History of the WA National Guard
Colonel Virgil F. Field, U.S. Army retired, spent five years researching records on the Washington Territorial Militia which later evolved as the Washington Army National Guard. According to Colonel Field, record keeping by the Territorial Militia was almost non-existent. Most information relative to the activities of the Militia from 1854 was obtained from local newspapers or word of mouth.
It was not until 1884 when Adjutant General Russell G. O'Brien submitted the first known Biennial report to Watson C. Squire, Territorial Governor, did an organization emerge as the Washington National Guard.
The Indian Wars following the Civil War, namely the Chief Joseph Campaign and the Battle of the Little Big Horn made the settlers keenly aware of the need for the National Guard. Minor skirmishes with various Indian tribes continued until about 1895.
During the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s, only about 25,000 Regulars were in the field. While there was resentment and ill feelings between the Regulars and the Volunteer Militia, the need for the Militia was finally recognized.
In 1884, Lieutenant General Phil Sheridan inspected the 8,000 men of the First Division, Pennsylvania National Guard. He suggested Congress appropriate funds for annual training by units in the various states.
Various units had been organized in the Washington Territory in the late 1870s, among these being the "Walla Walla Guards" and "The Columbia Mounted Infantry". The State purchased arms and supplies. These arms and weaponry were usually obsolete Army equipment. The "Dayton Grays" and the "Grant Guards" were units later formed in the Walla Walla area. These units were to constitute the First Regiment of the National Guard of Washington. However, due to lack of sufficient companies, the Territorial Governor refused recognition of the Regiment.
Cities west of the Cascades formed organized Militia Companies. Tacoma formed the "Tacoma Rifles" and appeared in public on 26 September 1881, the day of President Grant's funeral. Olympia had its "Capital Guards". Two companies, the "Seattle Rifles" and "Queen City Guards" received recognition.
On 20 August 1885, the first Guard camp of instruction was held at Chambers Prairie near Olympia.
The year following the first encampment saw the Guard assume a new role in territorial affairs. For several years the citizens of Tacoma and Seattle were harassing Chinese laborers. At daylight on 7 February 1886, the Chinese population was given notice to pack up and be ready to sail for San Francisco. The Sheriff of King County formed a posse to preserve the peace. Unable to control the mob, he telegraphed Governor Squire for aid. The Governor declared Martial Law and activated the "Seattle Rifles" to maintain law and order. In 1889 the Guard was again called into service to prevent looting during the great fires in Spokane, Vancouver and Sprague. Labor troubles were policed by Guardsmen in King County, Aberdeen and Illwaco.
War was declared against Spain in April 1898 and the President called for 125,000 volunteers to serve a two-year period. Immediately all members of the Washington National Guard were discharged to enlist in the U.S. Army. Upon formation of various units, they were shipped by boat to San Francisco and from there to Manila. The Regiment participated in more than two dozen battles during the Philippine Insurrection. On 31 October1899, the Regiment was mustered out of Federal service.
The Washington National Guard had no organized forces after the war with Spain. Accordingly,
Governor Rogers reestablished the State forces. These consisted of a First Regiment of six companies and a Second Regiment of seven companies, Light Artillery and a Cavalry Troop. In the ensuing years greater emphasis was placed on marksmanship and more parallel training with Regular Army units.
Adjutant General Drain in his Biennial Report of 1905-1906 stressed the need for armories to house the various units. The armories in Seattle and Spokane were the first built, followed by the completion of the Tacoma Armory in 1909. The American Lake area in the vicinity of the present day Camp Murray came to be the annual training site in the years preceding WWI.
In 1911, authorization was given to form a Naval Militia. Three units were formed, one each in Seattle, Tacoma and Grays Harbor. Needless to say these units were not received by the Navy with any enthusiasm. The vessels obtained from the Navy were in sorry condition. With the advent of the Fleet Reserve Program of 1916, the Naval Militia Divisions were never revived after WWI.
On 18 June 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered out certain National Guard units for service on the Mexican border. Records of the Calexico, California Campaign are non-existent. The National Guard of Washington was the only group to comply with men and equipment requested by the Federal Government.
