Maine Army National Guard

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.[2]

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.[2]

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.

This understandably outraged the citizens of Maine, who rallied their own militia for their defense. The commander of the militia, General Alfond Richardson, began preparations for the defense of the town of Portland in defiance of Governor Strong's orders, stating that even though he was only an officer of the militia, he was still a soldier of the United States and was bound under the Constitution to protect those under him. Forts Scammel and Preble were both manned with 200 troops and the batteries on those islands were reinforced. In addition, batteries and redoubts were built on the landward side of town to protect from an invasion overland. The Portland Light Infantry Company manned the forts in the harbor from September through October, but following the failed British assaults on New York, Maryland and Louisiana launched from Canada, major offensives effectively ended altogether and no defense of southern Maine was necessary. Formed in 1803 in Portland, the company is the longest serving unit in the Maine Army National Guard.

Due to the actions of Major General Richardson and the men of the Maine Division of Militia, the British decided that the fortifications around Portland were too strong and cancelled the attack. However, the implications of this event carried over into the political realm in a major way. The District of Maine, which had been dissatisfied with the government of Massachusetts since its annexation in the 1600s, now had enough with being a part of a state that would abandon it to the British. The actions of Major General Richardson propelled the push for Maine's statehood, which would occur six years later in 1820.

The Maine National Guard was officially established in 1820 as a State Militia, when Maine entered the Union (as a result of the Missouri Compromise). Forty years later, more than 72,000 Soldiers from Maine fought to preserve the Union during the Civil War (1861–65).

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).

Since its establishment, soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard have served in every military conflict, either in a support role, or active theater operations.[3]

According to a 2 March 2013 article in the Economist, "No state has lost more soldiers in Afghanistan, per person, than Maine—a fertile recruiting ground in every conflict since the civil war and still today home to an unusual number of veterans."[4]