National guardsmen

National guardsmen are military personel who serve in the National Guard of the United States, which ia a reserve military force state National Guard militia or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. The National Guard of the United States is a joint reserve component of the United States Army and the United States Air Force and maintains two subcomponents: the Army National Guard for the Army and the Air Force's Air National Guard.

The Air National Guard has more than 106,000 personnel, and the Army National Guard (ARNG) around 325,000 personnel (as of February 2006).

Traditionally, most National Guard personnel serve "One weekend a month, two weeks a year", although personnel in highly operational or high demand units serve far more frequently. Typical examples are pilots, navigators and aircrewmen in active flying assignments, primarily in the Air National Guard and to a lesser extent in the Army National Guard. A significant number also serve in a full-time capacity in roles such as Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) or Air Reserve Technician or Army Reserve Technician (ART).