Reply #6: National Guard [View All]

[RoyGBiv]

The function of the National Guard is broadly defined by three things:

The National Defense Act - 1916
The National Guard Mobilzation Act - 1933
The Total Force Policy - 1973

The original act in essence created the national guard as a force to be called upon by the President in times of national crisis. This was amended after WWI in various ways. The Total Force Policy defined the Guard as the primary reserve force of the US armed forces and, in theory, reflects the Constitution's original intent of a relatively small standing army suplemented by a trained militia.

IOW, the President has the authority to call the NG into service without asking permission of the states. This sort of thing proved very necessary when states were resisting things like school integration and attempted to use the Guard to resist federal authority.

This is a "historical" perspective. Someone actually in the military could probably provide a better explanation of how this all works in the real world today.