Army National Guard On June 30th, 1950, five days after North Korea invaded South Korea, President Truman signed the Selective Service Extension Act. It continued the draft that had been in effect since 1948 and authorized the call-up of reserve component units for Federal service not to exceed 21 months (later 24 months. While a small mobilization was planned at first, the disastrous setbacks of those first few weeks of the war made it apparent that a far larger number of Guard and Reserve units would be needed. In early September four National Guard Infantry Divisions were called to active duty - the 40th (California), 45eh (Oklahoma), 28th (Pennsylvania) and 43d (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont). The 40th and 45th would both see combat in Korea, while the 28th and 43d would be sent to Germany to help bolster NATO against the ever-present threat of Soviet invasion. These four divisions were among the first of over 700 Army National Guard units (including four additional divisions) mobilized for the Korean War. The 138,600 Guardsmen called represented 37 % of the Army National. In addition to the 40th and 45th Infantry Divisions, 42 other Army Guard units were sent to Korea and thousands of individual Guardsmen went as replacements. Most Guard units began arriving in Korea in early 1951, at the same time massive Chinese and North Korean attacks were pushing UN forces south. That spring, as UN forces regrouped and repulsed these massive attacks, three National Guard Artillery battalions, the 196th (Tennessee) the 937th (Arkansas) and the 300th (Wyoming), and a Transportation Company - the 252d Transportation Truck Company (Alabama)- won Presidential Unit Citations, the highest award that the Army can bestow upon a unit. A fifth Presidential Unit Citation was awarded to Pennsylvania's 176th Armored Field Artillery battalion for heroic action in June 1953; in addition, 18 Army National Guard units in Korea were recognized for their superior service with the Army's Meritorious Unit Commendation. By the summer of 1951, UN forces were mounting successful limited attacks and peace negotiations had begun. Meanwhile, the 40th and 45th Divisions remained in Japan, where they had trained and served as the defensive garrison for the island since April 1951. The UN Commander, General Matthew Ridgeway, was reluctant to send these divisions to Korea, preferring instead to use their soldiers as individual replacements for units already there. Finally, under pressure from Congress and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Ridgeway agreed in November 1951 to a "swap in place" of the two Guard divisions for two of his combat-worn divisions. The following month Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division switched places with the 1st Cavalry Division, and in January 1952 California's 40th Infantry Division switched places with the 24th Infantry Division. While the Guardsmen complained about the miserable condition of the vehicles and equipment they "inherited" from the units they replaced, the relative lull in combat brought on by the frigid Korean winter gave them time to make repairs before more active hostilities resumed in the spring. By the spring of 1952, most of the Guardsmen who had been called up in the late summer of 1950 were nearing the end of their term of active Federal service, and began rotating home in the summer of 1952. While the Guardsmen went home, the Guard units - now filled with draftees and enlistees - continued on active duty, even after the war ended in July 1953. Not until 1957 was every unit Federalized for service in Korea returned to state control. Army Guard Unit deployed to Korea Unit State Arrived Overseas 30th Ordnance, HHD NJ 21 Mar 51 32d Ordnance, HHD IL 10 Jul 51 32d Quartermaster Group, HHD PA 17 Feb 52 40th Infantry Division CA 11 Jan 52 45th Infantry Division OK 5 Dec 51 65tb Infantry Regiment **PR 23 Sep 5O 101st Signal Battalion NY 7 Apr 51 106th Ordnance (H) Maintenance Co MO 26 Mar 51 107th Ordnance (M) Maintenance Co MI 9 Mar51 107th Transportation Truck Co AL 8 Jan 51 116th Engineer Combat Battalion ID 28 Feb 51 121st Transportation Truck Co PA 4 Jan 51 131st Transportation Truck Co PA 1 Jan 51 138th Engineer Pontoon Bridge Co MS 16 Feb 51 145th Field Artillery Battalion UT 5 Dec51 151st Engineer Combat Battalion AL 9 Feb 51 167th Transportation Truck Bn, HHD FA 1 Jan 51 176th Armored Field Artillery En PA 17 Feb 51 194th Engineer Combat Battalion TN 16 Feb 51 196th Field Artillery Battalion TN 9 Feb 51 2O4th Field Artillery Battalion UT 2 Feb 51 213th AAA Gun Battalion PA 11 Nov 51 2l3th Armored Field Artillery Bn UT 16 Feb 51 217th Medical Collecting Company AR 4 May 51 227th AAA Group, HHB FL 21 Mar 52 231st Transportation Truck Bn, HHD MD 1 Jan 51 235th Field Artillery Observation Bn PA 10 Dec 52 252d Transportation Truck Co AL 1 Jan 51 30Oth Armored Field Artillery Bn WY 16 Feb 51 378th Engineer Combat Battalion NC 24 Feb 51 568th Ordnance (H) Maintenance Co TN 19 Mar 51 623d Field Artillery Batta1ion KY 23 Dec 51 7l5th Transportation Truck Co DC 5 Jan 51 726th Transportation Truck Co MD 31 Dec 50 773d AAA Gun Battalion NY 18 Oct 52 936th Field Artillery Battalion AR 10 Feb 51 937th Field Artillery Battalion AR 10 Feb 51 955th Field Artillery Battalion NY 2 Feb 51 987th Armored Field Artillery En OH 16 Feb 51 1092d Engineer Combat Battalion WV 3 Mar 51 1l69th Engineer Group HHC AL 28 Feb 51 1343d Engineer Combat Battalion AL 9 Feb 51 1437th Engineer Treadway Bridge Co MI 2 Mar 51 2998th Engineer Treadway Bridge Co TN 27 Feb 51 Key to abbreviations: AAA = Anti-Aircraft Artillery; Ba = Battalion; Co Company; HHB = Headquarters and Headquarters Battery; HHC = Headquarters and Headquarters Company; HHD Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment; (H) = Heavy, (M) = Medium **The 65th Infantry Regiment was part of the Regular Army from 1908 until 1959, when it was allotted to the Puerto Rican National Guard. However, the history of this regiment is in many ways more typical of a National Guard regiment than one from the Regular Army. First organized in 1899 as a Puerto Rican volunteer regiment, it was later transferred to the Regular Army. During its 50 years in the Regular Army it was continually stationed in Puerto Rico and the soldiers recruited solely from the local population.