NATIONAL GUARD

a military force of volunteers in each US state. The total force is about 500 000. National Guardsmen can be called to service by the nation or by a state, often after destruction caused by violent weather. They were used by the southern states to oppose the civil rights movement and by the US government to support it. The Ohio National Guard killed four Kent State University students during Vietnam War protests there in 1970. Some National Guard groups took part in the Gulf War (1990–1) and served in Iraq from 2003.