The Maine Army National Guard 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 Guard is administered by the adjutant general, an appointee of the governor of Maine. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. Those functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full-scale law enforcement of martial law when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control.
Maine's Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ranks (enlisted/officer) and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards. The Maine Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in or to the state of Maine.
The current adjutant general for the Maine National Guard is Major General Douglas A. Farnham.
The Maine Army National Guard is composed of 48 units spread across approximately 29 armories and is present in 26 communities in Maine. The headquarters is located in Camp Chamberlain, Augusta, ME.
The larger units in the state specialize in: Engineering and construction - 133rd Engineer Battalion Aviation - Companies of the 142d & 126th Aviation Regiments
Smaller units specialties include: Military police Transportation and maintenance Infantry Headquarters related support units Full List of Units
In addition, it includes the 11th WMD Civil Support Team. The 11th WMD CST was of the first of the now 57 teams that are spread across the United States of America that is tasked with immediate (less than four-hour) response to any unknown chemical, biological, or radiological incident. The joint Army/Air Guard team can self-sustain for 72 hours of continuous operation and is constantly training to stay on top of the technology and techniques for sampling, evidence collection, identification, and education of the possibilities that the team may be alerted for.
History
Early history
The Maine National Guard, like Maine itself, existed before the establishment of the United States. Its roots trace back to the first colonists in the early 1600s. In 1607, Captain George Popham and over a hundred colonists established a settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec near Phippsburg. The colony built a Fort Popham for their defense but sailed back to England in 1608. Colonists would return again in 1622, when the settlements were organised into the Province of Maine.
Settlers would face frequent skirmishes with French forces from the north; however, a true militia would not form until Maine was acquired by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with the formation of the York Company of milita in 1652, named for York County. This would be expanded to multiple companies throughout the mid-1600s, and the Maine National Guard itself considers May 31, 1671 to be its proper birthday.
They would first see true conflict in 1675 with the onset of King Phillip's War. During this war, much of the coastline was entirely depopulated. Militia companies were often called out in this conflict as raids on major towns were frequent. A force was established at Black Point (Scarborough) as the “Maine Guard,” the first such use of the term.
18th and 19th centuries
In 1775, Maine Soldiers rushed to the Battle of Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston. Mainers would continue to serve through the end of the war.
Maine saw incursions from the British yet again during the War of 1812. British forces threatened the city of Portland in 1814, having seized Bangor and Castine earlier that year. The citizens of Southern Maine appealed to the government of Massachusetts for aid, as Maine was still part of Massachusetts. The federal government also ordered Massachusetts Governor Caleb Strong to send troops to defend Maine. Governor Strong declined, as his politics differed from those of President Madison. He would leave Maine to the British.