The Army National Guard of today fulfills both a vital role in our national defense and an important part in the nation’s civil emergency preparedness network.
When the Heavens Thunder
Natural disasters can strike our country without warning, with blinding speed, and with merciless force. A swollen river can become a raging torrent with just an inch more of rain. Out of a blustery night sky, a twister can pounce on a sleeping suburban town. Fluffy snowflakes can be the seeds of a deadly blizzard.
Because there are Guard units in cities and towns all over America, any state governor can send the Guard directly into action. Guard members are men and women who not only know how to deal with local emergencies, they also know the lay of the land, giving them every possible advantage.
Almost every month, newspapers chronicle the brave and humanitarian deeds of Guard members. Through their efforts, scores of lives are saved, millions of dollars in property are spared, and families are helped to weather violent storms.
Yet there are hundreds of other local missions which are rarely reported. The Guard helps educate underprivileged children, works to keep illicit drugs out of our schools, blazes roads into inaccessible areas, and airlifts precious medicine and supplies to those in need.
All of this is why, when America is in a time of crisis, it knows what to do: “Call Out the National Guard!”
When the Nation Calls
The Army National Guard is America’s most powerful invisible weapon. Until they’re mobilized, Guard members are ordinary members of society: hundreds of thousands of people from every walk of life and every part of the nation.
What makes these people different is their unswerving commitment to the safety of our country and the training that keeps them ready to maintain it. They have studied at U.S. Army technical schools and practiced the same tactics, maneuvers, and strategies as active component soldiers in the Army. They operate the same Army equipment, fire the same weapons, and drill under the same rugged conditions. This is why, in the event of national or international crisis or conflict, the Guard can be integrated into America’s Army in a matter of hours.
Overnight, steel workers, accountants, secretaries, and surgeons can all be in their Guard uniforms and on their way to serve. The Guard accounts for more than half of the Army’s combat power, as well as more than a third of the combat service support structure.
Strategic planning integrates Guard units into crucial combat, combat support, and combat service support elements of our nation’s military forces. These elements provide a trained, capable, and cost-effective military force, able to provide rapid augmentation, reinforcement, and expansion in time of call-up or mobilization.
As the Army National Guard begins a new century, we find the pace and variety of operations steadily increasing. These rapidly occurring events include tremendous strides in Active Component/Army National Guard integration, ongoing support to peace-keeping efforts in the Balkans, Counter-Drug activities, and Homeland Defense.