Pennsylvania National Guard History

 

The Pennsylvania National Guard has a rich and distinguished heritage dating back to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin created the Associators in Philadelphia. Having overcome the long pacifist tradition of Pennsylvania's founding Quakers, Franklin lead approximately 600 "gentlemen and merchants" of Philadelphia in signing the “Articles of Association” to provide for a common defense against Indian raiders and French privateers. These "Associators" (today's 111th Infantry Regiment and 103rd Brigade Engineer Battalion) are recognized as the foundation of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Within months, the Philadelphia Associators had brother units throughout the populated Commonwealth.

In 1755, the Pennsylvania Assembly passed the first Militia Act within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It formally authorized a volunteer militia.

After the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, the Philadelphia Light Horse, later known as First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, escorted General George Washington to New York to take command of the Army. The Army's first units included a regiment of rifle companies from Pennsylvania.

During the American Revolution (1775-1783) Pennsylvania supplied more than 6,000 troops, 4,500 of them Associators, and they took part in numerous campaigns, including Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776 and the ensuing battles of Trenton and Princeton. The Associators infantry (today’s 111th Infantry Regiment) and artillery (today’s 103rd Brigade Engineer Battalion) assets played a major role in the fighting at Trenton and Princeton. Washington personally lead the Philadelphia Associator battalions in a counterattack that turned the tide of Princeton on Jan. 3, 1777. Many historians credit these “Ten Crucial Days” with saving the American Revolution, and the Pennsylvania Militia played a critical role in that success.  

After the American Revolution, the nation was put to the test when the militia in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was called upon to put down fellow citizens in the western part of the state during the Whiskey Rebellion (1791-1794). More than 4,000 militiamen from Pennsylvania were part of a four-state force that quelled the rebellion.

During the War of 1812 (1812-1815) Pennsylvanians again volunteered to defend the nation and the commonwealth. Altogether, more than 14,000 Pennsylvanians actively served. During the Battle of Lake Erie, an artillery company provided volunteers to serve as cannoneers on Commodore Perry's fleet. That unit is known today as Wilkes-Barre's 109th Field Artillery Regiment.

During the Mexican War (1846-1848) Pennsylvania provided two regiments of volunteer militiamen from across the commonwealth. Many of these companies that answered the call were already formed from existing regiments within Pennsylvania’s militia structure.

At the outset of the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to fight for the Union, and five units from the Lehigh Valley were quickly assembled and sent for protection. Lincoln called them the "First Defenders,” an honor still borne by their descendants in today’s 213th Regional Support Group in Allentown.

More than 200 Pennsylvania regiments took part in the Civil War in 24 major campaigns. Among the battles was the Battle of Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania on July 1-3, 1863 – a Union victory that many consider is the war’s turning point. Several current Pennsylvania National Guard units can trace their lineage to units that fought at Gettysburg, including the 103rd Brigade Engineer Battalion; 1-104th Cavalry Regiment; 1-107th Field Artillery Regiment; 1-108th Field Artillery Regiment; 1-109th Field Artillery Regiment; 1-111th Infantry Regiment; and 1-112th Infantry Regiment. Of note, the Philadelphia Brigade – today's 111th Infantry Regiment – helped turn back the center of Pickett’s Charge at "the Angle" on July 3, 1863.

On April 7, 1870, the term “militia” was replaced with the “National Guard of Pennsylvania” (N.G.P.).

In 1877, thousands of Pennsylvania Guardsman were called up to restore order in the face of a violent statewide railroad strike. The rioting was worst in Pittsburgh. Five Guardsman and 20 civilians were killed in the violence.

In early 1879, Pennsylvania combined several divisions of National Guard units into a single Guard division. The division became known as the Pennsylvania Division. In June 1916, the division was designated the 7th Division, part of the reorganization of the National Guard. It was mustered and was sent to the Mexican Border at El Paso, Texas. On September 1, 1917, the division was again redesignated as the 28th Division under the War Department. The division was yet again redesignated during World War II as the 28th Infantry Division when the military grew to have armored, airborne and mountain divisions within its rank structure. Today’s 28th Infantry Division is also the only division to have nine days for its birthday. Its official birthday is from 12-20 March 1879. It is the oldest division in the entire U. S. Army by nearly 38 years.

In 1885, Pennsylvania began to have encampments at Mount Gretna State Military Reservation in Lebanon County. As the reservation grew in land area, so did the infrastructure of the training grounds. Originally, there were approximately 15 buildings on the reservation in that first year. By 1935, there were 340 buildings, a complete sewer system and disposal plan with more than 10 miles of pipe, 14 miles of water pipe, and 7.5 miles of macadam roads on the reservation. One of the best athletic fields in the Commonwealth was built here just east of what is known as the Timbers areas, which can accommodate more than 5,000 spectators and 1,200 athletes. The military also had its own saw mill, which produced approximately 41,000 board feet each year.           

