Launching of National Publication by N.G.A. Awaits Approval of States

The vastly increased responsibility which the post-war N.G.U.S now shares with the Regular Army as a combat component of the M-Day force demands a comprehensive reappraisal of its relative position in the framework of national defense, in keeping with the serious character of the M-Day mission assigned to the National Guard by the War Department and enunciated in unmistakable, concise language in the Approved War Department Policies.

No longer can the National Guard continue to operate as an aggregation of separate State troops, lacking cohesion and national team work. That has been inherent weakness which in the past has exposed this potentially great corps to the debilitating attacks of those who would destroy it. Lacking articulateness and unity, the National Guard was an easy prey to the disorganizing influences which, fortunately without complete success, constantly hacked away at the large, comparatively inert mass of disconnected, vulnerable units that composed the peacetime National Guard.

The desirability of an official publication to provide the necessary vocal chords for the National Guard has long been recognized. The National Guard Association, through its President, Major General Ellard A. Walsh, decided last year to do something about it.

In his report to the Buffalo Conference on 21 September 1946, President Walsh recommended the appointment of a Publications Committee, composed of officers experienced in the publishing field, to study the possibilities and advisability of establishing an official publication. The Conference adopted his suggestion, the Publications Committee made its survey and recommendations to the Executive Council at the latter’s Washington meeting in November 1946, and this Preview Edition of the NATIONAL GUARDSMAN is the first result.

The final impetus will, it is hoped, be furnished by the Adjutants General of the Several States, Territories and the District of Columbia at their meeting in Washington, 26-27-28 February
1947. …

Assuming approval by the Adjutants General, the President and Executive Council of the N.G.A. will put the machinery in motion and within a few short months the NATIONAL GUARDSMAN will start rolling regularly from the presses to keep officers and enlisted men of the N.G.U.S. in every State and in every armory, thoroughly informed on current policies, developments in Washington and elsewhere.