Illinois Army National Guard
Encyclopedia
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and the United States National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
. Nationwide, the Army National Guard
Army National Guard
Established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...
comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.
The Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Army National Guard is composed of approximately 10,000 soldiers.
Active service
When National Guard troops are called to federal service, the President serves as Commander-In-ChiefCommander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
. The federal mission assigned to the National Guard is: "To provide properly trained and equipped units for prompt mobilization for war, National emergency or as otherwise needed."
The Governor
Governor of Illinois
The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
may call individuals or units of the Illinois National Guard into state service during emergencies or to assist in special situations which lend themselves to use of the National Guard. The state mission assigned to the National Guard is:
"To provide trained and disciplined forces for domestic emergencies or as otherwise provided by state law."
Illinois Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ranks and insignia are used (see United States Army enlisted rank insignia
United States Army enlisted rank insignia
The chart below represents the current enlisted rank insignia of the United States Army.This chart represents the U.S. Army enlisted rank insignia with seniority increasing left-to-right inside a given pay grade...
and United States Army officer rank insignia
United States Army officer rank insignia
United States Army officer rank insignia in use today.-History:The structure of U.S. ranks has its roots in British military traditions. At the start of the American Revolutionary War, uniforms, let alone insignia, were barely affordable and recognition of ranks in the field was problematic...
). National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards
Awards and decorations of the United States military
Awards and decorations of the United States Military are military decorations which recognize service and personal accomplishments while a member of the United States armed forces...
. The Illinois Guard also bestows a number of state awards
Awards and decorations of the National Guard
Awards and decorations of the National Guard are presented to members of the United States National Guard and sometimes to members of the State Defense Forces in addition to regular United States military decorations...
for local services rendered in or to the state of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Units
33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team- 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment (United States)
- 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment (United States)
- 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment (United States)106th Cavalry Regiment (United States)The 106th Cavalry Group was a mechanized cavalry unit of the United States Army in World War II. The 106th Cavalry Group had previously been known as the 1st Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry during the Spanish American War and World War I and was constituted in 1921 as part of the Illinois...
(RSTA) - 2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
- 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion
- 634th Brigade Support Battalion
108th Sustainment Brigade
- 108th Brigade Special Troops Battalion
- 108th Multifunctional Medical Battalion
- 1144th Transportation (MT) Battalion
- 244th Army Liaison Team
- 644th Personnel Services Battalion
404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade
404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade
The 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade is a maneuver enhancement brigade of the United States Army National Guard in Illinois.Formerly the 404th Chemical Brigade, this unit is transforming into organization tailored to support the maneuver and security of a Division-level headquarters...
- 405th Brigade Support Battalion
- 33d Military Police Battalion
- 44th Chemical Battalion
- 766th Engineer Battalion
- 44th Rear Operations Center (ASG)
65th Troop Command
- 1st BN 106th Aviation
- 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
- 144th Army Band
- 2nd BN 123d Field Artillery
- 2nd BN 238th General Support Aviation
- Company A, 2-20th Special Forces Group
Duties
National Guard units can be mobilized at any time by presidential orderPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
to supplement regular armed forces, and upon declaration of a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
by the Governor of the state in which they serve. Unlike Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
members, National Guard members cannot be mobilized individually (except through voluntary transfers and Temporary Duty Assignments TDY), but only as part of their respective units. However, there has been a significant amount of individual activations to support military operations (2001-?); the legality of this policy is a major issue within the National Guard.
Active duty callups
For much of the final decades of the twentieth century, National Guard personnel typically served "One weekend a month, two weeks a yearOne weekend a month, two weeks a year
"One weekend a month, two weeks a year" is a former recruiting slogan used by the U.S. Army National Guard. It indicated the amount of time an individual would need to spend actively in the Guard to be a Guardsman with benefits...
", with a portion working for the Guard in a full-time capacity. The current forces formation plans of the US Army call for the typical National Guard unit (or National Guardsman) to serve one year of active duty for every three years of service. More specifically, current Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
policy is that no Guardsman will be involuntarily activated for a total of more than 24 months (cumulative) in one six year enlistment period (this policy is due to change August 1, 2007, the new policy states that soldiers will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months, individual states have differing policies).
History
The Illinois Army National Guard was originally formed in 1712 as a colonial FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
. The militia worked under British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
sovereignty in the mid-eighteenth century until the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
when in 1779 George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark
George Rogers Clark was a soldier from Virginia and the highest ranking American military officer on the northwestern frontier during the American Revolutionary War. He served as leader of the Kentucky militia throughout much of the war...
with 200 Illinois militiamen from Kaskaskia
Kaskaskia
The Kaskaskia were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation or Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in the Great Lakes region...
captured Fort Sackville from British Colonel Henry Hamilton and his Regulars. Regiments of Illinois militia later captured Prairie du Chien
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821....
. Following the American Civil War, the state forces were reorganized under the command of Arthur C. Ducat, who became the first major general of the statewide Illinois militia. The Militia Act of 1903
Militia Act of 1903
The National Guard Bureau is the federal instrument responsible for the administration of the National Guard of the United States established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was created by the Militia Act of 1903...
organized the various state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
s into the present National Guard system.
The 44th Infantry Division was part of the IL ARNG from 1945/46. It was inducted into Federal Service during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
but on its release the Governor of Illinois declined to support it, citing budgetary considerations. It was thus deactivated on its release from Federal Service in December 1954. From that time, Illinois ARNG units have formed part of the 33rd, and then the 47th
47th Infantry Division (United States)
The 47th Infantry Division was a formation of the Army National Guard active from 1946 to 1991. The Division was created on 10 June 1946 as a National Guard infantry division from the efforts of Minnesota's Adjutant General Ellard Walsh...
until November 1991. In November 1991 the 66th Infantry Brigade was reassigned to the 34th Infantry Division. Later it was reassigned again to the 35th Infantry Division.
Historic units
-
106th Cavalry Regiment (United States)106th Cavalry Regiment (United States)The 106th Cavalry Group was a mechanized cavalry unit of the United States Army in World War II. The 106th Cavalry Group had previously been known as the 1st Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry during the Spanish American War and World War I and was constituted in 1921 as part of the Illinois... - 123rd Infantry Regiment (United States)
- 129th Infantry Regiment (United States)129th Infantry Regiment (United States)The 129th Infantry Regiment is a United States military unit of the Illinois National Guard. The 129th served in World War I and World War II.Initially part of the 33rd Infantry Division during World War I, the 129th Infantry Regiment was detached on 31 July 1943, sent as the Espiritu Santo...
- 130th Infantry Regiment (United States)
- 131st Infantry Regiment (United States)
- 132nd Infantry Regiment (United States)
- 178th Infantry Regiment (United States)
- 122nd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
- 123rd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
- 124th Field Artillery Battalion (United States)
- 184th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
- 208th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
- 210th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
- 223rd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
- 233rd Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
See also
- Coats of arms of U.S. Armor and Cavalry RegimentsCoats of arms of U.S. Armor and Cavalry RegimentsThis page has been split as follows:* Coats of arms of U.S. Armor Regiments* Coats of arms of U.S. Cavalry Regiments-See also:* commons:Field Army insignia of the United States Army* Corps insignia of the United States Army...
- Coats of arms of U.S. Artillery RegimentsCoats of arms of U.S. Artillery RegimentsCoats of arms of US Artillery Regiments are heraldic emblems associated with field artillery, air defense artillery, and coast artillery regiments in the US Army...
- Coats of arms of U.S. Infantry RegimentsCoats of arms of U.S. Infantry RegimentsCoats of arms of US Infantry Regiments are heraldic emblems associated with infantry regiments in the US Army. By Army regulation, all regiments of the US Army organized under a Table of Organization and Equipment are authorized a coat of arms to be displayed on the organization's standard, called...
- Coats of arms of U.S. Air Defense Artillery RegimentsCoats of arms of U.S. Air Defense Artillery RegimentsCoats of arms of US Air Defense Artillery Regiments are heraldic emblems associated with Field artillery, Air Defense Artillery, and coast artillery regiments in the US Army...
External links
- Bibliography of Illinois Army National Guard History compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History
- Illinois Army National Guard, accessed 20 November 2006
- GlobalSecurity.org Illinois Army National Guard, accessed 20 November 2006