Let me say that the National Guard is more like the nature of the "Xiang Army"
Whether it is the last sensational "Black Life Gui" protest, or this "Entering Beijing Qinwang", the impact on the Capitol, in the face of the mob, the governments of various parts of the Federation did not hesitate to strike hard.
"World Famous Paintings" have been staged all over the United States.
One unit played a key role in suppressing the unrest, the National Guard.
It can be said that as soon as the National Guard dispatches the news of the quelling of the chaos, those "0 yuan snap-up party" and "congressional tour groups", even if their necks are red and their screams are fierce, they can only scatter immediately.
The U.S. National Guard has an air force and an army, fighter jets, armored vehicles, and even goes abroad to fight. It's almost like a regular U.S. military.
In China, many netizens have benchmarked the US National Guard against the Chinese armed police, which is actually inaccurate.
I prefer to call it "state army", or "local army" and "regimental training".
1
The National Guard is not an "armed policeman"
We all know that the North American continent was once a British colony, so there were only British troops, and later in order to make the United States independent, the states spontaneously organized a large number of militias to resist.
These militiamen did not have uniform clothing, no military training, and they went to the battlefield with their guns. These militias were the predecessors of the National Guard.
▲ American "country brave" vs. British "lobster soldier"
But this kind of "militia" is different from the "militia" we understand in China, these militias only obey orders with the armed forces of the states and the states, and when fighting the British army, they can form a "continental army" to command and fight under the command of Washington. When Britain was victorious and American independence was successful, the militias no longer listened to the federal government, but returned to the states.
This is actually a bit similar to the Xiang Army and Huai Army in The Qing Dynasty of China, or "regimental training".
▲ Township courage in the late Qing Dynasty
But without the militia, there would be no United States, and the intercontinental missile of the United States is called the "Minuteman 3."
On August 25, 1824, the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Artillery Regiment in New York State, in order to welcome the French general Lafayette, deliberately changed its name to the "National Guard", becoming the first unit to use this title.
In 1903, the United States promulgated the Militia Act, and the official name "National Guard" was officially adopted. All legitimate militias are incorporated into the National Guard, trained by the regular army and under the direct command of the governor.
At this point, the National Guard was no longer the militia that had been "grabbing food and eating" with the Indians, "growing rations in their spare time, and daring to shoot in wartime.".
Instead, it is a reserve force that is recognized by the federal government and is identical to the active duty force in terms of its organizational structure, armaments, logistical supply, personnel system, and regulations for implementation.
▲ Regularized National Guard
This army is scattered in the states in peacetime, not under the command of the Ministry of Defense, only under the guidance of the federal government, and the command is in the hands of the governor and militia commanders. The Federal Government can command only in exceptional circumstances.
If an earthquake, flood, etc. in a state requires mobilization to provide disaster relief, and the United States mobilizes regular troops to enter, it needs to be approved by the state's parliament to enter. So the governor could simply summon the National Guard to go to the disaster relief without the need for a regular army.
National Guard soldiers are engaged in all walks of life in peacetime, belong to the non-professional army, subordinate to the U.S. Army National Guard, Air Force National Guard, the total number of more than 400,000 (2009). Due to the shortage of U.S. troops, the National Guard often went abroad to assist in combat, and there were probably hundreds of thousands of people on duty overseas.
It is worth mentioning that although "organized" militias such as the National Guard have been incorporated.
However, under the founding tradition of "militia taking the lead in independence", some Americans have an almost obsessive yearning for the word "militia", and the militia organizations they spontaneously founded have become the fish of the federal government.
According to the Law Center for Poor Areas in the South, there are more than 300 right-wing "militias" in the United States, covering 40 states.
The names are even more bizarre, such as the Sword Organization, which has a strong military flavor, the Lord's Army, and the Texas Emergency Reserve Army.
▲ A private militia organization in the United States that is training
Let's simply understand it as "folk group training"
The militia groups that have been on fire recently are the Wolverine Watchmen and the Proud Boys, who have repeatedly claimed that Trump is not re-elected and will start a civil war.
As a Trump supporter, "Proud Boy" has been publicly named by Trump, "step back and get ready."
What makes the "Proud Boys" famous is their stupid "induction ceremony" to a new height, including the "baptism" of the old member's fist for each new member, and after receiving the "baptism", they have to shout excitedly: I love to die like this!
