The role of the National Guard is supposed to be ... to guard the nation
News to me. When I was on active duty in Germany in the late '80's a big part of the Op-Plan and annual REFORGER exercises was what we called "Ten Divisions in Ten Days". That meant getting ten Divisions of Active Duty and and NATIONAL GUARD troops across the pond should the Warsaw Pact decide they wanted to visit Frankfurt or Paris. The National Guard was always considered to be ready to deploy overseas. In fact in WWI and WWII the Guard were some of the first units sent overseas. And let's not forget about the militia units that fought in the Mexican-American and Spanish-American Wars
Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna could be lucky in war, notably at the Alamo, but he had a problem with food. He lost his leg in the so-called French Pastry War, fought between France and Mexico in 1838. Then in 1847, facing the United States at the Battle of Cerro Gordo in Mexico, he stopped paying attention to the war long enough to linger over a roast chicken.
His lunch was interrupted by an uninvited regiment of Illinoisans, who ate the general's chicken and carried off his cork leg. Santa Anna hobbled away to fight another day.
It was a huge victory for the 4th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, who also discovered a hoard of gold used to pay Mexican soldiers
..snip....
Mark Whitlock of Camp Lincoln's Illinois State Military Museum says the leg is going nowhere, ever. "It's an important part of Illinois history," he said. Cerro Gordo's place in history is marked by an inscription on the shin of the leg: "General Santa Anna's cork leg, captured at the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Mexico, by Private A. Waldron, First Sergeant Sam Rhoades, Second Sergeant John M. Gill April 18, 1847, all of the Fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers of the Mexican War."
With the threat of both a European and a Pacific War, President Franklin Roosevelt called the 33rd Division of the Illinois National Guard into active federal service on March 5, 1941. After mustering in Chicago, the 33rd Division spent three months training at Camp Forrest in Tennessee. This included bayonet practice, marksmanship and war exercises. The Division was sent to Camp Lewis, Washington where it received training in mountain combat, followed by desert training in California. The 33rd was then sent to defend the Hawaiian Islands and continue training.
On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed the American Naval Fleet at Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to declare war on Japan. Within a week Germany declared war on the United States.
Elements of the 33rd Division took part in various campaigns in the Pacific Theater of War. The 132d Infantry, of the Illinois National Guard, arrived on Guadalcanal on 8 Dec to support the United States Marines in expanding the campaign. They played a large role in the first Japanese land battle defeat in history.
And yep, a
Red Dawn or a seaborne invasion ain't gonna happen. No other nation or terrorist group could make it happen (heck, even the best Germany could do in WWII was land small groups of agents on Long Island, and Japan could only launch a couple of rounds from the deck guns of submarines on the west coast.)
Sleeper cells and/or terrorist groups a what's gonna hit us. There's no need to reivive the old Coast Artillery Corps.
And yep, it's easier to fight them over there then fight them over here. Plus it easer from them to "strike" at us over there, then to try to "strike" at us over here. I'd much rather fight them over there then fight them over here.
