U.S. Reliance of the National Guard During WWII

U.S. Reliance of the National Guard

The National Guard is a private army (militia) of the United States of America. The United States' Constitution has authorized this militia and has also specified the different functions and roles of the National Guard in the federal and state governments. According to the Article 1 of the Section 8 in the United States' Constitution, the Congress has been granted the authority "to call forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions" ("National Guard," 2013). The power to organize, arm and discipline the militia was handed over to the Congress. However, it was the responsibility of the states to appoint the officers and train the militia. The second Amendment consisted of further provisions regarding the regulation of militia ("National Guard," 2013).

In general, the National Guard is answerable to the state jurisdiction when there is peace. The governors have the authority to put down and suppress local turmoil and disorders buy sing the National Guard. The 1967 riots in Newark and Detroit are such examples when the governors made use of the National Guard to sort out and deal with the domestic overwhelming circumstances. The National Guard is also used for helping in the occurrence of disasters on a local level, for example floods, earthquake, thunderstorms etc. When there is war, the National Guard is made a part of the United States' active service whereby the President of the country also acts as the commander-in-chief ("National Guard," 2013).

The equipment and human resources of the National Guard are standardized to match with the army regulations of the United States of America. The recruitment or mobilization is voluntary and the federal government is responsible for giving the compensation to those who are appointed. The volunteers are even paid for their time spent in field training or drill periods ("National Guard," 2013).

World War II and United States' Reliance on National Guard during this Period

World War II, the greatest and most brutal war in the human history was started in 1939 and took six years to end. It was an international conflict that involved all the great powers in the world at that time. The two opponents were categorized as the Allies (Great Britain, France, China and USA) and the Axis (Germany, Italy, Japan and USSR) ("World War II," 2013).

As Europe became involved in the Great War II in September 1939, the United States of America's Army ranked 17th in the world (Doubler, 2003). In order to augment this force, the National Guard could play a decisive part even though this militia was not well-equipped or appropriately trained to fight in such a great armed conflict. However, when President Roosevelt observed the circumstances, he wasted no time in approving the increase of size of the Guard to be included in the American Army. He also approved more appropriate training for the voluntary soldiers but still it didn't comply with the wishes of the Army to get people more trained for the war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was uncertain and doubtful in taking such a big decision/action for the masses that were isolationist for the most part (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

On the other hand, the Army was also hesitant in making attempts for training and reorganizing the National Guard. One of the major reasons why the United States of America decided to rely on the National Guard during World War II was that the Guard's officer unit was represented by the National Guard Association that had the possession of one of the most efficient and effective lobbies at that point in time (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

War In Europe

The armed forces of Nazi Germany were let loose and allowed to run riot by Adolf Hitler on September 1, 1939 morning. This unleashing of forces was done against Poland. The people in Europe who were already afraid of the commencement of another war after the brutal conflict of World War I held their breath to look out for the actions of France and Great Britain against this German action. The two super powers thrown in the towel accepting the demands and threats of Hitler previously. On the other hand, when the Munich Agreement was violated by Hitler, the Allies made the firm decision of standing behind Poland to support it. Thus, they declared war on September 3 after which the world witnessed the brutal events of World War II (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

America's Entrance in World War II

It is extremely important to mention here that after the World War I came to a conclusion, the Americans wanted to stay out of this European conflict. The American government and people did not waste any time in realizing that their participation in the World War I had been a catastrophic and unfortunate mistake and they must not involve themselves in any bloody war in the future again. They adopted policies for reducing apprehensions and for maintaining a tough protective military shield. The late period of 1920s was an adverse and unlucky time for the United States as the country suffered the Great Depression. This period in history made millions of Americans suffer. Even though Great Depression affected the other countries as well but it was majorly in United States of America that people continued to suffer for many years (Winkler, 2000).

Moreover, the United Kingdom and France were indebted to the United States but they did not pay their debts to USA when the country was in need. This betrayal forced America to revise its foreign policy and the country adopted a strategy of neutrality, putting down the lid for the external world. Thus, the United States adopted a policy of segregation and self-reliance and started to concentrate more on the domestic affairs. These were the main reasons why American government and people avoided entering the World War II (Winkler, 2000).

