The Total Force Policy and Utilization of the Army National Guard: Does the Application Adhere to Policy?

Abstract : Since its founding, the United States has relied on a small standing Army, backed up by a large, organized militia of citizen soldiers for its defense and national security. Over the course of the past two hundred and twenty years, there have been many attempts by the regular Army to challenge the readiness, training and combat capability of the National Guard (the terms militia and National Guard are interchangeable), and to relegate the militia to the status of a state oriented home defense force. Traditionally, Congress and the American people have resisted efforts to create a large standing Army, but in the aftermath of World War II and the advent of the Cold War, there was a paradigm shift. The perceived threat from the forces of communism and the policy of containment brought about more reliance on a large standing Army with less reliance on the citizen soldier. Following the Vietnam War, General Creighton Abrams, the Chief of Staff, Army and the last ground forces commander in Vietman, established what was to become the Total Force Policy. The intent of his policy was to never again send the regular Army to war without the Army National Guard being a part of the ground forces; thereby ensuring grass roots support and the political will necessary to fight and win.