32 U.S.C. § 102
Section 102 · General policy
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 13 court decisions — leading case Jorden v. National Guard Bureau (1986)
Most recently applied in Mimedx Grp., Inc. v. Tissue Transplant Tech., Ltd. (December 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In accordance with the traditional military policy of the United States, it is essential that the strength and organization of the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard as an integral part of the first line defenses of the United States be maintained and assured at all times. Whenever Congress determines that more units and organizations are needed for the national security than are in the regular components of the ground and air forces, the Army National Guard of the United States and the Air National Guard of the United States, or such parts of them as are needed, together with such units of other reserve components as are necessary for a balanced force, shall be ordered to active Federal duty and retained as long as so needed.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
The words “The Congress further declares * * * as expressed in the National Defense Act of 1916 as amended” and “It is the intent of Congress that” are omitted as surplusage. The words “United States” are substituted for the words “our” and “this Nation”. The words “more * * * than are in” are substituted for the words “in excess of those”. The words “Federal duty” are substituted for the words “military service of the United States”. The words “as long as so needed” are substituted for the words “so long as such necessity exists”.
Cross References
Active duty of reserve components generally, see section 12301 of Title 10, Armed Forces.
Active Federal service, see section 12401 of Title 10.
Basic policy for order into Federal service, see section 10103 of Title 10.
Call into Federal service, see section 12406 of Title 10.
Insurrection, see section 331 et seq. of Title 10.
Reserve components, see section 10101 et seq. of Title 10.