Delaware Army National Guard The Delaware Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard . National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau . The Delaware Army National Guard maintains 15 armories in 12 communities . Delaware 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 Delaware Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in or to the state of Delaware . History . The Delaware Army National Guard traces its origins back to August 31 , 1655 , when Swedish settlers were asked to take up arms to defend the colony against a Dutch attack on Fort Christina . During the American Revolution , Delaware ' s First Regiment fought with General George Washington at the Battle of Long Island . In the War of 1812 all Delaware volunteer units saw service at Lewes , where they comprised the bulk of force that drove off a British naval squadron seeking control of the Delaware River . The 198th Signal Battalion ( ARNG DE ) , which traces its lineage to three militia units that were federalized during the War of 1812 , is one of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812 . In the Mexican War ( 1846 – 1847 ) , the Federal Government would not accept volunteer companies but the Delaware volunteers were not content to stay home . After much red tape , a statewide composite unit was formed . They fought with distinction in the battles of Contreras , Cherubusco , Molino del Ray and Chapultepec where there were almost twice as many Delaware volunteers present as marines . The unit lost so many men in these actions it became known as " The Bloody 11th . " The Militia Act of 1903 organized the various state militia s into the present National Guard system . One of the units formed since was the 198th Coast Artillery ( AA ) , which traces its history to the three militia units referred to above . Governor Charles L . Terry , Jr . deployed the National Guard to the city of Wilmington following the assassination of The Rev . Dr . Martin Luther King , Jr . on 9 April 1968 , at the request of Mayor John Babiarz . One week later , Mayor Babiarz requested the National Guard troops be withdrawn , but Governor Terry refused , and kept them in the city until his term ended in January , 1969 . This is reportedly the longest occupation of an American city by state forces in the nation ' s history . In the aftermath of the occupation , recruiting offices of all military branches were removed from locations within the city limits until the early 2000s . In the 1980s , aviation regiments began forming in both the regular Army and the National Guard . The 150th Aviation Regiment was created in Delaware from the 150th Aviation Battalion of the 50th Armored Division . Following the terror attacks of September 11 , 2001 , numerous units of the Delaware Army National Guard have deployed to Saudi Arabia , Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom . Troops from both the Delaware Army and Air National Guard volunteered to support disaster relief operations in Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 . " Operation Arctic Vengeance I and II " saw over 300 DEARNG Soldiers volunteer to support the State of Emergency declared by Gov . Jack Markell following a pair of debilitating snowstorms from Feb . 7 through Feb . 12 , 2010 . DEARNG troops completed over 250 missions assisting local and state agencies with including Emergency Medical Services , fire calls , law enforcement , dialysis patient transport and civilian transport to warming stations . National Guard units can be mobilized at any time by presidential order to supplement regular armed forces , and upon declaration of a state of emergency by the governor of the state in which they serve .