▲ The new members who were "slammed" fell to the ground with satisfaction
Compared to the Proud Boy, the Wolverine Watcher is clearly more "direct."
According to reports, the US police have arrested two members of the "Wolverine Watch" and learned that the organization is plotting to "take down a serving governor" and "kill her" in a holiday home, of course, the female governor is a Democrat.
It can be seen that the militia organizations behind the National Guard have a somewhat narrowed road, and they have more and more set off the national guard's brilliance.
2
"The strongest militia"?
Although the National Guard, which has been classified as a reserve force, has been fundamentally different from the "militia organization" in our traditional impression, everyone still habitually calls it "national soldier".
Therefore, it was once misunderstood as a militia organization, and some people even put it on the throne of "the strongest militia organization".
Among other things, this "strongest" title has a certain basis.
Both historically and in terms of its current functions, the National Guard is a unique military organization.
As mentioned earlier, the National Guard was under the command of the governor in peacetime and did not obey the orders of the federal government, the federal government and the state government market, and there was a direct confrontation between the Arkansas state government and the federal government in the "Little Rock" incident in 1957.
At that time, the U.S. Supreme Court called for the abolition of racial segregation and the admission of nine blacks to School in Little Rock, but was opposed by a large number of white local people.
Some apartheids protested and prevented black students from entering the school, and the governor of Arkansas was also a segregationist, so he sent the National Guard to intercept black students. Things are getting bigger.
The mayor of Little Rock, who supported the negroes, asked U.S. President Eisenhower for federal troops to intervene, so Eisenhower sent the U.S. 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock and took over more than 10,000 National Guards in Arkansas, successfully escorting black students into the school.
▲ The U.S. 101st Airborne Division escorted black people to school
The National Guard not only confronted the U.S. military, but also took over some of the U.S. military's posts.
In those important wars in which the United States participated, the National Guard almost did not fall behind, and it set a record.
In Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War, more than 75,000 National Guard members were drafted for active duty, including more than 63,000 in the Army National Guard and 12,000 in the Air National Guard.
Among them, the Air National Guard has a particularly bright record, sending F16 fighters to participate in the first round of daytime bombing against Iraq, performing 367 reconnaissance missions, transporting about 100,000 personnel and 150,000 tons of supplies to the theater, and completing 3,500 aerial refueling.
Later, in the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, the National Guard made frequent appearances.
▲ National Guard in Iraq
It is precisely because the National Guard needs to go out for the country and participate in the war of real guns and ammunition, and the US government has never been stingy in terms of personnel allocation and weapon supply.
According to the national guard official website report, the number of national guards in the U.S. Army is currently about 336,000 people, and the Number of Air Guards is 107,000.
More importantly, the National Guard is equipped with extremely luxurious weapons and equipment, and the main battle weapons of the Regular American Army and the National Guard are almost all available.
In the Army National Guard, for example, the U.S. Army's M1 main battle tank, self-propelled gun...
The exaggeration is the Air National Guard, fighters, bombers, air tankers, early warning aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, transport aircraft, etc., even B-2 stealth bombers and F-35 fighters.
When you say a reserve unit with a B-2 stealth strategic bomber, isn't that robbing the U.S. Air Force of jobs?
▲ Air National Guard Kitty F-35
Therefore, the US Air National Guard has been jokingly called the "world's third largest air force" after the US Air Force and naval aviation.
Therefore, even if the National Guard is only a reserve force, its strength can basically hang most of the country's regular army units.
However, in the use of national guard strength, the US military has been facing a severe test.
Although the number of the National Guard is indeed quite large, it is a bit rushed compared to the frequent "foreign activities" of the US military.
According to statistics, since President Bush declared counterterrorism, the U.S. Army National Guard has sent at least 428,000 people to support the "global war on terror," most of which have been stationed in Iraq.
▲ Iraq's National Guard
The problem arises: the National Guard is a dual force, in addition to participating in foreign wars, it must also participate in state security and disaster relief.
You sent people abroad, what if there is a disaster in the country?
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina, arguably the most costly in the United States, swept through three southern states, but it wasn't until exactly 48 hours after the disaster that the first National Guard arrived in the disaster area.
