- The National Guard, rooted in colonial militias, meets the needs of states under governors.
- The forces in active service and reserve operate under federal command. Sometimes the National Guard can also.
- Different laws govern when a president “federalizes” the guard, with particular circumstances.
The American army fights wars abroad, but it also remains occupied at home. However, there are different types of forces, and rules on what they can and cannot do on domestic soil can be confusing.
Only last months have seen a lot of activity. Active service troops carry migrants as part of new White House expulsion measures, other people displaced on the American-Mexican border. Their national guard counterparts are also active on the border. Other childcare units have contributed to fighting forest fires and helped to recover hurricanes.
What is the difference between active service, guard and reserve?
The National Guard traces its roots to colonial America.
“The best way to think about guard is like a classic citizens’ soldier,” said Rachel Vanlandham, national security expert and professor at the Southwestern Law School. These state militias have transformed more than 250 years into individual national guard guards, with around 430,000 members collectively across the country.
The guard is made up of regular members of the community such as teachers, bankers, social workers, etc. which can be called to respond to emergencies to the discretion of their state governors. “When there is a need, they will put a uniform,” said Vanlandingham. “But they specifically belong to the state.”
There are generally two categories of people who join the National Guard, said Katherine Kuzminski, who oversees the Center for a New American Security Military, Veterans and Society Program.
Most national guard troops are pursuing a civilian career, but still want to serve or were once in active service but are now part -time.
Like reservations and active forces, the national guard troops are undergoing basic training with specialized professional training. They occupy specific military jobs, which may include anything, the truck mechanic or the pilot to a infantryman or a specialist in the administrator.
Because active troops are assigned to military bases which are generally very far from highly populated areas, which leads to fewer civilians, most Americans rarely engage with active troops and are more likely to know someone who is in the custody or the reserve.
The Northern Carolina National Guards assigned to the 130th maneuver improvement brigade are clear debris in Lake Lure, NC, October 8, 2024 as part of the help efforts of Hurricane Helene. Photo of the US Army National Guard by the General Staff Sergeant. Hannah Tarkelly
Similar to custody, reserve forces are the part -time equivalent of the force in active service. Many reservists are also former full -time troops which were once in active service. Reservists frequently belong to units based outside their states of origin, which means that they could travel monthly to “drill”, performing routine tasks to stay fresh in uniform.
Nursing troops and reservists are generally forced to serve one weekend per month in uniform, then at least two consecutive weeks per year to maintain military skills.
The members of the active service service are built up for a specific number of years, with options to be extended. They live on or near the military base to which they are affected. Most members of the active service work on normal working days, but should undergo long training exercises, perform night tasks and have often passed 24/7.
Who do they answer?
The most important differences between the daycare, reserve and active service forces are in their command chains and the legal authorities.
First, the chain of command for all reservists and active troops is entirely through the Ministry of Defense, to the secretaries of the services and the president. States have no control over reserve forces.
Each of the armed services of the Ministry of Defense has its own reserve component, but only the army and the air forces have national guards. States do not need naval forces, said Kuzminski, so that the Ministry of Navy (which includes the Marine Corps) has no component of the National Guard. At present, there is also no national spatial guard.
Reservists also have the possibility of “activating”, which means that they can become an active service for a period of defined time, either deploy abroad, or report daily to a base in the United States for periods fixed. “Activation” can be a popular choice for reservists looking for stability in an economic context in their civil work or who are simply eager to deploy and serve.
Control of the National Guard is different and somewhat confusing.
Most of the time, the National Guard operates under the measure of the governor of their state, said Vanlandingham. When called by the governor, the troops react most often to natural or emergency disasters, like those of North Carolina who responded to Hurricane Helene last year or to those of California who activated In response to recent fires. National Guard troops were also deployed in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in the midst of waste efforts to contest the elections.
“The guards belong to a service, but their chain of command goes to their governor,” said Kuzminski.
A national guardian from Caroline from the north of the 105th engineer battalion, cuts the wood during the cleaning of debris in Lake Lure, NC, October 8, 2024., as part of the relief efforts of the Hurricane Helene. Photo of the US Army National Guard by the General Staff Sergeant. Hannah Tarkelly
Where are the limits?
A president or a governor can ask to “federalize” his guard troops, lending them on loan to the nation. When the guard is federalized, these troops exchange to operate in different laws which govern the rest of the DOD, known as title 10.
Federalized guard troops were vital for the world war against terrorism, Kuzminski said. Hundreds of thousands of people deployed over the years.
But federal membership of the legislation that governs childcare operations has made the headlines in recent years. During the first term of President Donald Trump, he called on non -confederalized guard troops outside the state in Washington, DC, a non -state jurisdiction, to suppress demonstrations. Some experts have declared that the move compromised the laws preventing the unconstitutional use of the troops at home.
Governors can activate their national guard troops to serve in certain national roles for applying the law at home, but all key constitutional guarantees are still important, Vanlandham said. “It is not as if different rules apply.”
The Posse Comitatus Act, however, prevents federal troops from participating in this role. To bypass Posse Comitatus, the presidents can rely on the Insurrection Act. Trump repeatedly launched the idea of using the soldiers at home more recently, Running some legal experts to say that the insurgency law is late for the reform.
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