In 1898, the entire Pennsylvania division was mobilized and mustered into federal service at Mount Gretna for the Spanish-American War (1898). Pennsylvania Guard units saw action in Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

Again in 1916, mobilization of the Commonwealth citizens occurred at Mount Gretna for service on the Mexican Border. As troops began to come home, their mobilizations continued into the Great War, known today as World War I. After the war, encampments at Mount Gretna alternated between there and at Gettysburg. Multiple times Regular Army units trained alongside National Guard Troops at Mount Gretna.

The Pennsylvania division, now known as the 28th Division, was called up in the wake of America's entry into World War I (1917-1918). America entered the war during the last two years. The division took part in six major campaigns in France and Belgium resulting in more than 14,000 battle casualties. With its entry into the war, the American forces helped turn the tide to the Allied victory.

On July 15, 1918, elements of the division (notably the 109th and 110th Infantry Regiments) beat back German attacks along the Marne River. Pockets of division Soldiers were surrounded and cut off but fought at the company and platoon level in a ferocious defense of their positions, beating their way through German lines and back to secondary defensive positions. The 28th Division’s stalwart stand earns its Soldiers the moniker “Men of Iron” from General of the Armies John Pershing, commander of the Allied Armies.

In 1924, the 103rd Observation Squadron was organized at the Philadelphia Airport under the 28th Division. After World War II, the unit became the forerunner of today’s Pennsylvania Air National Guard.

Beginning in the early 1930s, a study was conducted to expand the site at Mount Gretna. Recommendations were made to abandon it for the larger and current training site located at today’s Fort Indiantown Gap. By 1935, no less than 250,000 Soldiers had trained at the Mount Gretna State Military Reservation.

By 1939, the world was once again at war. Ten months before Pearl Harbor, the 28th Division was ordered into federal service. After America entered World War II (1941-1945), the division trained extensively, both in the homeland and abroad in England and Wales. Landing in France after D-Day, the division fought through Normandy, helped liberate Paris, and ended up bitterly engaged along the "West Wall" of Germany during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest in November 1944. One month later, during the Battle of the Bulge, the division proved instrumental in stalling the last German offensive of the war. The German High Command nicknamed the division "Bloody Bucket" following the fierce battles of the Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge. The unit suffered more than 25,000 casualties of which 2,000 were killed in action. Elsewhere in the war, the division's 111th Regiment was detached to serve in the Pacific; Pennsylvania's 213th Regiment saw action in North Africa and Italy, while other units served across the globe.

In 1947, The Pennsylvania Air National Guard was formally established.

For its efforts during the Korean War (1950-1953), the 28th Infantry Division was mobilized to reinforce NATO forces and was sent to Germany. Several other Pennsylvania National Guard units saw active service in Korea. On September 11, 1950, in route to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, the 109th Field Artillery suffered a train wreck in which another train on the same track ran into the rear of the troop train, killing 33 service members from two different batteries. More than 1,000 National Guardsmen from various sections of the State, who had not been summoned for federal service, acted as a guard of honor for the bodies. Police estimated 200,000 persons paid homage as they lined the streets.

Pennsylvania Air National Guard airlift units flew 134 supply missions to Vietnam between during 1966-1967, becoming the first reserve air force to ever enter a combat zone without actually being mobilized.

In June 1972, the worst natural disaster to-date struck Pennsylvania, Tropical Storm Agnes. As a result of the extensive damage caused by storms and flooding, the Pennsylvania National Guard was engaged in relief operations. Guard units began relief operations from June 22 through August 6, 1972. It affected 122 communities in 35 out of the 67 Pennsylvania counties, with the hardest hit area being the Wyoming Valley region (Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County). More than 55,000 homes were completely destroyed, thousands of additional homes damaged, and 126 bridges destroyed. There were more than $35 million in crop damages, more than 200,000 telephones out of service, 49 deaths, and property damages well over $3 billion dollars. For the National Guard, a major call up was ordered. There were 12,036 Army National Guard and 644 Air National Guard members, for a total of 12,680 Pennsylvania National Guard personnel on duty during the flood.

During the invasion of Grenada (1983) the Pennsylvania Air Guard's 193rd Special Operations Group (today’s 193d Special Operations Wing) provided airborne broadcasting and surveillance during the U.S. invasion. Later missions in Panama, Haiti and elsewhere earned the 193rd the distinction of being the most-deployed unit in the entire Air Force.

