Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, offers a toast to the National Guard at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., during celebrations of the Guard’s 388th birthday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Elizabeth Pena/U.S. Army National Guard)
The U.S. National Guard formally celebrated its 388th birthday on Friday, Dec. 13.
Roughly a century and a half before the United States declared its independence, the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s General Court in 1636 ordered its militias to form into three permanent militia regiments.
Those three regiments live on today in the form of four regiments under the Massachusetts Army National Guard: the 181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, the 101st Field Artillery and the 101st Engineer Battalion. They are the U.S. military’s oldest units.
It was not until the early 20th century that the National Guard took its current form, with landmark laws like the Dick Act of 1903 and the National Defense Act of 1916, which more clearly codified the state-federal relationship and increased federal control over the Guard.
The Air National Guard was formally born on Sept. 18, 1947, but its origins rest with the National Guard aviation units that were activated in 1921 for the U.S. Army Air Corps and then the Army Air Forces (which would later become the U.S. Air Force).
As befits the oldest branch of the U.S. military, the National Guard today serves in a wide range of missions, domestic and overseas. The Army National Guard counts over 325,000 service members across 50 states, Washington, D.C., and three territories, while the Air National Guard has a further 106,000.
The most prominent birthday celebration took place on Capitol Hill, where the head of the National Guard Bureau, Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, spoke to prominent attendees. But celebrations were naturally held outside of the capital as well.
In one symbolic ceremony in New York, one of the oldest serving National Guard members cut the birthday cake alongside a newly-enlisted high school senior. A similar scene played out at a celebration in Tennessee, which also saw remarks by a military historian. Celebrations also took place in Lincoln, Neb., St. Paul, Minn., and likely many other areas that have yet to publicize it.
Maj. Gen. Michel Natali, assistant adjatent general for the state of New York is joined by Airman Gabriel Geise, age 18, Master Sgt. Michel Schin, age 59, and Pvt. 1st Class Aliyah Billar, age 17, in cutting the National Guard birthday cake on Dec. 13, 2024 at New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, New York. Schin is one of the oldest serving National Guard members retiring next year, while Geise starts her career this April and Billar enlisted Oct. 16th, 2024. (Stephanie Butler/New York Army National Guard)
From left to right, U.S. Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Warner A. Ross II, Tennessee's Adjutant General; Col. Mark Phillips, the senior chaplain for the Tennessee National Guard; and Spc. Landon Evans, assigned to the 118th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, cut the National Guard birthday cake at Joint Force Headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, Dec. 13, 2024. Col. Phillips represents the oldest serving member at the event, while Evans represents the youngest of the serving members. (Olivia Gum/U.S. Army National Guard )
Dr. Andrew Wiest, a professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, speaks to Tennessee National Guardsmen to provide historical insights at the National Guard's birthday celebration at Joint Force Headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, Dec. 13, 2024. Wiest has published seventeen books, including the bestselling Boys of 67: Charlie Company's War in Vietnam and Vietnam's Forgotten Army. (Landon Evans/U.S. Army National Guard)
From left to right, Army Lt. Gen. Jonathon Stubbs, Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, Air National Guard Senior Airman Tricia Racho, Army Senior Enlisted Advisor John Raines, SEA to the CNGB and Army National Guard Master Sgt. Patrick Brown, cut the National Guard’s 388th Birthday cake during celebrations of the Guard’s birthday at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2024. (Elizabeth Pena/U.S. Army)