Following the declaration of war against Germany on 6 April 1917, action was taken to mobilize all forces of the United States. The National Guards of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming made up the 20th Division. On 18 July 1917, the 2Oth Division was redesignated as the 41st Division. Units of the Washington National Guard sailed for France on 13 December 1917. Various units of the 41st Division saw action in France and 61 Washington Guardsmen were killed in action or died of wounds received during WWI. By the end of 1919, all Washington National Guardsmen were demobilized at Camp Lewis, the post where they had been mobilized two years earlier.
The 41st Division exists today as the 41st Infantry Brigade, Oregon Army National Guard.
The early 1920s saw much reorganization both in the Regulars and the National Guard. Greater emphasis came to be placed on coastal defense, and installations such as Fort Worden, Fort Casey and Fort Flagler, manned by Coast Artillery units, were essential to our national defense. The platoon was the basic combat unit. Emphasis again on armory construction saw Everett, Walla Walla and Aberdeen gain new facilities. The Washington National Guard's strength as of January1922 was 142 officers and 2,329 enlisted men. 1926 saw "The State Military Reservation at American Lake" officially designated as Camp Murray. The State Headquarters was ideally located, three miles from Camp Lewis, 11 miles from Tacoma, 20 miles from Olympia, and available by car, bus, railroad and street car. As of 1 November 1934 the strength of the Washington National Guard was 206 officers, 3 warrant officers, 2,391 enlisted men, 643 inactive enlisted men, and 32 animals.
In June 1935, while all Washington National Guard units were in training at Camp Murray, the Mayor of Tacoma requested the Guard be sent to maintain order. There had been a lumber and mill worker strike with many acts of violence and property destruction. The 161st Infantry was trucked to Tacoma, setting up in the Armory with headquarters established at the Winthrop Hotel. The Guard had troops in Tacoma, Aberdeen, Everett and Longview for a period of six weeks and handled a very explosive situation with tact and diplomacy.
1939 and 1940 saw a great deal of reorganization in the Washington National Guard. The stage was being set for WWII, with both the Regulars and the Guard adding personnel and units. Effective 16 September 1940, the 41st Division and attached elements were ordered to Active Duty.
American strategic planning after WWI was largely conditioned by a popular reaction against war. Most military planning was theoretical, and Great Britain had the power to challenge us.
War Plan Orange was a paper plan to contain the Japanese in the Pacific by harassment and isolation. The U.S. Pacific Fleet in theory could win a war. The role of the Army would be to fight a delaying action until the Navy arrived. Later the Red Plan came into being, the possibility of a war with Great Britain and the need to defend the Panama Canal and the Western Hemisphere. The thinking was that the Northeastern United States was the most important section, thus the Atlantic Fleet should be the stronger. A two-ocean navy was needed more than a strong army. The Joint Planners, as a result of aggressive acts on the part of the Axis Powers, developed the Rainbow Plan which assumed Great Britain, France and the United States would act in consort to stop the Axis Powers. The outbreak of war in Europe gave urgency to Rainbow Planning. With Germany's invasion of Norway and Denmark, the fall of France and the planned invasion of Great Britain, the need for action was apparent. The British were able to hold off the threat of invasion and the United States began to aid with needed ships and materials. On 22 September 1940, Japan invaded northern Indochina and joined the Axis.
The Rainbow Plan was not a plan of operations, it merely outlined the objectives and missions of American forces in case of war. President Roosevelt approved the Rainbow Plan after the Declaration of War on 7 December 1941.
The 41st Division began training in preparation for possible deployment on 23 September 1940. The initial strength was 14,000 men. Following an 11-day Christmas leave, Selective Service provided 7,000 more men. Training continued throughout the spring of 1941 until the Division was ordered to Fort Hunter Liggett, California for further training. The entire Division was convoyed beginning 19 May 1941, and all elements arrived by 28 May. They returned from maneuvers in early July hoping their one-year of active duty was ended, however, it was not to be. They were to be retained until the following Spring. On 7 December 1941, the Division was scattered up and down the California coast on coastal defense. The 218th Field Artillery was 1,000 miles at sea on 7 December, bound for Manila. They were ordered to return to San Francisco and hence to Fort Lewis.