Eight Army and Air Guard units from Pennsylvania mobilized for duty in Southwest Asia during Operations Desert Shield (1990-1991) and Desert Storm (19991). Every member returned home safely.

In 1993, the Pennsylvania National Guard began a partnership with the government of Lithuania through the National Guard's State Partnership Program, as part of an initiative to promote the growth of democratic institutions among the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Since the partnership began, the two sides have taken part in over 730 engagements, including senior leader engagements, subject matter expert exchanges, familiarization visits and cooperative training and exercises.

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pennsylvania National Guard helicopter crews conducted numerous missions transporting personnel and supplies to and from various locations, including the Pentagon and New York City. Pa. National Guard aviation assets flew a total of more than 41 hours in response to state and federal missions. Amont them, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from Company G, 104th Aviation Regiment transported Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania Adjutant General Maj. Gen. William Lynch, and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Paul Evanko to the Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville, Pa. Additionally, Friedens Armory in Somerset County was assigned as a morgue site for the Flight 93 crash site, and Pennsylvania National Guard personnel provided communications and security support to the morgue until operations there concluded on Oct. 3, 2001.

Approximately 1,100 28th Infantry Division Soldiers became the command element of NATO peacekeeping operations in Bosnia from 2002-2003.

28th Infantry Division units become the first Guard command element for peacekeeping operations in eastern Kosovo from 2003-2004. The 213th Area Support Group, Co. G, 104th Aviation and several smaller support units deployed in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

Approximately 2,000 Pennsylvania Soldiers and Airmen were deployed in 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to search for weapons of mass destruction, provide convoy security, rebuild infrastructure, and protect senior officials.         

Approximately 750 Soldiers assigned to Task Force Dragoon helped to protect 29 polling locations during Iraq’s first free election in 2005. Task Force Dragoon units returned home in November. An additional 2,100 Soldiers from the 28th Infantry Division's 2d Brigade Combat Team, augmented by 2,000 Soldiers from 30 other states, touched down in Iraq in June. Known as the "Iron Brigade," Soldiers conducted convoy escorts and patrols, and provided training for Iraqi civil defense forces.

On September 1, 2005, Governor Edward G. Rendell mobilized 2,500 Pennsylvania Army and Air National Guard members to support disaster relief efforts along the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Pennsylvania National Guard personnel arrived over the weekend of September 3-5. The relief mission lasted approximately 30 days.

The Pennsylvania National Guard’s 56th Brigade was selected in 2004 to become a Stryker Brigade, the first such unit in the reserve component. The brigade is centered around the eight-wheeled, armored Stryker vehicles. Over the next few years, about $1.5 billion in construction occurred at various locations across the commonwealth to support the brigade's conversion to a Stryker Brigade. This transformation makes it the largest funded program undertaken by the Pennsylvania National Guard in modern history.

In 2007, nearly 400 Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 103rd Armored Regiment deployed to Afghanistan, and approximately 400 Soldiers of the 104th Calvary departed for a peace-keeping mission on the Sinai Peninsula. Meanwhile, units from the 213th ADA Battalion, 131st Transportation Company, 104th Aviation, 228th Brigade Support Battalion, 107th Field Artillery, and 28th Division Support Command returned from their overseas deployments. 

In 2010 the governor of Pennsylvania mobilized members of the 193rd Special Operations Wing to take part in a humanitarian assistance mission in Haiti, which was impacted by a major earthquake.

In 2018, the 28th Infantry Division sent 500 Soldiers to support Operation Spartan Shield in the Middle East, located in both Kuwait and Jordan.

In July 2020, nearly 1,000 Soldiers from the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade embarked on a year-long deployment to the Middle East where they served in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against Daesh, and Operation Spartan Shield, the U.S. military posture in Southwest Asia. The brigade's Soldiers were spread across 13 different locations in Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

In October 2022, more than 500 Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 28th Infantry Division departed for a deployment to the Middle East, where they served in support of Operation Spartan Shield and U.S. Central Command’s mission of increasing regional security and stability in support of enduring U.S. interests.

Today, the Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the largest and one of the most deployed state National Guards in the nation. Since 9/11, Pennsylvania National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have completed more than 43,000 individual deployments to locations such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Poland.

History Articles
First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry to celebrate 250th birthday
Dennis Boylan, an honorary captain who served as First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry’s commander from 1983 to 1988, points out a feature of the troop's original standard, which dates to 1775, in the museum inside the troop's armory in Philadelphia. (Pennsylvania National Guard photo by Brad Rhen)
Feb. 23, 2024 - First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, a unique organization linked to the Pennsylvania National Guard, will celebrate its 250th birthday in November 2024...

