They were there at Concord Bridge. They shaped the vast volunteer
armies of the Civil War. They have fought in America's major wars
around the world. And they made the first military response on 9/11
after the World Trade Center towers crashed in Manhattan.
The National Guard has had a singular place in American history
as citizen-soldiers responding both to homeland crises and to the
need for fighting power overseas. Michael Doubler now offers the
first comprehensive history of the Guard to appear in over thirty
years, tracing its role from the days of colonial militias to the
dawn of a new millennium. Spanning more than four centuries, he
records the Army National Guard's outstanding accomplishments in
peace and war on behalf of both state and federal authorities.
Originally published as I Am the Guard by the Government Printing
Office and with only limited public distribution, this sweeping
history is now available in a paperback edition that (in a new
preface) updates the National Guard story up to the events of
9/11.
Beginning with the first regiments formed in the Massachusetts
Bay Colony, Doubler chronicles how American militiamen have
transformed themselves from a loose collection of local defense
forces into a modern efficient reserve force. After action in the
Spanish-American War, the militia era ended in 1903 with the
creation of the modern National Guard as the federal reserve of the
U.S. Army. In covering the last century, Doubler takes readers from
Guard service in both world wars to Cold War duties, the Gulf War,
and assignments in the Balkans. He tells of its not always friendly
relations with the Regular Army, as well as of those times when
Regulars and Guardsmen effectively reinforced each other to get the
job done.
The militia and National Guard have always concerned themselves
with homeland defense, and as the current administration reviews
national security, this book provides an opportunity to reconsider
the role of the Army National Guard in America's latest war. With
2003 marking the modern National Guard's centennial, Civilian in
Peace, Soldier in War offers a virtual primer on the military
policy of the United States, showing us that citizen-soldiers have
played a vital role in struggles against imperialism, fascism, and
communism-and assuring us that they will be ready for the war on
terrorism as well.
General
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