However, it was also not a surprise for the Americans that the Europe was now involved in yet another brutal war as this was inevitable according to continuous proclamations of the twentieth-century isolationists. It was the belief of a number of Americans that Europeans' antagonism, domestic political contentions and old grudges would make them indulge in violent behavior sooner or later (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

However, President Roosevelt was profoundly apprehended by the events in Europe. He had given more attention to the national problems during his first term but his distress increased in the late 1930s when he saw Italy, Germany, Italy and Japan rising and thus, he was sure that his country would unavoidably become a part of the World War II (Fleming, 2001). The Congress and people in America had an isolationist attitude and this made him devise a plan that not only helped towards nation's defense rebuilding but also made sure that Hitler's opponents are abundantly aided. According to Robert A. Divine, a famous historian, "Roosevelt shared the isolationist desire to keep the United States out of armed conflict, yet he also followed a seemingly interventionist policy of rendering aid to anti-fascist nations" (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992, p. 5)

Background

At the same time, this inescapable involvement in World War II put the Army of the United States of America and General George Catlett Marshall ("Marshall, George Catlett," 2013), just then installed chief of staff, in dilemma. They were faced with the critical issue of acquirement of enough men and material that were required for the United States' defense and the Western Hemisphere in order to get protection in case the European war's expansion. Similar to President Roosevelt, Marshall was also opposed by the Congress that was under a strong influence of isolated, conservative and sponsor politics (Bunting, 2005). In addition to this, the National Guard Association of the United States (NGA) also did not make it easy for Marshall to execute his task with ease. This was because NGA was working as a rather independent military force that had strong connection with the political lobby in the country (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

As it represented the voice of the officers in the Guard, the NGA was after the Federal dollars and wanted to play as a major participant in the defense of the country. However, both Marshall and the NGA were unsuccessful in realizing that the World War II will change the American society's way of raising and maintaining its armed forces for the next four decades. The time proved that the Army and the National Guard did not remain what they used to be before the World War II (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

The United States Army that General Craig gave out to Marshall was not at all at high ebb. As already mentioned, it was rated as the seventeenth best army in the world. Regardless of the fact that Congress was persistently persuaded by Roosevelt for increasing the defense expenses; the United States' Army only had about 180,000 officers and men. 50,000 troops gave out their services in Hawaii and other regions outside the continental USA such as the Philippine Islands and the Panama Canal Zone (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

The continental United States of America was served by units that were spread in one hundred and thirty posts that were the vestiges of the Indian wars for the most part (Doubler, 2003). 9 infantry and 2 divisions of cavalry made up the combat units. However, those units just serving as paper organizations and had little significance as none of the division was in close proximity to its sanctioned peace-time power. The Second Division had almost ten thousand men. However, this number was also four thousand men short (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

In 1938, Roosevelt had given considerable attention to the Army Air Corps believing that this military unit would serve as a major strength for defending the United States of America from any sea borne attack. For influencing Hitler and his Nazi forces, Roosevelt persuaded Congress to formulate a plan to make the manufacturing of ten thousand planes possible in a year time. On the other hand, no orders were given by him to increase the number of officers and soldiers or make improvements in training. He did not give any orders regarding the latter even though the Army insisted that it was necessary to increase the officers' number and more training (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

As a consequence, by September 1939, there were about twenty-six thousand men and two thousand planes in the Army Air Corps. As similar to the infantry, there were, without a doubt, severe manual power shortage and obsolete equipment in the Air Corps (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992). Thus, the combat capability of the Army was principally dependent on the infantrymen. Due to the isolationism and stern military funds and resources, very little was done by the United States' Army for the promotion of military aviation or mechanization of warfare (Doubler, 2003).

The National Guard and the Army Reserve were the two major reserve organizations of the United States Army at that point in time. Fortunately, they had a better number of regulars as compared to the Army itself. According to the facts and figures of the year 1939, "the Army Reserve contained a total of 119,773, with 104,228 in the Active Officer Reserve Corps and 12,408 inactive reserve officers" (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992, p. 21). There were more or less three thousand men in the Enlisted Reserve Corps. On the other hand, there were no units in the Army Reserve. It only consisted of men to be brought into play as fillers in a stretched Army (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

