Delaware Army National Guard
Encyclopedia
The Delaware National Guard comprises both Army and Air National Guard components. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. In fact, the National Guard is the only United States military force empowered to function in a state status. Those functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full scale law enforcement of martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

 when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control.
The National Guard may be called into federal service in response to a call by the President or Congress.

The Delaware Army National Guard is composed of approximately ____ soldiers, and maintains 15 armories in 12 communities.

When National Guard troops are called to federal service, the President serves as Commander-In-Chief. 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 may call individuals or units of the Delaware 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."

The State Defense force is a military entity authorized by both the State Code of Delaware and Executive Order. The State Defense Force (SDF) is the state’s authorized militia and assumes the state mission of the Delaware National Guard in the event the Guard is mobilized. The SDF comprises retired active and reserve military personnel and selected professional persons who volunteer their time and talents in further service to their state.

The Delaware Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army
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.

Delaware Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ran
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...

ks
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...

 and insignia are used and 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 Delaware 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 Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

.

Units

  • Joint Forces Headquarters - a Detachment-sized unit which comprises the Headquarters elements of both Army and Air National Guards for the state.
  • 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade
    261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade
    The 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade is a unit in the Delaware Army National Guard, with a home station in Smyrna, Delaware. The 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade provides command and control to assigned and attached units...

    • Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)- Deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at Camp Victory, Iraq from October 2008 through September 2009.
    • 198th Integrated Theater Signal Battalion - deployed to Iraq
      Iraq
      Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

       in October 2006; scheduled 12-month deployment. Returned successfully and safely with numerous awards. See 1st Delaware Regiment
      1st Delaware Regiment
      The 1st Delaware Regiment was raised on December 9, 1775 for service with the continental army under the command of Colonel John Haslet. The regiment would see action during the New York Campaign, Battle of Trenton, Battle of Princeton, Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown and the Battle of...

      .
      • Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)
      • A Company
      • B Company
      • C company
    • 280th Signal Battalion (deactivated)
  • 72nd Troop Command (Brigade)
    • Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD)
    • 721st Troop Command (Battalion)
      • Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD)
      • 262nd Component Repair Company - Deployed to Iraq
        Iraq
        Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

         Summer of 2009 with a Convoy Security mission. Returned to Delaware and released from active duty April 18, 2010.
      • 160th Engineer Company - a platoon-sized element returned from a 14-month deployment in Iraq
        Iraq
        Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

         in November 2006.
      • 150th Engineer Detachment (formerly 249th Engineer Detachment) 249th deployed to Iraq
        Iraq
        Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

         at the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, providing some of the first reconstruction efforts following the fall of the Hussein
        Saddam Hussein
        Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

         regime.
      • 1049th Transportation Company (formerly 945th Quartermaster Company) 945th deployed in the early years of Operation Iraqi freedom (need dates). The unit is currently training in anticipation of deployment late in 2010.
    • 722nd Troop Command (Battalion)
      • Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (HHD)
      • 153rd Military Police Company
        153rd Military Police Company (United States)
        The 153rd Military Police Company is a unit in the Delaware Army National Guard. The 153rd MP Company, founded in 1996, is home stationed at Fort DuPont in Delaware City, Delaware...

         - Deployed to Saudia Arabia in 2002-2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Deployed to Iraq in support of OIF from June 2007 through May 2008.
      • 287th Army Band (http://www.287armyband.com)
      • A Company, 3rd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment (formerly 1-150th GSAB) - Mobilized November 2009 for training pending deployment to Afghanistan in the spring of 2010.
      • 121st Medical Company (Air Ambulance) - Mobilized for two years at Fort Lewis, WA (need dates). 121st is one of the last Army Aviation
        Army aviation
        Army Aviation refers to aviation-related units of a nation's army, often described as an air corps. These units are generally separate from a nation's dedicated air force, and usually comprise helicopters and light support fixed-wing aircraft....

         units to still fly the UH-1 Iroquois
        UH-1 Iroquois
        The Bell UH-1 Iroquois is a military helicopter powered by a single, turboshaft engine, with a two-bladed main rotor and tail rotor. The helicopter was developed by Bell Helicopter to meet the United States Army's requirement for a medical evacuation and utility helicopter in 1952, and first flew...

         "Huey" helicopter.
      • 101st Public Affairs Detachment (Formerly Detachment 1, 444th Mobile Public Affairs)- Deployed to Germany for 6 months 1996; mobilized at Fort Dix, NJ February 2002 through September 2004.
    • 31st Civil Support Team (WMD)
      31st Civil Support Team (WMD)
      The 31st Civil Support Team is a Civil Support Team organized as a unit of the Delaware Army National Guard. The unit is headquartered at Smyrna, Delaware.-WMD-CST capabilities:...

