IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 129 
Recognizing 375 years of service of the National Guard and affirming congres-
sional support for a permanent Operational Reserve as a component 
of the Armed Forces. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 8, 2012 
Mrs. MILLER of Michigan (for herself, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, 
and Mr. HUNTER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing 375 years of service of the National Guard and 
affirming congressional support for a permanent Oper-
ational Reserve as a component of the Armed Forces. 
Whereas the first volunteer militia unit in America was 
formed in 1636 in Massachusetts Bay, followed by other 
units in the colonies of Virginia and Connecticut; 
Whereas from the opening salvos at Lexington and Concord, 
to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 
1783, the volunteer patriots and minutemen of the Amer-
ican militia helped create the United States of America; 
Whereas the American founding fathers wrote article I, sec-
tion 8, of the United States Constitution to keep the mili-
tia model, authorizing only a small standing military 
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force that could organize, train, and equip militia volun-
teers when needed; 
Whereas the American militia answered the call during the 
second war with Britain in 1812; 
Whereas in the 19th Century, during the Mexican-American 
War, the United States Civil War, and the Spanish- 
American War, State militia volunteers mustered when 
called and more than 300,000 gave their lives in service 
of the United States of America; 
Whereas in World War I, nearly all National Guardsmen 
were mobilized into Federal service, and while they rep-
resented only 15 percent of the total United States Army, 
they comprised 40 percent of the American divisions sent 
to France and sustained 43 percent of the casualties in 
combat; 
Whereas in World War II, the National Guard comprised 19 
Army divisions and 29 observation squadrons with air-
craft assigned to the United States Army Air Forces; 
Whereas the National Defense Act of 1947 formed the Air 
National Guard, created a minimum of one flying unit in 
each State, with the result of more than 44,000 Air 
Guard troops serving in Korea and 4,000 Air Guard 
troops in Vietnam; 
Whereas the Air National Guard flew 30,000 sorties and 
50,000 combat hours during Operation Desert Storm 
over 37 days and were some of the first units into the 
fight; 
Whereas, on September 11, 2001, the first fighter jets over 
New York City and Washington, DC, were Air National 
Guard F–15 and F–16 aircraft from Massachusetts and 
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North Dakota, with over 400 more Air National Guard 
fighter aircraft on alert by that afternoon; 
Whereas 456,974 Air and Army National Guard soldiers and 
airmen have deployed in the many campaigns since 9/11; 
Whereas Air and Army National Guard soldiers and airmen 
have been involved in countless domestic response mis-
sions, including missions in response to hurricanes, tor-
nadoes, floods, and forest fires; 
Whereas during the Cold War, the National Guard was re-
garded as a Strategic Reserve to be held in case of a So-
viet invasion of Europe, yet, since 9/11, the National 
Guard and the Federal Reserves have made the transi-
tion to an Operational Reserve, in constant use and rota-
tion for missions at home and abroad; 
Whereas the Operational Reserve has time and again dem-
onstrated its readiness to meet operational requirements, 
and its mission- and cost-effectiveness and volunteerism 
are the heart of modern United States military service; 
Whereas the Operational Reserve must be sustained by a 
fully manned and fully funded National Guard in the 
spirit intended by the Framers and enshrined in article 
I of the Constitution; and 
Whereas the Air Force, in its fiscal year 2013 budget, has 
advanced a proposal to convert the Air National Guard 
from the Operational Reserve to the Strategic Reserve of 
yesteryear: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) recognizes the critical importance of the 
Operational Reserve as a component of the Armed 
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Forces, particularly as a means of preserving combat 
power during a time of budget austerity; 
(2) supports making permanent the Operational 
Reserve as the cornerstone of military manpower in 
the decades to come; 
(3) repudiates proposals to return the Reserve 
Components to a diminished or purely strategic role 
in United States national security; 
(4) affirms the growth of the Operational Re-
serve as circumstances warrant; and 
(5) recognizes the dual-status, State-Federal 
National Guard as the foundation of the Operational 
Reserve and of military manpower now and in the 
future. 
Æ 
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