National Guard Gone Over the Edge?
Army National Guard recruiting materials will no longer feature the traditional armed Minute Man logo, approved by the Army in 1989, the Guard announced in December.
When the National Guard’s oldest regiments met for their first drill on the village green in Salem, Massachusetts, they were barely three months old, organized on December 13th, 1636, the date we now celebrate as the National Guard birthday, according to the Guard.
In 1637, the English settlements in North America were a tiny fringe along the Eastern seaboard. As settlement pushed west into the interior, the institution of the militia, which the colonists brought with them from England, went with them.
The militia tradition meant citizens organizing themselves into military units, responsible for their own defense. Organizing the militia into regiments increased its efficiency and responsiveness, which proved critical for the defense of their communities. Its oldest units, like the one pictured above, are the oldest units in the United States military and among the oldest military units in the world.
The militia, called the National Guard since 1916, has served community, state, and nation for nearly 400 years, and citizen-soldiers have fought in every major American conflict from 1637 to present day operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Much has changed since the “first muster,” but more than 370 years later, the men and women of the National Guard are still defending their neighbors – and their nation.
According to Massachusetts colonial law, all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to keep a serviceable firearm and serve in a part-time citizen army called the militia. Their duty was to defend the colony against her enemies; chiefly the Indians and the French.
The colonial militia sometimes fought side by side with British soldiers, particularly during the last French and Indian War in the 1750’s and early 60’s. However, as a result of the mounting tensions between Great Britain and her American colonies, that would soon change.
In October of 1774, following the lead of the Worcester County Convention, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress called upon all militia officers to resign their commisions under the old Royal Government and for new elections to be held. This effectively purged the officer corps of loyalists.
They also called upon the towns (most of which supported one or more companies of militia) to set aside a portion of its militia and form them into new, special companies called minute men.
Minute Men were different from the militia in the following ways.
They were volunteers.
They trained more frequently.
They were required to keep their arms and equipment with them at all times.