page_title: Militia Act of 1903
section_title: Implementation
hierarchical_section_title: Militia Act of 1903 / Implementation
caption_attribution_description: English: Company A, First Arkansas Infantry, on the skirmish line near Deming, New Mexico, during the 1916 border conflict with Pancho Villa.
context_page_description: The Militia Act of 1903, also known as the Efficiency in Militia Act of 1903 or the Dick Act, was legislation enacted by the United States Congress to create an early National Guard and which codified the circumstances under which the Guard could be federalized. It also provided federal funds to pay for equipment and training, including annual summer encampments. The new National Guard was to organize units of similar form and quality to those of the regular Army, and intended to achieve the same training, education, and readiness requirements as active duty units.
context_section_description: The improvements to National Guard training and readiness and the resolution of the circumstances under which the National Guard could be federalized led to the call up of National Guard units for service on the Mexico–United States border during the Pancho Villa Expedition.
  In addition, National Guard units were federalized and deployed overseas during World War I.
  The improvements to the Army–National Guard relationship, the improvements to National Guard training and readiness, and the National Guard's successful service during the Villa Expedition and the First World War brought about by the Dick Act and subsequent amendments enabled John McAuley Palmer and other National Guard advocates to defeat a 1920 effort to completely replace the National Guard with a federal-only reserve force.
caption: Company A, 1st Arkansas Infantry, near Deming, New Mexico, during Pancho Villa Expedition.
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