Mississippi Army National Guard The Mississippi Army National Guard is the Army National Guard component of the Mississippi National Guard . It was originally formed in 1798 . It is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard . Nationwide , the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army ' s available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization . National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau . The Mississippi Army National Guard maintains 97 armories in 93 communities . Mississippi Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army . The same ran ks and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards . The Mississippi Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in or to the state of Mississippi . History . The Mississippi Army National Guard came into existence under Winthrop Sargent , the first Governor of the Mississippi Territory , with the issuance of an order on September 8 , 1798 organizing the Militia of the Territory . On February 28 , 1799 , Governor Sargent was able to get his legislative body together and the first law was passed for the permanent establishment of the Militia in Mississippi . This - law constituted the beginning of the 155th Infantry Regiment in Mississippi . The 155th Infantry Regiment ( ARNG MS ) is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812 , and the only one from west of the Appalachians . Through the years the laws governing the Militia changed in various ways . Establishment of units varied from year to year , and ways of obtaining strength for the units also varied . There were periods of lack and little Militia at all . At other times the Militia forces were well organized . Although the Mississippi Militia participated in every war and fight of any consequence from the Sabine Expedition of 1806 through the Korean War in 1953 , it was not until 1916 the Mississippi National Guard was called for active duty . In 1916 the War Department called three infantry battalions for service on the Mexican Border . These battalions formed the First Infantry Regiment which went on active duty on 24 June 1916 . In September 1917 this unit was redesignated the 155th Infantry Regiment and served in the 39th Division in France . Also created during World War I , largely from Arkansas Army National Guard units , was the 154th Infantry Regiment ( United States ) , which continued its service after the war with the Mississippi Army National Guard . Again in 1940 all units of the Mississippi National Guard were inducted into Federal service . In the 1950 - 1951 period 77 of 81 units were called into service during the Korean War . A total of 6 , 515 Mississippi Guardsmen served during this period . Among units formed within the MS ARNG since the Second World War are the 198th Armor Regiment ( United States ) , the 114th Field Artillery Regiment ( United States ) , the 185th Aviation Regiment ( United States ) , and the 204th Air Defense Artillery Regiment ( United States ) . For much of the final decades of the twentieth century , National Guard personnel typically served " One weekend a month , two weeks a year " , with a portion working for the Guard in a full - time capacity . The current forces formation plans of the US Army call for the typical National Guard unit ( or National Guardsman ) to serve one year of active duty for every three years of service . More specifically , current Department of Defense policy is that no Guardsman will be involuntarily activated for a total of more than 24 months ( cumulative ) in one six year enlistment period ( this policy is due to change 1 August 2007 , the new policy states that soldiers will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months , individual states have differing policies ) . At the time of this writing , the Mississippi Army National Guard had 151 units located throughout the State . Fifty - one ( 51 ) of these units were part of the 31st ( Dixie ) Division and the remainder are non - divisional units . The 1st Battalion , 198th Armor Regiment ( HQ Senatobia ) used to serve as part of the 155th Armoured Brigade , but was disbanded as part of the c . 2010 modular ( ' Army Transformation ' ) reorganization .