The legacy of Philadelphia’s African American 644th Engineer Battalion
(Left to right) Master Sgt. Edward Williams, Sgt. Clarence Smith, Pvt. Robert Hall, Pvt. Leonard Hicks and Pvt. Ernest Erby of Company B, 644th Engineer Battalion conduct training during a field exercise. (Pennsylvania National Guard archive photo)
Feb. 15, 2024 - The 644th Engineer Battalion was an African American unit that served in the Pennsylvania National Guard from 1948 to 1959...

Retired Chinook pilots recall iconic photo 20 years later
A CH-47 Chinook helicopter piloted by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Larry Murphy and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Paul Barnes of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Company G, 104th Aviation Regiment lands on the roof of a house in northeastern Afghanistan to evacuate detainees on Nov. 10, 2003. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Greg Heath)
Nov. 9, 2023 - Retired Pennsylvania National Guard helicopter pilots Larry Murphy and Paul Barnes recall the famous photo of their CH-47 Chinook helicopter landing on a roof in Afghanistan in 2003...

28th Pathfinder Detachment - The Pa. National Guard’s first airborne unit
The Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Pathfinder Detachment pictured at Leapfest in Rhode Island in 1981. (Courtesy photo)
Aug. 16, 2023 - In the 1970s and 1980s, the Pennsylvania National Guard was home to an airborne unit known as the 28th Infantry Detachment (Pathfinder)...

Pa. National Guard units at D-Day
Mobilized members of the 190th Field Artillery who were veterans of World War I with the 28th Division pose for a photograph at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, in 1941.
June 6, 2023 - While the bulk of the 28th Infantry Division did not arrive in Normandy until July 1944, several Pennsylvania National Guard units participated in the D-Day landings...

Pa. Guard mobilized for Spanish-American War 125 years ago
Soldiers from the 1st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry pose for a photo at Chickamauga, Georgia, in June 1898 during their mobilization for the Spanish-American War. (Photo courtesy of Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Heft)
May 4, 2023 - May 2023 marks 125 years since the Pennsylvania National Guard mustered in for federal service for the Spanish-American War...

Holding the Line: The 28th ID and the fight for the Ardennes
Members of the 28th Infantry Division Band and Quartermaster Company who stayed and held Germans in Wiltz, Luxembourg, on Dec. 20, 1944. (U.S. Army Signal Corps photo)
Dec. 15, 2022 - The story of the 28th Infantry Division's courageous stand at the outset of the Battle of the Bulge...

Top 10 Moments in Pennsylvania National Guard History
Soldiers from the 28th Division march down the Champs-Elysées in Paris during a
Dec. 7, 2022 - In recognition of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 275th birthday, here are the top 10 moments in Pennsylvania National Guard history...

Into The Hürtgen: The 28th ID in World War II’s Battle of Hürtgen Forest
Soldiers from the 28th Infantry Division advance through the Hürtgen Forest in Germany on Nov. 2, 1944, during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.
Nov. 2, 2022 - The 28th Infantry Division began its first assault of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest on Nov. 2, 1944...

The 28th Division’s lone Medal of Honor recipient from World War II
Army Tech. Sgt. Francis J. Clark in 1945. Army photo
Sept. 13, 2022 - The actions of Tech. Sgt. Francis J. Clark over seven days in September 1944 would earn him the distinction of being the the 28th Division's only recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II...

‘We March In Paris:’ The 28th Division’s triumphant march down the Champs-Elysées
Soldiers from the 28th Division march down the Champs-Elysées in Paris during a
Aug. 26, 2022 - The story behind the 28th Division's triumphant march down the Champs-Elysées in Paris during World War II...

Hill 204: The 28th Division’s first combat action of World War I
Artwork that appeared in June 6, 1965, edition of the Pittsburgh Post depicting the 28th Division's action on Hill 204 during World War I.
June 30, 2022 - The 28th Division's first combat actions of World War I began on July 1, 1918, on Hill 204 in France...

The Hiker: How a Pa. Guardsman became the national symbol for the Spanish-American War
Feb. 17, 2022 - A Spanish-American War veteran from the Pennsylvania National Guard served as the model for a statue of a Spanish-American War Soldier that can be found in more than 50 communities across the United States...

Philadelphia’s Gray Invincibles were one of Pa.'s last segregated units
The All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors in Philadelphia is photographed on Feb. 2, 2022. The memorial, which honors Pennsylvania’s African American military men who served the United States in wartime, was proposed by Samuel Beecher Hart, a Pennsylvania legislator and captain of the Gray Invincibles, the last “colored” unit in the Pennsylvania Militia.
Feb. 3, 2022 - The Gray Invincibles of Philadelphia were an African American unit in the Pennsylvania Militia in the late 1800s...