Desert Storm

By the end of the 1980s, Army National Guard units were supplied with the latest weaponry and equipment - and would soon get a chance to use it. In response to Iraq's invasion of oil-rich Kuwait in August 1990, Operation Desert Storm brought the largest mobilization of the National Guard since the Korean War.

More than 60,000 Army Guard personnel were called to active duty for the Gulf War. As the air campaign against Iraq began Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, thousands of Army National Guard men and women, most of them from combat service and combat service support units, were in Southwest Asia, preparing for the ground campaign against the Iraqi forces. Two thirds of those mobilized would eventually see service in the war's main theater of operations.

Occurring soon after the Guard's return from the Arabian Peninsula, hurricanes in Florida and Hawaii and a riot in Los Angeles drew attention to the National Guard's role in its communities. That role has increased as the Guard, active for years in drug interdiction and eradication efforts, institutes new and innovative community outreach programs.