142nd Field Artillery Regiment (United States) - The State Guard Becomes The National Guard

The State Guard Becomes The National Guard

The Militia Act of 1903 (32 Stat. 775), also known as the Dick Act, organized the various state militias into the present National Guard system. The act was passed in response to the demonstrated weaknesses in the militia, and in the entire U.S. military in the Spanish–American War of 1898.

U.S. Senator Charles W. F. Dick, a Major General in the Ohio National Guard and the chair of the Committee on the Militia, sponsored the 1903 Act towards the end of the 57th U.S. Congress. Under this legislation, passed 21 January 1903, the organized militia of the states were given federal funding and required to conform to Regular Army organization within five years. The act also required National Guard units to attend twenty four drills and five days annual training a year, and, for the first time, provided for pay for annual training. In return for the increased federal funding which the act made available, militia units were subject to inspection by Regular Army officers, and had to meet certain standards.

In Arkansas, re-organization of the Arkansas State Guard actually began in 1901 under Governor Jeff Davis. Major General W.M. Maynes, in a biannual report dated 31 December 1906 provided an overview of the status of the Arkansas Militia. The Militia was subdivided by statue into parts, (1) the State Guard, or active organize militia: and (2) the Reserve Militia. The State Guard, or regularly enlisted, organized and uniformed militia, was at a total strength of 1,274 personnel. The Federal Government appropriated $35,956.86 for the support of the Arkansas State Guard in that year, and the Adjutant General asked the General Assembly for a matching appropriation of one-half the Federal appropriation.