THIS WEEK IN MILITARY HISTORY - The beginning of the “modern National Guard”

On May 28, 1908, Congress passed the Second Dick Act, one of several laws enacted between 1903 and 1916 that transformed the old militia system into the modern National Guard structure. This legislation required the federal government to call up the National Guard in emergencies before recruiting volunteer forces for military service. Additionally, it removed the previous nine-month limit on militia service, allowing deployment “either within or outside the territory of the United States.”

This last provision was significant because it addressed a major concern of the Army: the inability to deploy the militia beyond U.S. borders. However, less than four years later, this aspect of the law was overturned when the Judge Advocate General of the Army and the U.S. Attorney General determined that sending the militia beyond national boundaries violated the Constitution. According to the Constitution, Congress could call up the militia only for three purposes: “to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions.”

It wasn’t until World War I, when the entire National Guard was drafted into the Army to expedite troop deployment to Europe, that a lasting solution emerged. In 1933, Congress passed new legislation granting every Guard member "dual status"—serving both as part of the militia and as a federal reserve force within the Army. This change allowed Guardsmen to be deployed overseas, cementing the National Guard’s role as an integral component of America’s total defense force. While further reforms followed, this transformation shaped the National Guard into the institution we recognize today.