5 AUG--This Day in US Military History

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 09:07:17 -0400

1917 – The entire membership of the National Guard was drafted into federal service for World War I.

After war was declared in April, 1917, National Guard units were first called into federal service by President Wilson under the militia clause of the Constitution. Most of these units mobilized at their local armories or in state military camps, and they began actively recruiting up to full wartime strength while conducting local patrols to defend against suspected German saboteurs.
Guardsmen could not be deployed overseas as militia, however, since the Constitution stipulated that the militia could only be used to “execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasions.” To circumvent this restriction, the Army’s Judge Advocate General determined that it would be necessary to draft each Guardsman into federal service, thus severing his ties to the state militia and freeing him for service overseas.
Just over 379,000 Guardsmen were drafted on August 5, 1917, more then doubling the size of the U.S. Army with the stroke of a pen.
Despite the fact that the military would swell to over 4 million men during the war, the brunt of the fighting in the trenches in France would be borne by the Guard. All 18 Guard divisions served overseas as part of the 43 division American Expeditionary Forces; 12 of the 29 divisions that saw combat were from the Guard (the rest of the divisions were broken up and the men used as replacements).

https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2005/…/05/august-5/

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 5 at 2015 9:13 AM

SCPO David Lockwood — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 09:13:34 -0400

I didn't know that about the National Guard.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made Aug 5 at 2015 9:20 AM

COL Vincent Stoneking — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 09:20:09 -0400

Very interesting bit history. I hadn't realized that the Guard had been drafted!

Response by SSG Alvin Amezquita made Aug 5 at 2015 12:51 PM

SSG Alvin Amezquita — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 12:51:00 -0400

Good History lesson. Reminds me the same thing happen in WWII, Korea and our recents wars in Iraq and Afganistan. Active duty personnel my not like them and call them names like Nasty Girls. But there needed no matter what.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 6 at 2015 2:15 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 14:15:42 -0400

I'm pretty sure the guard was mobilized again in 1940 and all of the soldiers had to repeat basic training. Before WWII soldiers had to join a unit and then "drilled" to learn soldiering basics from the few veterans left from WWI. They did not go off to basic training like modern M-Day soldiers. It was part of the Presidents plan to get the nation ready to join the war in Europe against the Nazis, of course Japan took care of that problem for us on December 7.