In fact, there is a saying in the United States called "the world's military ranking, the US military first, the National Guard second", this statement is actually not groundless, today we will talk about the origin of this National Guard, focusing on how the United States limits this force.
For most of the history of America's grandfather, Great Britain, there was no professional army to fight, relying mainly on a group of citizen soldiers. These people usually have their own jobs, but they also have the obligation to assist in national defense. Fighting a war was a seasonal part-time job, and this military tradition had a profound influence on the North American colonies at the time. After the first Protestants arrived on the American continent from afar**, a relatively loose militia system was formed spontaneously to ensure the security of settlements.
On December 13, 1636, the Colonial Court of Massachusetts reorganized the local militia into three permanent regiments in order to better defend the area. This was later set as the founding date of the Army National Guard. After that, the remaining 12 colonies in North America followed suit. Create militias that you want to control yourself.
Don't talk about the U.S. military at this time, even the United States doesn't even have a shadow. Because it was not until the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775, in order to effectively resist the British army, that the Continental Army was formed through the national emblem. It was later the U.S. Army.
Because the Frenchman Marquis Lafnice had a lot of power in the American Revolutionary War, in 1777, he organized warships and personally led 6,000 French troops to North America to participate in the war. So when he returned to the United States in 1824, he received a triumphal salute in which the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Artillery Regiment in New York changed its name to the National Guard in honor of the troops that Lafitte commanded during the Revolution. Hence the National Guard, the name of which was born.
At present, the National Guard is divided into the Army, the National Guard, and the Air National Guard, of which the total strength of the Army National Guard is 3360,000, and there are 10 combat divisions, 22 independent brigades, and two special airborne brigades. It is equipped with MBA2 main battle tanks, N25 combat vehicles, Seahorse rocket launchers, etc., which are exactly the same as those in China.
The Air National Guard was founded in 1947 and now has 92 corps with a total strength of 170,000, don't look at people's reputation is not conspicuous, but it has strong combat effectiveness, and far exceeds the regular air force of most countries in terms of hard power. From F16 to F22 Raptor, from aerial gunboats to Globemaster, it's all there.
And the most exaggerated, the 130th Bomber Wing under the Air National Guard was equipped with the famous and necessary stealth bomber B2. If it weren't for the Constitution's stipulation that the United States and states should not have an independent navy, otherwise the entire National Guard would have no problem with 3 to 4 aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.
Moreover, unlike other countries' reserves, which fish for three days and dry nets for two days, the US National Guard has quite rich experience in actual combat. During World War II, the Army and the National Guard successively formed 19 integrated divisions to participate in the battles in Europe and the Pacific theater.
The 29th Infantry Regiment of the 116th Infantry Division of the National Guard, fighting alongside the 1st Division of the U.S. Army, was the first to rush to Omaha probe. This scene is presented in cultural works such as Saving Private Ryan and Call of Duty, and later in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the War on Terror, the Army and the National Guard, not to mention the Air National Guard.
Due to its late birth, it is basically used as a front-line rapid reaction force in practical use. For example, in Operation Desert Shield in 90, the first to fly to the Gulf was the 105th Air Transport Group of the New York National Guard flying C5 transport aircraft. And the most interesting thing is that in addition to military force, in fact, the National Guard also has to be reclaimed.
In 2008, it created a rural construction team deployed in Afghanistan to teach local farmers basic agricultural knowledge in order to improve food production and the overall economy of Afghanistan.
So the question is, since the National Guard is so powerful, isn't the United States afraid that they will really rebel? In fact, the U.S. federal ** has always been left behind. The first is constitutional restrictions, the second is command control, and the third and most important is equipment control. Let's talk about it.
We'll have to go back to the 1903 Militia Law. During the Western Theater of the United States, the militia units sent to the front line by various states were mixed, including elite dragoon units that were brave and good at fighting, and a large number of soy sauce soldiers who could not even match the best guns.
Elite dragoons.
Fortunately, the opponent is the aging Spanish Empire, and it is really difficult to say who will kill the deer. It was precisely because of the mixed situation of the militia that Senator Charles Dick, who was born in Ohio and also participated in the Spanish-American War, decided to work with those of insight to reshape the military power of the United States. The Militia Act of 1903 was introduced, which, in short, allowed states to use federal funds to pay for the training of the National Guard and established the National Guard to coordinate state militia affairs to improve combat readiness.
In addition, officers of the National Guard can attend army schools, and active-duty Army officers can also serve as instructors of the National Guard. In return, the federal government gained greater control over the National Guard, and the United States had the power to call up the National Guard and push the invasion to quell the rebellion. The maximum enlistment period is 9 months. Later, the Act was amended several times, and in 1908 the draft period was abolished, but the National Guard must be federalized before it could perform its duties.
However, federalization is very rare, and after the end of World War II, the United States federalized the National Guard of 14 states. And each time it was one of the most famous crisis situations in history, which was a political agreement between the federation and the states. In 1916, in response to World War I, the United States Congress introduced the National Defense Act, which clarified the National Guard as the official name of each state militia, and proposed to combine the National Guard, the Reserve Army, and the regular army in wartime, increasing the annual exercises of the National Guard from 24 to 48, while receiving federal subsidies.
In 1933, in order to deal with the dangerous situation in Europe again. Amendments to the National Defense Act were introduced, and a new separate reserve unit was created in the US Army, known as the US National Guard. Since then, the National Guard has enjoyed a dual status in law. In fact, the local armed forces of the states, but at the same time the reserve forces of the federation.
In 1973, the Total Force Policy was introduced, establishing that the National Guard and the active force would be in the same formation, so that the two could share the equipment training system and infrastructure. For example, the 131st Bomber Wing of the National Guard mentioned at the beginning, as the 59th Wing of the US Air Force, shares the B21 Ghost Bomber and related ground facilities, that is, one set of equipment and two groups of personnel.
U.S. Air Force Ground Crew.
Therefore, the United States does not have to worry about the National Guard dropping nuclear bombs in the United States, because even if he can fly the plane, the ground air traffic control of the airport is all owned by the US military. By the Montgomery Amendment of 1986, Congress had begun to restrict states' access to the National Guard in turn. For example, it is forbidden for the state to refuse to send the National Guard to fight overseas for training purposes.
In 2007, it was further stipulated that in the event of an emergency, the governor was no longer the sole commander of the state's National Guard,** but had full authority without the governor's consent. However, due to the fierce opposition to this case, the special command of ** was withdrawn the next day. Throughout the more than 100 years of change of the National Guard Captain, it is not difficult to find that this is actually the military power game between the states and the federation in the United States.