The Army National Gaurd and the Department of Homeland Security

This AY-10 USAWC resident student paper argues that the citizen-soldiers of the Army National Guard have lost their focus and original purpose as a State Militia available for disaster recovery operations, assisting law enforcement, and defending the homeland. The author believes that the pressure felt by the current operations tempo to use the Army National Guard as an operational reserve can only be alleviated by moving the Army National Guard from the Department of Defense to the Department of Homeland Security. He asserts that such a move will not cut off relationships developed between the Army and the National Guard, two organizations with a common history, but recognizes that the two organizations should have different primary missions of homeland security (National Guard) and national defense (U.S. Army). He bases his argument in part upon the fact that this realization of similar capabilities but different missions is already working between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Navy.