year,
the 4th Battalion, 505th Infantry, which consisted of 70
percent Guard soldiers, deployed to the Middle East as part
of the Multinational Force and Observers. Beginning in 1996,
both Army and Air Guard personnel began taking part in
Operation Joint Endeavor, now Joint Guard, as part of the
NATO peacekeeping force in Bosnia.

The Guard has entered new areas in concert with its theme of
"adding Value to America" by establishing programs for youths
at risk such as Challenge, Star Base and the Youth
Conservation Corps. The Guard also plays a significant role
in many communities by sponsoring drug demand reduction
programs. The Guard is also continuing its efforts in
assisting law enforcement agencies in the seizure of illegal
drugs.

The Guard continues to play a major role in assisting civil
authorities during natural disasters such as earthquakes,
floods, snowstorms and hurricanes. During the past several
years, nearly every state had Guard personnel on state active
duty assisting their neighbors by providing food, shelter,
security, and in many cases, by performing life saving
missions.


http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arng-
history.htm

[end text]

And now you know...

The rest of the really real reality!



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Yours truly,

The Lone Weasel

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