Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The National Guard is the original State-based militia, controlled by the governor. People don't join the National Guard for the money; that's a good thing, it means the enlistees are doing it out of a sense of patriotism, or at least that's a large component of their decision. Mostly, the National Guard operates on American soil because the Posse Comitatus Act prevents domestic federal troop deployment. Even though the National Guard is technically a military force, it's primarily used for emergencies: natural catastrophes, local unrest and reconstruction. They are expected to protect other people's families like they want their own families to be protected, and the National Guard will shoot looters.

The National Guard can be invoked as an auxiliary arm of the federal military when necessary but, historically, that is very uncommon because public servants like firefighters and police tend to join. Unfortunately, whole police and fire departments were stripped of their personnel when Bush, Jr. activated them to fight in the Iraq war. Certainly, that's not what the volunteers had in mind when they joined. In fact, during the time Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, 40% of Louisiana's National Guard were deployed to foreign lands while their own hometowns flooded. This is the clearest example of an abuse of the National Guard.