Maryland Army National Guard The Maryland Army National Guard ( MD ARNG ) is the United States Army component of the organized militia of the U . S . state of Maryland . It is headquartered at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore and has units at armories and other facilities across the state . Organization . The Maryland Army National Guard is organized into several major subordinate commands : the 58th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade ( United States ) ; the Combat Aviation Brigade , 29th Infantry Division ; the 70th Regiment , a training unit ; and the 58th Troop Command . The MSCs report to the Assistant Adjutant General for Army ( TAAG - Army ) , who in turn reports to the Adjutant General ( TAG ) . Both officers are appointed by the governor . History . The Maryland National Guard traces its roots to 1634 , with the landing of two militia captains at St . Mary ' s City . It has a long and illustrious history . American Revolutionary War . During the American Revolution , members of the " Maryland Line " repeatedly charged a vastly superior British force at the Battle of Long Island , buying time for the Continental Army to escape . It is from this incident that Maryland draws one of its official nicknames , " The Old Line State . " This was the first time the American Army had used the bayonet in combat . Later in the war , the Maryland militia made a number of additional bayonet charges , including at Cowpens , where their charge turned impending defeat into victory , and at Guilford Courthouse , where they forced the elite British Foot Guards to retreat . War of 1812 . During the War of 1812 , the Maryland militia held the line at the Battle of North Point in 1814 , commanded by Brigadier General John Stricker . There , they held up the British attack for two hours , long enough for the defense of Baltimore to be shored up . The British forces , many of whom were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars took around 300 casualties and , though they won the field at North Point , they would eventually turn back rather than attempt an assault on the American defenses at Baltimore . Not all the militia regiments performed with equal distinction . The 51st , and some members of 39th , broke and ran under fire . However , the 5th and 27th held their ground and were able to retreat in good order having inflicted significant casualties on the advancing enemy . The 175th Infantry ( ARNG MD ) , derived from the 5th Regiment , is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812 . American Civil War . From 1841 to 1861 the senior militia general was Major General George H . Steuart , commander of the First Light Division . Until the Civil War he would be the senior commander of the Maryland Volunteers . In 1833 a number of Baltimore regiments were formed into a brigade , and Steuart was promoted from colonel to brigadier general . From 1841 to 1861 he was Commander of the First Light Division , Maryland Volunteer Militia . Until the Civil War he would be the Commander - in - Chief of the Maryland Volunteers . The First Light Division comprised two brigades : the 1st Light Brigade and the 2nd Brigade . The First Brigade consisted of the 1st Cavalry , 1st Artillery , and 5th Infantry regiments . The 2nd Brigade was composed of the 1st Rifle Regiment and the 53rd Infantry Regiment , and the Battalion of Baltimore City Guards . By April 1861 it had become clear that war was inevitable . On April 16 Steuart ' s son , George H . Steuart , then an officer in the United States Army , resigned his captain ' s commission to join the Confederacy . On April 19 Baltimore was disrupted by riots , during which Southern sympathizers attacked Union troops passing through the city by rail . Steuart ' s son commanded one of the Baltimore city militias during the disturbances of April 1861 , following which Federal troops occupied the city . In a letter to his father , the younger Steuart wrote : Steuart himself was strongly sympathetic to the Confederacy and , perhaps knowing this , Governor Hicks did not call out the militia to suppress the riots . On May 13 , 1861 Union troops occupied the state , restoring order and preventing a vote in favour of Southern secession . Steuart moved south for the duration of the American Civil War , and much of the general ' s property was confiscated by the Federal Government as a consequence . Old Steuart Hall was confiscated by the Union Army and Jarvis Hospital was erected on the estate , to care for Federal wounded . However , many members of the newly formed Maryland Line in the Confederate army would be drawn from the state militia . Maryland militia units fought on both sides of the Civil War . At the Battle of Front Royal , the Union 1st Maryland was engaged and defeated by the Confederate 1st Maryland . The lineage of the Confderate 1st Maryland is perpetuated by the 175th Infantry Regiment , whose lineage dates back to 1774 . Great Railroad Strike of 1877 . During the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 , on July 20 Governor Carroll called up the 5th and 6th Regiments from Baltimore to stop strikers in Cumberland from disrupting rail service . While marching from their armories to a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad train at Camden Station , an armed mob attacked the troops . The 6th Regiment fired on the mob , killing 10 and wounding 25 , and several members of both regiments were injured by stones and bricks . The troops were then besieged by 50 , 000 rioters inside Camden Yards until the arrival of federal troops in Baltimore . The building , now part of a professional sports arena , still bears bullet holes from rioters firing at troops inside . Mexican Border raids of 1916 . In response to Pancho Villa ’ s cross - border raids , the Maryland National Guard was called up in 1916 and deployed for seven months to the town of Eagle Pass , Texas , on the Mexican border . World War I . During the First World War , most Maryland National Guard troops served as part of the 29th Division , and their campaign credits include Meuse - Argonne . In addition , the 1st Separate Company , an all - black unit , served as part of the 372nd Infantry Regiment , although ostensibly assigned to the 93rd Division , actually fought under French control . One of the Maryland National Guard ' s longest - mobilized units during the war was the 117th Trench Mortar Battery , which served under the 42nd Division from October 1917 until the end of the war . It was the first Maryland unit to see combat , and participated in all of the AEF ' s major battles during that period . World War II . World War II also saw the mobilization of the Maryland National Guard . Again , most were assigned to the 29th Infantry Division , where they took part in the D - Day landings and fought their way across France and Germany . In 1945 , they missed being the first unit to link up with the Soviet Red Army on the Elbe River by a matter of hours . Korean War . The Maryland National Guard had very few troops mobilized for the Korean War , but those that were played an important role . The 231st Transportation Truck Battalion was the first National Guard unit to land in Korea , and were immediately put to use keeping supplies flowing within the Pusan Perimeter . Originally a segregated , all - black unit , the 231st was integrated during this service in Korea , only to be again segregated when it returned to state status . Vietnam War . Although no Maryland Army National Guard units served in Vietnam , the Maryland Army Guard played a significant role during the Cold War . Across the state , Nike missile batteries , armed with nuclear warhead s , were manned by Maryland National Guardsmen to defend the National Capital area from Soviet bombers from the mid - 1950s until the early 1970s . Maryland National Guard troops were also kept busy with riot - control duty in the 1960s and early 1970s , most notably during the Baltimore Riots of 1968 , the Salisbury riots of May , 1968 , the University of Maryland student riots of 1970 - 72 , and the Cambridge Riots of 1963 and 1967 . Global War on Terrorism . Since the September 11 attacks , the Maryland Army National Guard has mobilized a number of units , including the 58th Infantry Brigade Combat Team , for service in Iraq ; Afghanistan ; Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; and Kosovo . Guardsmen from the 115th Military Police Battalion were among the first and most heavily called upon , having arrived at the Pentagon on Sept . 12 and subsequently served in Iraq , Afghanistan , and Guantanamo Bay . Maryland elements of the Combat Aviation Brigade , 29th Infantry Division served in Iraq , Maryland elements of the Combat Aviation Brigade , 42nd Infantry Division served in Afghanistan , and Maryland National Guard elements were attached to 44th Medical Brigade / XVIII Airborne Corps for service in Iraq . Maryland is also home to several Special Operations units , most notably Company B , 2nd Battalion , 20th Special Forces Group ( Airborne ) and Special Operations Detachment , Joint Forces . Members of these units have both been mobilized to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq , as well as Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . Currently , the Special Operations Detachment , Joint Forces was selected and mobilized to create the Special Operations Command for the newly created United States Africa Command .