    • 193rd Regiment (Regional Training Institute) located at Bethany Beach Training Site, 193rd RTI is the host of the state Officer Candidate School
      Officer Candidate School
      Officer Candidate School or Officer Cadet School are institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country....

       and Recruit Sustainment Program
      Recruit Sustainment Program
      Recruit Sustainment Program is a program of the United States Army National Guard designed to introduce new recruits to the fundamentals of the U.S. Army before they leave to Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training...

       and has facilities to support a variety of training for both Army and Air National Guard units.
    • Embedded Training Team (ETT) - In addition to the above permanent units, an Embedded Training Team (ETT) consisting of eleven Delaware Army National Guard Soldiers from units all over the state mobilized for pre-deployment training in January 2010. The Delaware troops were joined by nine Soldiers from the Vermont, Alabama, New Jersey and Puerto Rico National Guards and deployed to Afghanistan in the spring of 2010. The ETT's mission is to assist in training and mentoring Afghan National Army units and soldiers.

Duties

National Guard units can be mobilized at any time by presidential order
President 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
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 of the state in which they serve.

History

The Delaware Army National Guard traces its origins back to August 31, 1655, when Swedish settlers were asked to take up arms to defend the colony against a Dutch attack on Fort Christina
Fort Christina
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony...

.

During the American Revolution, Delaware's First Regiment fought with General George Washington at the Battle of Long Island.

In the War of 1812 all Delaware volunteer units saw service at Lewes
Lewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...

, where they comprised the bulk of force that drove off a British naval squadron seeking control of the Delaware River. The 198th Signal Battalion (ARNG DE), which traces its lineage to three militia units that were federalized during the War of 1812, is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812
Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812
Nineteen current units of the Army National Guard perpetuate the lineages of militia units mustered into federal service during the War of 1812. Militia units from nine states that were part of the Union by the end of the War of 1812 , plus the District of Columbia, are the predecessors...

.

In the Mexican War (1846–1847), the Federal Government would not accept volunteer companies but the Delaware volunteers were not content to stay home. After much red tape, a statewide composite unit was formed. They fought with distinction in the battles of Contreras, Cherubusco, Molino del Ray and Chapultepec where there were almost twice as many Delaware volunteers present as marines. The unit lost so many men in these actions it became known as "The Bloody 11th."
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.

Governor Charles L. Terry, Jr. deployed the National Guard to the city of Wilmington following the assassination of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on 9 April 1968, at the request of Mayor John Babiarz. One week later, Mayor Babiarz requested the National Guard troops be withdrawn, but Governor Terry refused, and kept them in the city until his term ended in January, 1969. This is reportedly the longest occupation of an American city by state forces in the nation's history. in the aftermath of the occupation, recruiting offices of all military branches were removed from locations within the city limits until the early 2000s.

Following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, numerous units of the Delaware Army National Guard have deployed to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedome and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Troops from both the Delaware Army and Air National Guard volunteered to support disaster relief operations in Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"Operation Arctic Vengeance I and II" saw over 300 DEARNG Soldiers volunteer to support the State of Emergency declared by Gov. Jack Markell following a pair of debilitating snowstorms from Feb. 7 through Feb. 12, 2010. DEARNG troops completed over 250 missions assisting local and state agencies with including Emergency Medical Services , fire calls, law enforcement, dialysis patient transport and civilian transport to warming stations.

See History of the United States National Guard for a more complete history of the guard at a national level.

See also

  • State Defense Forces
    State Defense Forces
    State defense forces in the United States are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government; they are partially regulated by the National Guard Bureau but they are not a part of the Army National Guard of the United States...

  • 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...

  • Home Guard (disambiguation)
  • Delaware Air National Guard
    Delaware Air National Guard
    The Delaware Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is, along with the Delaware Army National Guard, an element of the Delaware National Guard...

  • Division insignia of the United States Army
    Division insignia of the United States Army
    Shoulder sleeve insignia are cloth emblems worn on the shoulders of US Army uniforms to identify the primary headquarters to which a soldier is assigned. The SSI of some army divisions have become known in popular culture....

  • United States Army branch insignia
    United States Army branch insignia
    Branch insignia of the United States Army refers to military emblems that may be worn on the uniform of the United States Army to denote membership in a particular area of expertise and series of functional areas...

  • United States Army Aviation Branch
    United States Army Aviation Branch
    The Aviation Branch of the United States Army is the administrative organization within the Army responsible for doctrine, manning and configuration for all aviation units....

  • Coats of arms of U.S. Army Aviation Regiments
    Coats of arms of U.S. Army Aviation Regiments
    Coats of arms of U.S. Army Aviation Regiments are heraldic emblems associated with aviation 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,...

  • Coats of arms of U.S. Armor and Cavalry Regiments
    Coats of arms of U.S. Armor and Cavalry Regiments
    This 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...

  • Field Artillery Branch (United States)
  • U.S. Army Regimental System
    U.S. Army Regimental System
    The United States Army Regimental System was established in 1981 to replace the Combat Arms Regimental System, to provide each Soldier with continuous identification with a single regiment, and to support that concept with a personnel system that would increase a soldier’s probability of serving...

  • Coats of arms of U.S. Artillery Regiments
    Coats of arms of U.S. Artillery Regiments
    Coats 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 Regiments
    Coats of arms of U.S. Infantry Regiments
    Coats 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 Regiments
    Coats of arms of U.S. Air Defense Artillery Regiments
    Coats 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

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