Because of its slow movements and inefficient work, the National Guard was unanimously criticized by all walks of life in the United States at that time.
But when the truth came to light, everyone turned the spearhead and scolded the US government.
It turned out that the authorities' disaster relief operations were slow and inefficient because nearly half of the National Guard forces in the three affected states had been recruited by the federal government to fight in Iraq.
In Louisiana, for example, about 3,000 members of the state's National Guard were recruited to fight in Iraq, and only 3,500 members went to hurricane-stricken areas to provide relief.
In the final analysis, the United States does not have that strength, and it still wants to worry about that heart, and it is only natural to suffer losses.
3
Chinese militia
But in any case, the National Guard can also be regarded as a team that has killed a bloody road from many American militia organizations and finally achieved a rebirth.
When it comes to the militia system, we have to mention China.
In addition to the National Guard, which is actually a reserve force known as the "National Guard", which can hang most of the country's regular army, the real militia that can have the strength to fight with the regular army of some countries is none other than China.
From the workers' pickets and peasant self-defense forces during the Northern Expedition,
To the Red Guards and Young Pioneers of the period of the agrarian revolution,
Then to the military-civilian alliance and the united front during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and finally to the 5 million former troops with the militia as the backbone during the Liberation War.
Even on the Korean battlefield, there were Chinese militias, and 1.47 million militiamen joined the ranks of the volunteer army in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In a sense, the revolution of the Chinese people began with the militia.
During the war years, these militias made tremendous contributions to the liberation of the nation, to the expulsion of the Japanese aggressors, and to the founding of New China.
After the founding of New China, China's militia building has also entered a new stage, and the militia system has officially become an important military system of the state and has been implemented throughout the country.
At the end of the 1950s, China ushered in an era of "all the people are soldiers".
At that time, while playing up the threat of nuclear weapons, the United States was doing things in the Taiwan Strait, and the Taiwan authorities even clamored for a "counter-attack on the mainland."
In order to deal with the military threats and provocations of the United States, it was pointed out that "we must not only have a strong regular army, but also a militia division!" ”
At this point, militia divisions have been set up throughout the country, and the number of Chinese militias has ushered in unprecedented development, with more than 200 million people at its peak.
Militia participation accounts for 35 per cent of the country's total population, and in some areas it even exceeds half of the population.
What is the concept of 200 million militia, in the absence of large-scale weapons of mass destruction, is the millet plus rifle, in most countries can seize armed victory.
So much so that british Marshal Montgomery came to Visit China at that time, and after visiting the military performances of the Chinese militia, he said with emotion: The war alone cannot solve the problem of victory or defeat by relying on the atomic bomb, and whoever wants to invade China and encounters the Chinese militia cannot enter and exit.
Montgomery visited China
Of course, maintaining such a large militia for a long time cannot be eaten by any other country.
Later, after continuous reduction and adjustment, only 30 million people remained at the beginning of reform and opening up, and then 8 million people in recent years.
Although there is a big gap between the Chinese militia and the active troops in terms of equipment and training, the combat effectiveness is not bad.
During the Battle of Paracel in 1974, the militia squad guarding Trần Ngai Island and Kwong Kim Island found that the 4th ship of the South Vietnamese Navy was marching near Trần Ngai Island and sent 2 small boats carrying 23 Marines to Trần Ngam Island in an attempt to sneak up and occupy the island.
The militia bravely attacked and fought to force the dozens of Vietnamese troops back to the warship.
▲ Chinese armed militia guarding the island
Who knows that around 9 o'clock, the Vietnamese Warship No. 5 sent 21 Marines to Quang Kim Island, this time the militia directly opened fire, killing Vietnamese Lieutenant Le WenDong, wounding 2 people, and the Vietnamese army was repulsed again. Two machine guns, an automatic rifle and some ammunition dropped by the South Vietnamese Army were captured.
Although the number of militias has shrunk from 200 million to 8 million, the quality has been really improved, and with the increase in national strength, the weapons equipped by these militias have been greatly improved compared with the past.
▲ Female militia square at the 2019 military parade
Interestingly, China's militias are very low-key on weekdays, but they are everywhere, all over the world, so that if you pull a passerby on the street, the other party may have been a militiaman.
Whenever there is a disaster in China and the people need help, these "passers-by" immediately become the people's children and soldiers and stand up.