What is Army National Guard?

The Army National Guard consists of the "land force" of the United States National Guard, or organized militia, of the several States and Territories, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, active and inactive, as defined in Title 32, USC Section 101. The Army National Guard of the United States is a component of the United States Army. Maintained by the National Guard Bureau, units are under command of the state's governor. An exception to this rule is the D.C Army National Guard; the D.C Army Nation Guard is under the direction of the President of the United States. When the unit is federalized, the unit falls under the command of the President of the United States.

Like the United States Army Reserve, many members usually serve "One weekend a month, two weeks a year", although many members also serve full-time in order to maintain units, and many units have become more active in military operations in recent years.

The Army National Guard is the oldest branch of the U.S. military, tracing its origins back into American colonies as far back as 1636. English colonists needed to protect themselves and drew civilians into organized militias, from which are descended some units of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. The Army National Guard officially received its title in 1798.

During World War I, the National Guard provided 40% of the US Army's combat forces. Guard membership doubled in 1940, and provided 19 divisions during World War II. Later, 138,000 guardsmen were deployed for Korea, and many other smaller deployments. After September 11, the Army National Guard has been used extensively in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Twenty-first Century Reorganization

The Army National Guard is reorganizing into 32 brigade combat teams and 78 support brigades as a part of the Army's transformation plan. When the reorganization is complete, brigades will have 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers whereas the former Army organization was principally organized around large, mostly armored divisions of around 15,000 soldiers each.

There are currently (Nov 2006) eight National Guard divisions. ^[1]

List of Units Undergoing Transformation

The following is a partial list of the planned end-state organization of the Army National Guard, and includes those brigade and division-level units undergoing transformation as part of the US Army plan.

Divisions

• 28th Infantry Division (PA NG and FL NG)
• 2nd Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), Pennsylvania, Ohio
• 55th Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), Pennsylvania
• 56th Brigade Combat Team (Stryker), Pennsylvania
• 53rd Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), Florida
• 28th Combat Aviation Brigade, (PA NG and NJ NG)
• 29th Infantry Division (United States) (VA NG, MD NG)
• 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team), Virginia
• 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Maryland
• 30th Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), North Carolina, West Virginia
• 92nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Puerto Rico
• 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, (MD NG)
• 34th Infantry Division MN NG and IA NG)
• 116th Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), Idaho/Montana/Oregon
• 2nd Brigade, 34th Infantry Division, Wisconsin
• 1st Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), (MN NG)
• 2nd Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), (IA NG) and MN NG)
• 34th Combat Aviation Brigade, (MN NG, ND NG and ID NG)
• 35th Infantry Division (KS NG and NE NG)
• 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oklahoma
• 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Georgia
• 218th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (US)], South Carolina, Kansas
• 33rd Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), Illinois
• 35th Combat Aviation Brigade, (MO NG, NE NG and UT NG)
• 36th Infantry Division (TX NG)
• 56th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), Texas
• 72nd Ifantry Brigade Combat Team, Texas
• 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana
• 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, Mississippi
• 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, (TX NG, CO NG, AL NG and KS NG)
• 38th Infantry Division (IN NG, MI NG, and OH NG)
• 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Ohio/Michigan
• 76th Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), Indiana
• 149th Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), Kentucky/Alabama
• 278th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team (Heavy), Tennessee
• 38th Combat Aviation Brigade (IN NG)
• 40th Infantry Division (CA NG)
• 40th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, California
• 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oregon
• 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Hawaii/Arizona
• 81st Armored Brigade Combat Team, Washington/California
• 207th Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), Alaska/Arizona/California/New Mexico/Guam/Indiana/Nebraska
• 40th Combat Aviation Brigade (CA NG)
• 42nd Infantry Division (NY NG)
• 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New York
• 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont/Connecticut/Maine
• 50th Armored Brigade Combat Team (Infantry), New Jersey
• 26th Brigade Combat Team Massachusetts
• 42d Aviation Brigade, New York

Theater Level Support Organizations

• 167th Sustainment Command (Theater)
• 135th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)
• 184th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

Combat Support Brigades

These carry the designation (ME) which means Maneuver Enhancement.

• 110th Combat Support Brigade (ME), Missouri
• 111th Combat Support Brigade (ME), New Mexico
• 130th Combat Support Brigade (ME), North Carolina
• 225th Combat Support Brigade (ME), Louisiana
• 164th Combat Support Brigade (ME), North Dakota
• 157th Combat Support Brigade(ME), Wisconsin
• 136th Combat Support Brigade (ME), Texas

The Army National Guard also plans three additional combat support brigades, but these have not yet been assigned.

Sustainment Brigades

• 34th Sustainment Brigade
• 36th Sustainment Brigade
• 38th Sustainment Brigade
• 40th Sustainment Brigade
• 67th Sustainment Brigade
• 108th Sustainment Brigade, Illinois
• 230th Sustainment Brigade, North Carolina
• 287th Sustainment Brigade
• 369th Sustainment Brigade
• 371st Sustainment Brigade, Ohio
• 000th Sustainment Brigade

Field Artillery (Fires) Brigades

• 45th Fires Brigade, Oklahoma
• 65th Fires Brigade, Utah
• 138th Fires Brigade, Kentucky
• 142nd Fires Brigade, Arkansas
• 169th Fires Brigade, Colorado
• 197th Fires Brigade, New Hampshire

Functional Brigades

(there are twelve brigades to add here)

Theater Aviation Assets

77th Theater Aviation Brigade (AR, AK, AZ, IN, WI, and OK)

(there are four aviation units to add here)

Brigade Combat Teams

• 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (NY NG)
• 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (HI NG)
• 30th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (NC NG)
• 31st Armored Brigade Combat Team, (AL NG)
• 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (WI NG)
• 33d Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (IL NG)
• 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (OH NG, MI NG)
• 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (AR NG)
• 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (OR NG)
• 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (OK NG)
• 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (GA NG)
• 53d Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (FL NG)
• 56th Infantry Combat Team, (TX NG) -- returned from Iraq Dec 2005.
• 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (MD NG)
• 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (IN NG)
• 81st Armored Brigade Combat Team, (WA NG)
• 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mtn.), (VT NG)
• 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (VA NG)
• 116th Armored Cavalry Brigade Combat Team, (ID NG)
• 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, (MS NG)
• 207th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (AK NG)
• 218th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (SC NG)
• 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (LA NG)
• 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment Combat Team, (TN NG)
• 92nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, (PR NG)

Legacy Units and Formations

The following units were affected by the Army National Guard transformation, but are no longer active.

• 49th Armored Division inactivated 1 May 2004; reflagged as the 36th Infantry Division.

See also

• List of state-level Army National Guard pages in Wikipedia
• State Defense Forces

References

• National Guard Web Site
• Army National Guard Web Site
• Army National Guard Recruiting
• Unit Designations in the Army Modular Force, accessed 23 Nov 2006
• United States National Guard, accessed 4 Nov 2006