Q: Is the Nat'l Guard, by definition, a "militia"?

[theHandpuppet]

This may seem like a dumb question, but exactly what is the difference between the National Guard and an organized militia? How does the chain of command for the Nat'l Guard differ from that of the regular armed forces? If the governors of states are in command of that particular state's guard, by what power does the President decide what/when/where he's going to use them?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer my questions.

[atreides1]

1. Here's what I found

The concept of the militia in the United States of America is a complex one. The term militia can mean any number of groups within the United States. In general, there are three types of militia within the US:

Constitutional, or unorganized miltia, which consist of every able-bodied man ages 18-45 who can be called into active service through congressional power and who, according to various militia acts (Militia acts of 1792, 1852, 1903) are encouraged to train in marksmenship with arms provided by themselves in order to prepare them for military service. (The Civilian Marksmanship Program, created by Congressional power in 1903 at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt, is the only organization in which approved military rifles may be purchased without going through a Federal Firearms Dealer).

Select-militia, which originated in early State select-militia forces and the constitutional militia, consist of State and Federal militia forces, like the National Guard, which were created by statutory law rather than constitutional power.

Private-militia forces, which are made up of unorganized militiamen who have, on their own authority, organized into para-military organizations based on their own interpretation of the concept of the militia. These militia claim belief that private militia are supported by the principles of the common law of England (as found in Blackstone's Commentaries) and the intentions of the Founding Fathers of the United States (as found in the Annals of Congress and various publications of the period).


Some examples of militia

U.S. Federal militia forces
United States National Guard

U.S. State Defense Forces
Virginia Militia
State Defense Forces
Texas State Guard
New Hampshire Militia
Connecticut Governor's Guards

U.S. Private militias
(many are self-defined as "unorganised militia" as mentioned in various acts and historical treatices or writings )

Colorado Minutemen
North Carolina Citizen's Militia
Triangle Civilian Irregular Defense Group* Militia of Montana
Michigan Militia
Indiana Militia Corps
Texas Emergency Reserve
Unorganized Hawaii State Militia
Connecticut 71st Militia
California State Militia
KISSATA
Ranch Rescue

[Breeze54]

2. Bush "federalized" the National Guard.

Friday, January 12, 2007
Governors lose in power struggle over National Guard

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=170453

By Kavan Peterson, Staff Writer

A little-noticed change in federal law packs an important change in who is in charge the next time a state is devastated by a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina.

To the dismay of the nation’s governors, the White House now will be empowered to go over a governor’s head and call up National Guard troops to aid a state in time of natural disasters or other public emergencies. Up to now, governors were the sole commanders in chief of citizen soldiers in local Guard units during emergencies within the state.

A conflict over who should control Guard units arose in the days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. President Bush sought to federalize control of Guardsmen in Louisiana in the chaos after the hurricane, but Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) refused to relinquish command.

Over objections from all 50 governors, Congress in October tweaked the 200-year-old Insurrection Act to empower the hand of the president in future stateside emergencies. In a letter to Congress, the governors called the change "a dramatic expansion of federal authority during natural disasters that could cause confusion in the command-and-control of the National Guard and interfere with states' ability to respond to natural disasters within their borders."

The change adds to tensions between governors and the White House after more than four years of heavy federal deployment of state-based Guard forces to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, four out of five guardsmen have been sent overseas in the largest deployment of the National Guard since World War II. Shortage of the Guard’s military equipment – such as helicopters to drop hay to snow-stranded cattle in Colorado – also is a nagging issue as much of units’ heavy equipment is left overseas and unavailable in case of a natural disaster at home.

A bipartisan majority of both chambers of Congress adopted the change as part of the 439-page, $538 billion 2007 Defense Authorization Bill signed into law last October.

The nation's governors through the National Governors Association (NGA) successfully lobbied to defeat a broader proposal to give the president power to federalize Guard troops without invoking the Insurrection Act. But the passage that became law also "disappointed" governors because it expands federal power and could cause confusion between state and federal authorities trying to respond to an emergency situation, said David Quam, an NGA homeland security advisor.

"Governors need to be focused on assisting their citizens during an emergency instead of looking over their shoulders to see if the federal government is going to step in," Quam said.

Under the U.S. Constitution, each state's National Guard unit is controlled by the governor in time of peace but can be called up for federal duty by the president. The National Guard employs 444,000 part-time soldiers between its two branches: the Army and Air National Guards.

More at Link....

Bush "federalized" the national Guard.
:grr:

[theHandpuppet]

8. And the governors should reclaim that power in 2008...

... as a repudiation of the Imperial Presidency.

I would like to know if any of the Dem presidential candidates have addressed this issue because I for one think it is important for a number of reasons.

[Recursion]

3. US Code Title 10,311

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

So, yes, the National Guard is, along with the Naval Militia, the "organized" class of the militia.

[Unperson]

4. Then you have private armies.

Like the Atholl Highlanders.

The Atholl Highlanders is a Scottish regiment. However, uniquely in the United Kingdom, they are not part of the British Army. Instead, the regiment is in the private employ of the Duke of Atholl, making it the UK's, and indeed Europe's, only legal private army.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atholl_Highlanders

[Selatius]

5. The National Guard should be called the Federal Guard at the current rate

They are being used for corporate imperial aspirations more than legitimate defense of home and family. I don't think this is what folks like Jefferson, Washington, et al. wanted, an imperial army guarding the vast expanses of the empire.

[Breeze54]

7. No shit! Over used and abused!

:grr:

[Breeze54]

6. The National Guard is the modern counterpart of the militia

National Guard

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-states-national-guard

The modern counterpart of the militia has the longest continuous history of any American military component. The guard's original units were organized in December 1636 as the North, South, and East Regiments of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Artillery. They served at the beginning of the twenty-first century as components of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. The name "National Guard" was first used in 1824 by New York units to honor the Marquis de Lafayette, commander of the Garde Nationale de Paris, during his visit to the newly established United States. The Marquis de Lafayette greatly assisted General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. After 1889, the term "National Guard" was adopted gradually by the militias of the various states.

From the Militia Act of 1792 to the Dick Act of 1903, the United States lacked a uniformly enforced militia policy. The modern National Guard began with the Dick Act, which divided the militia into the organized militia, or National Guard, and the unorganized militia. Units were to conform to the standards of the regular army and receive increased state and federal aid, but they were separate from the army. A 1908 amendment authorized the president to send guard units outside the country. The National Defense Act of 1916 made the guard a component of the army while in federal service and provided for regular training. The National Defense Act of 1920 established a three-component army: the regular army, the National Guard, and the organized reserves. Although the guard was considered the first-line reserve, it still was not a full-time component of the army. An amendment in 1933 created the National Guard of the United States (NGUS) as a full-time reserve component of the army. Although the composition of this force was identical to that of the state National Guard, it was subject to a call to active duty by the president without his having to go through the governor. In 1940, just prior to the outbreak of World War II, nineteen guard divisions along with their air "observation squadrons" were activated. They served in all theaters of war, garnering campaign credits and honors. After the cessation of hostilities in 1945, the WAR DEPARTMENT established the guard as a twenty-seven-division force, available for immediate service in the event of war. Under terms of the Reserve Forces Act of 1955, the army became responsible for training guard recruits for at least six months.