America's State Defense Forces: An Historical Component of National Defense

Abstract

Throughout American history, the bulk of U.S. military forces fighting during the nation's major wars at least through the end of the 19th Century were men who volunteered for state militia units, whether organized or unorganized. The currently existing state defense forces are the direct descendent organizations of such traditional American militias. For national or homeland defense, the U.S. military has always relied upon these militias, which are groups of part-timers assembled for contingencies. This article describes the structure and missions of state defense forces or state militias during and after the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War, and after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA497658

Entities

People

  • Kent G. Sieg

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Defense
  • Civil War
  • Governments
  • Homeland Defense
  • Homeland Security
  • International Organizations
  • Law
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Reserves
  • National Governments
  • National Guard
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Second World War
  • Security
  • United States
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • History
  • Sociology

Readers

  • Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.