If compared, the strength of the National Guard and the Regular Army was not equal by any means. Contrasting the Reserve, there were 18 infantry and 4 cavalry divisions maintained by the Guard. However, it is also important to mention here that the Guard had also faced the consequences of the postwar period and suffered due to the Great Depression (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

The Role of Congress

The Congress made the figure of 400,000 as the authorized strength of the Guard as part of the 1920 National Defense Act. Conversely, this number remained limited to 199,491 due to insufficient funding. Only a few units managed to maintain the strength of that of peacetime. This condition of the Army, the Reserve, and the National Guard was not a surprise and emerged from both a response to the World War I idealism and the Great Depression devastation. The sentiment of isolationism reached its height among the American people after the end of the World War I and this feeling of deceit turned the common man inward and in opposition to militarism. In 1920s i.e. when there was prosperity in the country, Congress took advantage of the nation's mood, came forward and responded by repetitive trimming of the financials plans regarding defense (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

Even though the beginning of the Great Depression inspired and motivated people to get them enlisted, this did not improve the material base of the American Army. This was the major reason why the United States of America was to rely on the National Guard during the World War II as severe budget reductions did not leave any other option for the country other than choosing a course of action that would conserve its composition while letting go of its potency (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

Role played by General Marshall

Thus, it was the instantaneous concern of General Marshall in September 1939 to enlarge the size, augment the preparations and increase the availability of resources of the Army of the United States as well as the National Guard. Even though, it was not possible for the Army to find an immediate cure for all the harsh conditions and hard times the two organizations were challenged with, General Marshall did not lose hope to at least touch the peacetime strength mark. He also hoped that the two organizations will get rid of the obsolete and outdated weaponries and get the new material that was needed for warfare (Nelsen, 1993). He was also hopeful in creating a force that would be competent enough to move anywhere in and outside the continental America for responding to Axis belligerence and hostility. However, it was rather a difficult thing to obtain both his goals. To begin with, he had to get the approval of President Roosevelt for increasing the manpower of the Army to 280,000 and of the National Guard to 425,000. Such an attempt necessitated the order from the President and Congress-passed additional funds (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

Approval to Increase Manpower

General Marshall paid a visit to the White House on September 4, 1939 to inquire about the needed executive order. At the end of the meeting, he left the White House believing that his visit won him the presidential approval for the Army and the National Guard expansion. On September 5, his staff was told by him about the approval of the President about the requested amplifications and enlargements. The next day, Marshall gave orders to the War Plans Division (WPD) for drafting a letter to President Roosevelt from Secretary Woodring "recommending the increase of the Regular Army to 280,000 and the National Guard to 435,000 and also to prepare the drafts of letters from the President to the Secretary of War directing such increases" (as qtd. In Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

The National Guard Bureau was given the official notification by the General Staff on September 20 about the approved increases in manpower. It was also provided with the new training schedule for the recruits. Every state was informed within 48 hours regarding its share of the manpower increase. The nation witnessed an enthusiastic response from the Guard as the European war had stimulated the men to participate in it. Recruitment resulted in the netting of thousands of new groups. As a consequence of the energetic recruitment drive, the Guard appointed more than six thousand men from 39 states just in the first week. About thirteen thousand men were recruited by the second week's end (Sligh & Beaumont, 1992).

To cut a long story short, it won't be incorrect to state that the commencement of the World War II turned out to be a defining moment for the state militias, The National Guard in particular. The National Guard and the two state defense forces suffered tremendously during the interwar years because of the decline in their numbers and preparations. Even so, the government of the United States of America recalled the entire National Guard to federal service. One major issue emerged with the unease of the state governors as they had to leave their constituents exposed and defenseless. To satisfy them, the recreation of the state guards took place by the time the World War II started and America entered into it. The major objective of the National Guard during the World War II was to make sure that the infrastructure was secured. A good number of state guards were gathered together and activated as special security units for short-term phases in war (Sieg, 2005).

The National Guard in World War II

It is not an untold secret that the National Guard played a pivotal role during the two global conflicts popularly known as World War I and World War II. Not only did the National Guard made mobilization happen but also made sincere and direct endeavors for the provision of both land and space means/facilities for defeating the European and Asian totalitarian powers. The contribution of National Guard crystal clearly reflects the reliance of the United States of America on the citizen-soldiers who rendered their services for the sake of their states and the homeland in particular (Doubler, 2001).