Latvia had belonged to the NACC from its very beginning. As the reputation of the JCTP began to spread, Latvia made an unusual request in July, 1992, to the NACC, with which it was familiar, rather than to the JCTP itself. It wanted to join, but it did not want the coaching of an active United States Army unit. Instead it passed the word to the NACC that it would prefer a National Guard unit. This was a surprise because in the past Latvia had recruited some of Europe's best elite professional troops, such as the Latvian Rifles. There were but few in Latvia who remembered them. They fought for the Tsar, then for the Bolsheviks. Detained subsequently in Russia, most never got home again.