National Guard Celebrates 367th Birthday

Media Advisory 03-19-1                                                                      December 12, 2003

CAMP MURRAY, WA - Today, December 13th, 2003 the National Guard nation wide cerebrates its 367th Birthday.  The Guard traces its beginnings to the Massachusetts Militia of the year 1636. That year, General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony ordered the organization of the colonies militia companies into three regiments. The early colonial militia mustered for drill and ceremony once a week and provided guard details each evening to sound the alarm in case of attack.

The National Guard is our nations oldest arm of the U. S. military establishment. The regular Army can claim it is the oldest professional force (established June 14, 1775), but only the Guard can trace its heritage to 1636, when it became the nations militia.

The Guards birthday reminds us the U. S. Constitution mandated the militia/National Guard to be a part of our military tradition. Through a combination of historic precedents and political pressures of the time, the framers of the Constitution spelled out a military structure that relied on a state-supplied militia in time of need. Had the Constitution decreed, instead, a large standing army, it is very doubtful the National Guard would exist today.

The Washington Guard began with the establishment of the Washington Territory. In early 1854, Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens, upon establishing the government recommended, among other things, the organization of the Militia, and in January 1855, the Washington Territorial Militia was formed under the appointed command of Brigadier General George Gibbs of Steilacoom.

The nations National Guard, in 50 States, 3 Territories and the District of Columbia, continue the proud traditions of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in providing mission ready and capable units for the first-line defense of America at home and abroad. Today, at this 367th birthday of the National Guard, over 120,000 Guardsmen are serving across the globe as a result of the events of September 11th, 2001, the War on Terrorism and the support and stabilization missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, Washington State shares a portion of that burden, having nearly 3,900 citizen soldiers and airmen involved in those combined world wide military efforts.