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The Iowa Guard in the Inter-War Period (Part I)
The 1920s: Rebuilding the National Guard
History of The Iowa National Guard
1LT Stephen N. Kallestad
Headquarters Detachment
113th Calvary- champion marksmanship team (1923)
To gain an
understanding of the National Guard in general during the inter-war
period, we must take a brief look at the National Defense Acts of
1916 and 1920, and the treatment of the National Guard by the War
Department during both the mobilization for and demobilization
after WWI. It was a dark period for the National Guard in both
Iowa and the nation as a whole.
The National
Defense Act of 1916, written originally for the mobilization for
Mexican Border service, was used again for the mobilization for
WWI. Because of the wording of this Act and the constitutional
questions concerning state militias serving overseas, all
mobilized Guard units were deactivated and then re-activated in
federal service. The mobilized Guardsmen were then given the
status of "draftees" by the Regular Army. (During and
after the war, the National Guard Association worked tirelessly
to get this status changed to "volunteer.")
At the beginning
of the United States' entry into WWI, the Army consisted of three
components: the Regular Army, composed of active duty units that
existed prior the war; the National Army, composed of mobilized
federal reservists (USAR) and draftees; and the states' National
Guards. After the Guard units were mobilized, they were
deactivated and re-activated as part of the National Army of the
U.S. So, during mobilization and during the war, the states'
respective National Guards ceased to exist.
When WWI ended,
Gen. Peyton C. March was Chief of Staff of the Army. This was
unfortunate for the National Guard, as March was an adherent of
Emory Upton, a 19th-century military theorist who advocated the
abolition of the Guard. He used his position to ensure that all
Guardsmen who had been mustered into active duty were given
complete discharges from the Army. This action outraged many
governors because it left their states without a National Guard.
This was the prelude to the legislative fight which would end in
the National Defense Act of 1920.
Iowa's adjutant
general, Brig. Gen. Louis G. Lasher, alluded to these problems in
his 1919-20 biennial report to Gov. W. L. Harding. He mentioned
that only with incredible effort could Iowa muster 1,994 men: one
infantry regiment; 10 separate infantry companies; eight separate
cavalry troops; and one field artillery battery. (This compared
to one infantry brigade (three regiments), one cavalry squadron (four
troops), one engineer company, one field hospital, and one
ambulance company prior to federal service. Lasher also stated
that there was still "much anxiety felt relative to the
future of the National Guard."
By 1922, the
total size of the Iowa National Guard has risen to 3,431 men, but
the adjutant general complained about "bad relations with
the War Department." Although the National Defense Act of
1920 still made provisions for a National Guard, its position was
not particularly strong. The adjutant general noted that the War
Department (forerunner of the Defense Department) had made three
changes to the pay forms for the National Guard, much
delaying the pay of its soldiers. Further, extreme delays in the
shipment of supplies, which the Regular Army refused to explain,
drastically slowed training in the Iowa Guard. Finally, the War
Department made numerous changes to the Table of Organization and
Equipment (TO&E), which materially hurt many units.
The Iowa National
Guard continued to persevere, however, rising to a peak strength
of 6,335 men by 1924. Camp Dodge was returned to the state in
1922. By 1928 all members were being paid by the federal
government, so it was unnecessary for the state to cover part of
the payroll.
By the close of
the '20s, stability had returned to the Iowa Guard, and soldiers
were able to concentrate on training. They were going to need it
for the troubled '30s.
A highlight of training
for 113th Calvary troopers-horse mounted wrestling matches (c.
1921-1922)
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