I found an interesting history of the Guard at
Constitutional charter of the Guard
Here's the last entry:
Quote:
The Total Force Policy, 1973
Following the experience of fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam, the 1973 Total Force Policy was designed to involve a large portion of the American public by mobilizing the National Guard from its thousands of locations throughout the United States when needed. The Total Force Policy required that all active and reserve military organizations of the United States be treated as a single integrated force. A related benefit of this approach is to permit elected officials to have a better sense of public support or opposition to any major military operation. This policy echoes the original intentions of the founding fathers for a small standing army complemented by citizen-soldiers.
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It's interesting to see how the Guard has transformed into what it is used for today.