The National Guard
The National Guard is one of the organizations of the United States Army and Air Force.
Its members are not active duty soldiers and airmen.
But National Guard members can be ordered to serve with them.
The National Guard is the modern result of a law passed more than 200 years ago.
It was the Militia Act of 1792.
It required every free, able, white,male citizen between the ages of 18 and 45 to serve in a militia.
Each state controlled and trained the members of these military groups.
In 1905, a law was passed that required all male citizens to serve in the nation's armed forces.
By then, the militia was known as the National Guard.
The law placed the Guard under the control of state governments and the federal government.
National Defense Acts in 1920 and 1933 extended this federal power.
Since then, the President has been able to order National Guard units to active duty in a national emergency.
State governors may order units to active duty duringemergencies such as strikes, natural disasters or riots.
Today, the law does not require citizens to join the armed forces or the National Guard.
Citizens can volunteer to join both groups.
Each state, territory and the District of Columbia has its own National Guard.
The Army National Guard has about 350,000 citizen soldiers.
About 100,000 airmen serve in the Air National Guard.
During peacetime, National Guard members attend 48 training periods a year.
The federal government pays them for the time they are training.
The army and air force National Guard units serve with active duty soldiers in the United States and around the world.
In recent years,
the President has ordered them to serve during the Gulf War and as peacekeepers after the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo.