The Changing Army National Guard Not all people understand the purpose of the Army National Guard; it is changing. Most people have heard the conversations. From conversations around the water cooler, to the nightly news, to one’s local home town papers; for those who are fortunate enough to have a town that supports an Army National Guard Unit, many ask, “Why is the Army National Guard (ARNG) going overseas? Isn’t it the Army National Guard’s job to be on the forefront of homeland security? America has a regular army that is supposed to go overseas and fight the country’s battles.” So what is the purpose and mission of the ARNG today? The writer will explore the questions what is the ARNG’s purpose and mission in the homeland and oversees. One should keep in mind the Constitution and the bravery of these citizen soldiers. It helps to understand how the Department of the Army works and to understand the three components that make up the US Army. First we have what is called the Regular Army. These are Federal active duty troops. They wear the uniform 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They train in their specific Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) when they are not deployed on a federal mission overseas or within the United States. By comparison the US Army Reserves (USAR) and the ARNG are classified as reserve components of the Department of the Army. They are similar in the fact that they are both part time services, training in their specific MOSs one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. The USAR is a Federal Reserve component, i.e., their Commander in Chief is the President of the United States. The ARNG on the other hand are state soldier, their Commander in Chief is typically the Governor of their respective s... ... middle of paper ... ...ology advances. These technological warriors are fully integrated to the strongest most capable military force in modern history. Reference Army National Guard (n.d.). History. Retrieved April 20, 2008, from www.arng.us.army.mil/history.aspx Tierney, C. (2006). The army national guard and transformation: relevance for ongoing and future missions. Ft Leavenworth, KS, US Army School of Advanced Military Studies, General and Staff College. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http://cgsc.cdmhost.com/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/p4013coll3&CI SOPTR=780&filename=781.pdf Wormuth, C., Flournoy, M., Henry, P., Murdock, C. (2006). The future of the national guard and reserves. The beyond goldwater-nichols report, phase III. Washington D.C., Center for Strategic International Studies. Retrieved April 20, 2008 from http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/bgn_ph3_report.pdf
Stewart R. W. (2005). American Military History (Vol. 1). The United States Army and the
Weigley, Russel F. History of the United States Army. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1st Edition, 1984.
The United States Army has been a leader in military prowess on the world stage since its inception in 1775, and with such a record, it is reasonably assumed that there must be solid foundation within the organization working to maintain the high level of performance. The Noncommissioned Officer Corps is one institution within the Army that serves as a large portion of this foundation that makes it the fighting force that it has always been, and the noncommissioned officers have been an integral piece since the very inception of the Army. The Prussian General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, organizer of the Noncommissioned Officer Corps, encapsulated this idea when he coined the noncommissioned officer (NCO) as the backbone of the Army. (Arms, 1991) In an Army that is continuously adjusting to world around it while maintaining its status as the military leader to all other nations, the Noncommissioned Officer Corps has always provided the platform for continuity through a growing rank system based on its original core, an evolving training program to develop effective leaders, and a creed that moves us forward while remembering the rich history of the corps that came before us.
Brown, Jerold E. Historical Dictionary Of The U.S. Army. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2001. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
Cameron, R. S. (2003). The army vision: The 4th AD in world war II. Military Review, 83(6), 59-68
The United States Army, in its current state, is a profession of arms. In order to be considered a profession, the organization must have an ethical code rooted in values, strong trust with its clients, and be comprised of experts within the trade. These experts are constantly developing the trade for the present and the future and hold the same shared view of their trade culture.
The Pennsylvania Army National Guard is a branch of the United States Army that is mostly used today for homeland security. Although the National Guard is not active like the Reserves or Active Duty Army, they still have the same requirements and same responsibility. More than 22,000 men and women make up the Pennsylvania National Guard and Air National Guard today. They reach from state quarters at Fort Indian Town Gap in Lebanon County to about 100 comunities in the commonwealth. Like all National Guard members they share the same responsibilities. For their federal mission, they are trained and equipped to join the active forces in the time of war or a national emergency. For their state mission, they respond to the orders of the governor, protecting the lives and property of people during man made and natural disasters. Their role extends further than floods, blizzards, and riots, everyday they work to clean up the enviorment, fighting to get rid of drugs and other illegal things on the streets, and they serve as role models to generations to come. With the National Guard today you can earn extra money for college, learn job skills that you can use out of the service, and feel better about yourself by serving your hometown and country.
This paper will not bore with the definition of a profession. The United States Army is about more than words, it is about action. The action of over 238 years of tradition and service. The Army is a profession. A profession requires its members to adhere to prolonged training and learn specialized skills. A member of a profession must wholly commit himself and his skills to a calling which is entrusted by the public. A profession provides its members with intrinsic value which motivates beyond financial gain. The Army is a higher calling which demands all of these qualities and more.
The U.S Army is the strongest most respected and feared ground force in the world. It is also the oldest branch of the military and also the largest U.S. Military Service. There are approximately 76,000 officers and 401,000 enlisted members in the active duty Army. The success of the Army lives and dies on themselves and others. The army protects all that the constitution stands for. And each soldier defends this to their last breath with Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Honor, and Personal Courage. The Army has a mission to protect and defend its nation. ( “Overcoming Challenges” np)
As America heads into a new year, we find our government tightening its purse strings and cracking down on excessive spending, with an emphasis on the US military. According to author Brad Plumer, a reporter at the Washington Post, “U.S. defense spending is expected to have risen in 2012, to about $729 billion, and then is set to fall in 2013 to $716 billion, as spending caps start kicking in.” Pared with a more drastic 350 billion dollar cute going into effect over the next ten years, the military finds itself cutting what cost the most to maintain and support troops (Fact Sheet par. 2). In recent years the military has bolstered an overwhelming 1,468,364 troops (Active Duty). These numbers are to be cut substantially; the biggest cut is to be seen in the Army. The Army must deal with a reduction of 80,000 troops, cutting its force of 570,000 troops to nearly 140,000.Subsequently, the budget cuts, which have led to a reduction of troops in the military, has driven the military to turn to advanced weapons technology that requires less people to m...
We can identify three major cultural dimensions that help us to understand what leaders must focus on as they guide the transition of the Army. First, professional Identity, which is guided by Soldiers at all levels who are striving for excellence in their functional specialty, i.e., HR Sergeants. Soldiers who have goals and ideals of the Army to ethically put service and duty first. HR Sergeants are trained and well educated in their field. They are taught to put Soldiers first and have great customer support skills. Second, community, the sense in which Soldiers stop thinking about “I” and start thinking “we”. The bond among units who not only believe in cohesion with Soldiers, but their families too. The HR Sergeants are there to take care of Soldiers when financial issues arise with them or their families and don’t back down until the situation is solved. Last, hierarchy, which leads to order and control and provides Soldiers with moral reference and a sense of direction. The HR Sergeant has the mentality of mission first, knowing who to contact at the next level for assistance helps get the mission
The military since the Colonial Era has been an impetus for social reform in the United States. The Revolutionary War afforded Black Americans an opportunity to escape from the toils of slavery and fight for freedom. Some Black Americans even earned their freedom by fighting for the Colonists, but still the freedom they fought for wasn’t their own. However, the military was responsible for the freedom of many slaves and some of these freed slaves became legendary soldiers like Salem Poor. His performance in battle gave credibility for future arguments about blacks being allowed to serve.
- - -, ed. "The Anti-War Movement in the United States." English.Illnois.edu. Ed. Oxford Companion to American Military History. 1st ed. Vers. 1. Rev. 1. Oxford Companion to American Military History, 1999. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
Ever since World War II, the last war that garnered full American support, the percentage of American citizens enrolling in the U.S. Army has diminished significantly. The U.S. is a major military power in the present world; American soldiers are engaged in many multi-theater positions, consequently dispersing troops over various regions worldwide. As only one in ten citizens has served in the US Army, American knowledge of military conditions is rapidly lessening along with the national harmony that complements such knowledge. Therefore, the comprehension that American security is closely associated with a formidable military never resonated within the greater part of modern American citizens. Although antiwar activists may decry compulsory conscription as unconstitutional, it needs to be reinstated in order to solidify the meaning of being an American citizen, boost the economy by providing jobs, and unify the American people with enhanced homeland security.
In the United States Army, there are two categories of rank structure, the enlisted corps and the commissioned corps. The enlisted corps within itself contains leaders, who are referred to as Noncommissioned Officers, or NCOs. These individuals, whose ranks range from Sergeant to Sergeant Major, are responsible for implementing the guidance and command policies provided by the Commissioned Officers and commanders in their units. NCOs are also responsible for the welfare and training of junior personnel. The US Army provides regulations and manuals with step-by-step guidance for the most trivial of tasks, but it fails to spell out specific and concrete information on how to be an NCO.