In the movie “Fury”, Brad Pitt’s “Papa Don” drove a Sherman tank deep into the enemy camp, and the German Tiger tank staged a summit showdown, watching people’s blood spurting. In the movie, “Papa Don” was part of the 30th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, an infantry division that was highly decorated.
In August 1944, the 30th Infantry Division blocked the main German armored forces with one division in the Battle of Mortan in Normandy; in September, the division was the first to counterattack Belgium, and the first to advance into the Netherlands in November; in December, the division, together with the 1st Infantry Division, became the first to capture the large German city of Aachen; the subsequent Battle of the Ardennes saw the division retreat a huge number of German elite forces. It can be said that the 30th Infantry Division had the main task in the entire Allied campaign against Western Europe.
And the 30th Infantry Division, is composed of the U.S. Army Tennessee National Guard; this seems to us a bit incredible, the U.S. National Guard is not a regular army, why the battle is not weak in the slightest?
The National Guard is not really a local army.
History of the National Guard
The history of the National Guard is older than the history of the U.S. In 1636, the first colonists established the first local armed forces in Boston in order to defend their colonies from the local natives. Each state (country) subsequently established its own state local armies, which were officially renamed the National Guard by the federal government in 1824.
The U.S. National Guard in the spring of 1637
In the early days of the U.S. federal government it was in a loosely aligned state, with each state still having considerable autonomy. The federal government retained the states’ control over the National Guard and the right to train them; it only stipulated that the National Guard had the same establishment and equipment as the active defense forces and was obligated to undertake part of the defense tasks.
During this period of Time, the National Guard was larger than the defense forces, and in the subsequent Mexican War and Spanish War, it was the National Guard that undertook the main tasks.
National Guard Insignia
In 1903, the U.S. federal government passed the Militia Act, which formally incorporated the National Guard of each state into the national system. The Department of Defense could only instruct but not command the National Guard of each state during normal times, but in wartime, the federal government had the right to mobilize National Guard troops for active duty.
During World War I from 1914 to 1918, National Guard units accounted for 40 percent of the total number of U.S. troops engaged in the war, and were particularly active in the French theater.
National Guard soldiers in 1917
And by World War II, the National Guard was even more ubiquitous. In addition to the 30th Infantry Division, dozens of other divisions were made up of National Guard units, with a footprint throughout Southeast Asia, Western Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific. The 26th, 27th, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, etc., including the “infamous” 45th Infantry Division was also composed of local National Guard units in New Mexico, Oklahoma, etc.
After the end of World War II, the National Guard became more closely linked to the National Guard, and the National Guard Bureau was established under the Department of Defense to manage it; and the Army and Air National Guard were divided. The Army National Guard accounts for about 50% of the U.S. Army; the Air National Guard has heavy firepower such as F15 fighter planes and M1A1 tanks.
Air National Guard seal
In the subsequent Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan are frequent appearances of the National Guard. After the end of the Cold War, the federal government eliminated about 50 percent of the active duty defense force, but the National Guard remained at its current strength.
“After 9/11, the federal government amended the U.S. Code to expand the National Guard’s authority again, allowing state governors to respond to presidential orders and quickly assemble on short notice to carry out federal missions to defend ports, airports and other critical facilities, maintain local disturbances, and quell terrorism and insurgency. For example, now during the Floyd case, in the face of massive protests and riots, Trump has deployed more than 40,000 National Guard troops to the states to maintain law and order.
In the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, 4,000 National Guard troops patrolled the city.
Arguably, the National Guard is now the most experienced “local force” in the world in terms of combat experience and participation in world wars.
Daily training and functions of the National Guard
Interestingly, the National Guard is not a professional military service, but more of a “part-time” military service. The federal government requires National Guard members to conduct 48 weekends of military training per year and 15 days of active duty training, which means a minimum of 100 days of professional military training per year.
Missouri National Guard Soldiers Participate in Self-Defense Training
The training is generally located right here in the state, and the training is consistent with active duty. When not in training, they are by their own work and Life and are not closely connected to each other.
The National Guard functions as a local armed force in normal times, and they only follow the state government’s decision and order, and are responsible for the security of the state. They are not allowed to cross the border in a non-emergency situation or with the permission of other state governments.
In terms of financial support, the usual training and weapons and equipment expenses are solved by the state government, and even the federal government has repeatedly sold arms to the state government.
Overall Comment
As the world’s number one military power, the U.S. military power itself is unquestionable; up to now, the U.S. military has a huge number of military bases around the world.
It is not surprising that the National Guard maintains an efficient fighting force by rotating, reassigning, and conducting military training and missions with the regular military in various theaters around the world.
The Army National Guard, 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment, Parun, Afghanistan. Note that he is wearing the 10th Mountain Division former wartime service SSI.
The federal government’s approach of raising troops through localities and drawing them from the center in wartime is more akin to the Tang Dynasty’s prefectural military system. Both to maintain the autonomous defense rights of the Home states, but also to reduce the central military spending, I think this is also the reason why the United States is willing to reduce the defense forces while maintaining more than 500,000 National Guard important one of the reasons it.
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