THE ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD
In order that the citizens of
Alaska may better understand the
purpose and reason for the organ
ization of the Alaska National De
fense, it is believed t1 at a brief
explanation regarding this import
ant matter is timely.
For ipse of the National Guard
The components "of our army, as or
ganized under the National Defense
Act, consists of the Regular Army,
the National Guard and the Organi
zed Reserves, and form the basis
for a complete and immediate mob
ilization for National Defense in
event of a National Emergency de
clared by Congress. Our regular
army, small in numbers mans ■our
overseas defenses and provides the
necessary schools, training centers
ana instructional personnel lor the
other components. Since the day3
of the Revolution the militia of
the various states, or in more re
cent times, our Rational Guard,has
been the backbone of our military
power. In the World War of 1914-18
it would have not been possible to
organize our American Expeditionary
Force with the speed and efficiency
then attained had it not been that
the National Guard of the.various
states and Territories wa3 organi
zed and prepared to assimilate
in its ranks the hundreds of thou
sands of young men selected for
service. With the exception of a
few Regular Army Divisions hastily
assembled the National Guard Div
isions were the first overseas,and
their splendid war records justify
our system and proved the efficiency;
patriotism and valor of our American
soldier. In the present emergency
our National Guard is preforming
the same mission is assimilating in
its rani:.: the Selective Service men
now being called to the colors. In
the last analysis tha basis of our
military power is our citizen -mil
itary force, or our National Guard,
and therein lies the responsibility
of the various states and Territor
ies of t^e Union.
Gil^JLe-sil0b3it>ility of the Fed
eral Government.' The National De
fense Act authorizes the Secretary
of War to issue to the National
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Guard of the various States and
Territories of the Union the nec
essary arms, material, uniforms,
clothing, equipment and military
stores of all kinds necessary to
arm, uniform and ^quip th° Nation
al Guard for field service, and in
addition thereto, pay the officers
and men for drills incident to
training. The Federal Government
provided the necessary camps,tran
sportation, subsistence, hospitil
ization and pay for the National
Guard during the field training pec
icd cr summer encampment. It is
not possible within the scope of
this brief article to list all the
forms of assistance the Federal
Government gives the National Guard,
but in this connection the annual
report'of the Chief,National Guard
Bureau, for the fiscal year 1940
(July 1,1939 - June 30,1940) shows
the strength of the National Guard
of the 43 States and 2 Territories
(the Alaska National ljuard had not
then been organized) as 241,612 of
ficers and men and the total amount
cf Federal Funds expended for its
maintenance as $70,386,775.61.These
fi0ures alone emphasize the Import
ance that the 7/ar Department attaches
to our National Guard as a component
of our National Defens
Necessity for armories. In ad
dition to the mandatory provisions
of the national Defense Act which
imposes on the Territory the re
quirement that armories must be pro
vided for its units if the Alaska
national Guard is to be continued,
armories are an absolute necessity
in the training of the modern or
ganisation.
The modern organization is no
longer a musket-toting outfit--it
is highly specialized and provided
with much technical equipment un
dreamed of a few years ago. hake
no mistake about this--a military
orce will be stopped by a force of
equal strength, modern ■equipment
and fire power, and it will be de
feated by an equal or superior force
with better equipment and arms. Ther.
are several different arms in the
modern Infantry Company to be used
against personnel, emplacements,
weapons carriers,tanks and aircraft.
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