The quality of the personnel is high, but the annual turnover is large. Among subaltern officers it reaches 26% per annum. Training is therefore limited to basic drill. Physical standards are maintained by annual examinations. All ranks take their duty seriously. About 50% of all officers in 1927 held commissions as reserve officers, and ultimately this will be required of all, as examinations for appointment and pro motion in both are according to the same standard, which among senior officers is high. Subalterns come from the ranks, from the reserve officers' training corps in colleges and universities (con ducted by officers of the regular army) and sometimes from the citizens' military training camps. In 1927 officers were distributed as follows:– Major Generals of the line
Brigadier Generals of the line ..... . . 53 Brigadier Generals, adjutants general . . . . . 19 State staff corps and departments ..... . 461 Staffs of division ...... . . . 371 Staffs of brigades ...... . . . 267 Officers of units less than a brigade . . . . . 10,828
. . . . . . . . . . . . 12,013 Encampments or manoeuvres may be held separately or in con junction with regular troops. Officers and enlisted men may be attached to regular units for field training. Instructors from the regular establishment are detailed for duty with the National Guard on the basis of one to a battalion or equivalent unit, which requires a total of 476 officers in addition to 589 non-commis sioned instructors. Special courses are given for both officers and enlisted men at service schools, and from 1920 to 1927 a total of 1,702 officers attended such courses at branch schools, the command and general staff school and the army war college. Such provisions have raised the standards of personnel and instruc tion. Training has improved rapidly in recent years and the National Guard is developing a strong esprit de corps.
In 1927 no less than 17 States called out their National Guard in local emergencies, such as the Mississippi floods and the Florida hurricane, and these crises have proved these troops to be a reliable force, and have earned it the warm support of the States. Although proficiency varies with local conditions some National Guard units with a short period of com bined training would make first class combat troops.
When drafted into the Federal service the National Guard becomes an integral part of the United States army, subject in all respects to the same rules and regulations. It serves for the duration of the emergency, after which it reverts to State control. As an indication of the increased reliance placed upon this force as an asset in the national defence, one may compare the appro priation of $1,000,000 for 190o with the following : Year Appropriation Strength 1919 $ 6,450,150 37,210 1920
56,090 1921 28,002,882 113,640 1927 30,879,252 181,142 In 192 7 the Chief of the Militia Bureau reported: "It is evidently the intent of Congress, and all War Department plans and policies bear it out, that the National Guard is to be used as first line troops subject to call at the same time as the regular army." BIBLIOGRAP,I1V.—The National Defense Act (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1927) ; War Department, Annual Reports of the Chief of the Militia Bureau (192o-1927), Washington ; War Department, Notes on National Guard Training, 1926-1927 (Washing ton, 1927) ; U.S. Senate Document No. 209, Federal Aid in Domestic Disturbances (Washington, 1903) ; Summary of Constitutional Pro visions and Legislation relative to the National Guard, Ms. Prepared in the Militia Bureau by Lieut.-Col. A. W. Bradbury, U.S. Army.
(J. M. Sc.)