In January and February of 1942, the 41st Division was reorganized from the square division to the triangle. The 161st Infantry, "Washington's Own", was transferred to Hawaii to become a part of the 25th Infantry Division. The 41st Division received orders for Fort Dix, NJ and from there to Australia, arriving in May 1942. Their first meal near Melbourne was cooked by Aussie Militia, a mutton stew and coffee in two 50-gallon oil drums. Bread was hauled like cordwood on an open flat bed truck. After unloading the truck it was reloaded with camp garbage. The Aussies found the Yanks too fussy. Training for island and jungle warfare began in July 1942.
The 163rd Infantry was the first unit committed to combat on 2 January 1943. Other Division elements were committed during the year. On 22 April 1944, the Division came ashore at Humboldt Bay, Hollandia, and meeting ineffectual resistance, all was secured by 4 May 1944. Elements of the Division continued island hopping until the end of June 1945. At that time they were ordered back to Hollandia with I Corps to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines.
On 8 February 1945, elements landed at Mindoro. Light resistance was met on landing but as the Division was there, the 41st continued mopping up until after V-J Day. On 10 September 1945, General MaCArthur announced the 41st Division would occupy the Kure-Hiroshima area of Japan.
Movement of the entire Division took about 15 days. Encountering typhoon weather enroute, one echelon did not arrive until 3 October 1945.
The Japanese people by and large were not seen, but those encountered were very polite. The Japanese police along the highways faced away from the "Jungaliers"; this was not an insult, but was considered honor and respect.
Occupation duty tasks for the 41st Division consisted of engineer housekeeping, repair of bridges, roads, and water and electrical systems. Also, the demobilization of all Japanese military personnel in the Kure-Hiroshima area was their responsibility. The disposition of all war materials from handguns to bombs and aircraft fell upon their shoulders.
The return of personnel to the United States for discharge began in earnest in November and December 1945. This created serious problems for all units as they were operating below TIO strength. Much emphasis was given to athletics and preparing for the holiday season. This did much to boost the morale of troops performing occupation duty. Units were now being deactivated on foreign soil. On 31 December 1945, the 41st Division wrote "Finis" to its WWII duties. 41st Division elements received three Distinguished Unit Citations.
The National Guard demobilized at the end of WWII and for all purposes briefly ceased to exist. On 10 October 1945, a report by the General Staff Committee made provisions for a National Guard. This report spelled out the mission, strength, composition, organization and distribution of the various State units. National Guard troops allotted to the State of Washington, both ground and air forces, was 12,539. Prior to WWII, the 41st Division was split between Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Under the reorganization plan, only Oregon and Washington would provide personnel for the Division.
In June 1948, elements of the Guard were called up for flood relief in the Ellensburg area, Woodland, Okanogan County, Clark County and other areas. The National Guard not only rescued people, but also provided valuable assessments relative to property loss and needed flood control measures.
On 22 July 1950, approximately 12 units of the Washington National Guard were ordered to active duty. None of these units were sent to Korea, but many individual soldiers went as replacements for other units.
Since the beginning, the Washington National Guard has provided services and manpower to Washington State communities in order to provide a better quality of life for all of its citizens. As an example, Guard assistance was rendered to communities who suffered natural disasters such as the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in May 1980, springtime river flooding at various locations across the state, and the Central Washington forest fires in the summer of 1994. Soldiers of the Washington National Guard brought in communications, airlifted food and supplies, evacuated the sick and injured, furnished trucks and other equipment, and provided security against looting.
Additionally, units of the Washington Army National Guard were activated for and participated in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-91; and most recently participated in Operation Joint Guard, a NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Today, the Washington Army National Guard is authorized over 6,900 citizen-soldiers serving in 77 units in 34 communities throughout the state.
It is hoped this brief introduction will wet the reader's appetite to learn more of the history of the Washington Army National Guard. Members of the Guard can take great pride in belonging to a unique organization that can carry out its military mission in times of emergency and provide valuable assistance to the community in times of peace.