Posted on Sep 18, 2024
Trump, Vance, Walz and Harris Are All Talking About the National Guard. What Can (and Can't) It...
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American History
Policy
Posted 2 d ago
Responses: 3
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It would be nice if all politicians at every level of government would read this.
I was fortunate to work for a TAG (The Adjutant General) in Oregon who authorized subordinates commands to respond to issues without orders. I.e., we had severe flooding in Vernonia, Oregon. The town was being inundated due to heavy rains. The commander of the Air Guard security forces called his folks in to assist as they had inflatables to effect water rescues. The TAG rightfully was proud and those men and women got paid and recognized.
I got a call that a Navy EA6B had crashed in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon and that some of my MP's had come in and taken unit Humvees to go guard the crash site. I said great and called the EOC that we were on our way to the site to assist the air crew and protect the site. No one said stop, and the men were paid and the TAG recognized them.
I was fortunate to work for a TAG (The Adjutant General) in Oregon who authorized subordinates commands to respond to issues without orders. I.e., we had severe flooding in Vernonia, Oregon. The town was being inundated due to heavy rains. The commander of the Air Guard security forces called his folks in to assist as they had inflatables to effect water rescues. The TAG rightfully was proud and those men and women got paid and recognized.
I got a call that a Navy EA6B had crashed in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon and that some of my MP's had come in and taken unit Humvees to go guard the crash site. I said great and called the EOC that we were on our way to the site to assist the air crew and protect the site. No one said stop, and the men were paid and the TAG recognized them.
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. In its modern incarnation, each state’s National Guard is still usually under the command of its governor. During times of national need, National Guard troops can be “federalized,” or shifted to federal control, reporting to the president as their commander-in-chief.
A series of reforms starting at the turn of the 20th century standardized militias, which until then had varied greatly in terms of martial skill and experience, transforming them from “guys in their homespun clothes, carrying their own weapons,” as Wiest puts it, into modern fighting units.
While the nation has moved beyond its colonial commitment to maintain only a small standing army, today we still supplement our regular fighting force with Guard units. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 40% of the troops that deployed were Guard or reserve units. But the National Guard is also responsible for a whole host of non-combat missions stateside.
A series of reforms starting at the turn of the 20th century standardized militias, which until then had varied greatly in terms of martial skill and experience, transforming them from “guys in their homespun clothes, carrying their own weapons,” as Wiest puts it, into modern fighting units.
While the nation has moved beyond its colonial commitment to maintain only a small standing army, today we still supplement our regular fighting force with Guard units. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 40% of the troops that deployed were Guard or reserve units. But the National Guard is also responsible for a whole host of non-combat missions stateside.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
In reality, activation and deployment of the Guard was the way the system was originally designed/ If you look at WWI, WWII, and Korea, the first thing that happened was activating the National Guard Units, who were often the first units in Combat. During WWII, the Guard fought on New Guinee, later on Guadalcanal. In North Africa, Italy and Europe, a lot of the Divisions were activated Guard Divisions.
The only conflict that didn't involve large number of Army Guard was Vietnam, but only because Johnson chose not to declare a state of emergency. The Guard paid for that for the next 20 years or so. Even Schwarzkopf chose to deploy without his Round Out Brigades, over the objections of those Division's commanders, and only used those Guard and Reserve support units that were majority reservist and he couldn't get around it.
It was only when the US started getting involved in the various "peacekeeping" missions everywhere that they started integrating the Guard into the rotations. By 1911, the Big Army was so stretched that it had no choice but to re-integrate the Guard back in like it was originally planned.
Air National Guard was a different animal and had always integrated into the regular Air Force much better than the Army. I had some Air Guard friends that were on flight crews with MAC that probably flew close to 180 days a year and routinely flew into Vietnam before the war ended. A lot of Guard and Reserve Combat Pilots fly in the Gulf War.
The only conflict that didn't involve large number of Army Guard was Vietnam, but only because Johnson chose not to declare a state of emergency. The Guard paid for that for the next 20 years or so. Even Schwarzkopf chose to deploy without his Round Out Brigades, over the objections of those Division's commanders, and only used those Guard and Reserve support units that were majority reservist and he couldn't get around it.
It was only when the US started getting involved in the various "peacekeeping" missions everywhere that they started integrating the Guard into the rotations. By 1911, the Big Army was so stretched that it had no choice but to re-integrate the Guard back in like it was originally planned.
Air National Guard was a different animal and had always integrated into the regular Air Force much better than the Army. I had some Air Guard friends that were on flight crews with MAC that probably flew close to 180 days a year and routinely flew into Vietnam before the war ended. A lot of Guard and Reserve Combat Pilots fly in the Gulf War.
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