National Guard Bureau
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The National Guard Bureau , based in Arlington, VA, is a semi-independent organizational unit of the United States Department of Defense . It takes over the coordination between the federal states responsible for the individual National Guard units and the two branches of the armed forces of the Army and the Air Force and is responsible for the deployment of the National Guard at the federal level.
organization
The National Guard Bureau organizes the United States National Guard in its capacity as a reserve for the United States Armed Forces. The National Guard consists of the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard .
Current commander of the National Guard Bureau ( Chief of the National Guard Bureau ) is General Joseph L. Lengyel . He is advised by the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the National Guard Bureau on all matters relating to the training and use, health of the forces, and the professional development of National Guard soldiers and airmen .
history
The National Guard emerged from the militias of the states of the war of independence . The regular army was comparatively weak throughout the 19th century. The National Guard Bureau was established under the Militia Act 1903. The National Defense Act 1916 finally transformed the National Guard into a military reserve of the United States Armed Forces . During the First World War , two-fifths of the troops fighting in France were national guards; 190,000 of them were deployed in World War II and 140,000 in the Korean War . The Chief of the National Guard Bureau has been a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2012 .