“A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”
So how do the American armed forces and the police regard all these armed militia groups? Do they include them in any national defence plans, do they say “that town’s defended by militia we don’t have to worry about it.” Or do they regard them as a nuisance or even as a hinderance? Do they have plans to keep an eye on these guys in the case of an invasion and perhaps arrest them or detain them to keep them out of the way? I just can’t see them having any role to play when America has such a capable Army, Airforce and Navy. All the resistance movements during WWII arose only after the regular Army had fallen completely.
Almost every state has an official militia - it’s called the National Guard.
The nutball militia groups are not official in any capacity; they often possess weapons that are illegal and are often involved in crimes. They are prosecuted by the FBI.
Merriam-Webster defines militia as:
militia (noun)
[Latin, military service, from milit-, miles]
First appeared circa 1660
1 a : a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency
b : a body of citizens organized for military service
2 : the whole body of able-bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to military service.
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female
citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are–
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
And then there is this: The State Guard Association of The United States, with links to the various state units. These groups are legal and recognized under 32 USC sec. 109
So, to answer your question: by definition, by Federal Law, and by actual implementation, the real militia is composed of the National Guard, the various State Defense Forces, and you, me and thee.
Notwithstanding any groups that decide to call themselves a militia, these are the only legally acknowledged militias.
Friedo’s point is that there are groups of people, no doubt very patriotic, and just as equally misguided, who band together and call themselves a “militia”. Many of these folks are affiliated with The John Birch Society but are generally harmless; however, during the millenium turnover (both of them, depending on whose definition you accepted), the F.B.I. was concerned enough about these folks to conduct a study, titled “Project Megiddo”, covered in a press release after USA Today broke the story.
Hope this answered your question.
You know, if you had simply gone out and rented Red Dawn, you never would have needed to ask this question.
Also, I don’t think all those “militia” groups are necessarily worried about defending against any foreign oppressors . . .
Not only are there National Guard units, but at least one state, my own Virginia, had a State Guard as of the 1990s, when I considered joining. It is an armed force, and even has a State Air Force (A-10s, I think), which falls under the militia clauses of the Constitution. (Why it’s called the State Guard and not the Commonwealth Guard is something I can’t answer.) Unlike some groups which purport to be “militias,” the Virginia State Guard is in fact well-regulated, but is not on the Internet.
My Grandfather, too young to fight in WWI and considered too old to fight in WWII, served in a similar capacity during the Second World War. He was disallowed from joining the federal armed forces because he worked for an enormous munitions manufacturing plant in Radford, Virginia and had three kids, but he semi-regularly trained through his militia body. I do not know if he was a member of the same State Guard which I considered or if it was another militia, but it was official, and he proudly kept the WWI-era wide-brimmed steel helmet he was issued for the rest of his life.
(I know for certain that he did not serve in the National Guard because that region of Virginia was formed into the 116th Regiment of the 29th Infantry, which hit the beaches at Omaha on D-Day, as depicted in the Speilberg film (the Rangers landed alongside the 116th). The neighbors down the street lost two sons that day, while the male population of another fairly nearby town, Bedford, was decimated. It’s likely I never would have known my Grandfather had he been allowed to join that unit.)
Sofa King :- sounds just like the “Home Guard” we had in Great Britain during WW2. They were part time (unpaid) troops who were considered part of the military.They even had plans to go “underground” if the country was invaded and continue fighting a guerrilla war.
Maybe you’re confusing the Home Guard, who consisted of people ineligble to fight in the regualar armed forces and took out more of their own people than the Germans ever did and the real underground army who were highly trained operatives whose duty was never revealed until many years later. I remember them on a TV documentary a good while ago, they would stay undercover and fight a guerilla war against invading German forces but their life expectancy was shockingly short.
No, they were all classed as members of the Home Guard except some of them had this extra role in case of invasion.I don’t think there had much extra trainig ,not like the SAS or other Special Forces anyway.These were ordinary ,part time soldiers with other jobs in the daytime.
Well, here:
http://www.sgaus.org/
is the link to the State Guard Association of the United States. You can also link from there to see the State Guard organizations that have webpages. It sounds like they’re annoyed by those “militia” groups, which I can understand.