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California: Happy Birthday, National Guard!

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Dec 13, 2025

Happy Birthday, National Guard!

What you need to know: Today, the National Guard marks its 389th birthday, distinguishing itself as the oldest component of the U.S. Armed Forces. California honors National Guard members for their commitment to their communities.

SACRAMENTO – As the nation begins celebrations for its 250th anniversary – the National Guard today celebrates its own – 139 years before the nation's founding. Today marks 389 years since the founding of the National Guard – then, the organized militia in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This flagship date marks one of importance – not only the start of organized militia in what would become the United States of America, but also one of significance as it recognizes the important task of soldiers serving state missions.

Congratulations to the men and women of the National Guard – we honor your dedication and bravery to ensure the safety and security of our states across the nation. Our California National Guard servicemembers are an integral part of our communities – often being the first to be called during major emergencies, disasters or humanitarian efforts. This is exactly what our soldiers should be doing, not being used as political pawns by a president.

Governor Gavin Newsom

California's own National Guard was established in 1850 and as it continues to honor its servicemembers for their service to others, the Trump Administration unlawfully deployed them to Los Angeles against their own communities, undermining the important public safety and humanitarian work they do in the state. On June 7, for the first time in our country's history, the President invoked 10 U.S.C. § 12406 to federalize a state's National Guard over the objections of a state's governor. California brought suit to challenge that unprecedented action.

Just this past week, the federal trial and appeals courts ruled that, come Monday, no National Guard troops may be deployed as part of the President's game in California. Following a bench trial, a federal judge ruled in August 2025 that President Trump's deployment of federalized National Guard troops in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts the military's involvement in domestic law enforcement.

Combatting drug cartels

The Cal Guard's ongoing efforts, including operations conducted by its Counterdrug Task Force, play a crucial role in addressing drug trafficking.

There are over 400 servicemembers deployed statewide, including at ports of entry, to combat transnational criminal organizations and seize illegal narcotics.

As soldiers have gotten back to doing crucial public safety work, it's important to remember that an estimated 32% of Cal Guard's servicemembers dedicated to the Counterdrug Task Force were reassigned by the President to unlawfully militarize Los Angeles.

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Cal Guard specialized servicemembers also joined a joint operation between state and local partners in the San Francisco Bay Area to target fentanyl trafficking, disrupt the supply of the deadly drug in the city, and hold the operators of drug trafficking rings accountable. In 12 months, officials seized nearly 700 pounds of fentanyl and CHP issued 6,200+ citations for illegal activity, made 500+ arrests, and recovered 115+ stolen vehicles.

Recently, Governor Newsom announced significant strides toward taking down organized drug rings, including the seizure of over 35,065 pounds of fentanyl and more than 51.8 million pills containing fentanyl, with a street value of more than $498.4 million since 2021.

Increasing disaster resiliency

Cal Guard servicemembers have been critical in protecting the state from natural disasters and emergencies, such as Task Force Rattlesnake. Created by Governor Newsom, Joint Task Force Rattlesnake is made up of over 300 Cal Guard members, who work at the direction of CAL FIRE to help fight and prevent fires. Since 2019, Cal Guard has helped the state's firefighting partners detect wildfires early using satellite and drone imagery.

In January, during the extreme weather event that led to multiple wind-driven wildfires in Southern California, Cal Guard services members responded to extinguish the fires from the ground and in the air, as they have done in many previous emergency incidents.

The work they do in service to their communities is considered all hazard – preparing for and responding to all natural disasters and emergencies – including deploying hundreds of lifesaving resources to neighborhoods for Hurricane Hilary to rescuing Californians due to historic flooding in the Central Valley.

International partnerships

The Governor recently announced a new partnership between the California and Mexico military departments. Known as the State Partnership Program, the letter of intent between the California National Guard and the Mexican National Defense Secretariat (DEFENSA) will further enhance border security, amplify our tied economic prosperity, and share military expertise.

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This program is a U.S. Department of Defense security cooperation initiative that pairs state National Guards with foreign partner nations to build long-term, mutually beneficial relationships through military cooperation, disaster response collaboration, and broader civil-military exchanges that support U.S. defense and foreign policy objectives. The California-Mexico Partnership builds upon California's existing National Guard Partnerships with Ukraine and Nigeria.

Looking back to 1636

On December 13, 1636, during what would later be known as the Pequot War between English colonists and the Pequot tribe, the Massachusetts Bay colony formed the first militia regiments in North America. Those original regiments – the 181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, the 101st Field Artillery, and the 101st Engineer Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard – still exist today, as the oldest units in the U.S. military – albeit with a different mission: to serve and protect all communities in the United States. By this period, colonies including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, and Maryland were already established.

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