National Guard to be reorganized.
2. The National Guard, reorganized under the National Defense Act, and containing on the 30th of June, 1917, approximately 3,803 officers and 107,320 enlisted men. The National Guard, however, by recruiting of its numbers and the raising of all arms to war strength, contemplated a total of 13,377 officers and 456,800 enlisted men.
National Army to be raised by Selective Draft.
3. In addition to this, the act provided for a National Army, raised by the process of selective conscription or draft, of which the President was empowered to summon two units of 500,000 men each at such time as he should determine wise.
National Guard training camps.
On the 3d day of July, 1917, the President by proclamation called into the Federal service and drafted the National Guard of the several States and the District of Columbia. And 16 divisional camps were established for their mobilization and training, as follows:
Charlotte, N. C.; Spartanburg, S. C.; Augusta, Ga.; Anniston, Ala.; Greenville, S. C.; Macon, Ga.; Waco, Tex.; Houston, Tex.; Deming, N. Mex.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Forth Worth, Tex.; Montgomery, Ala.; Hattiesburg, Miss.; Alexandria, La.; Buena Vista, Cal.; Palo Alto, Cal.
Voluntary enlistment in the Regular Army and National Guard.
A spirit of cooperation.
The principle of voluntary enlistment to fill up the ranks of the Regular Army and the National Guard, and to raise them to war strength was preserved in the act of May 18, 1917, the maximum age for enlistment in both services being fixed at 40 years. Even before the passage of the act, however, very great recruiting activity was shown throughout the country, the total number of enlistments in the Regular Army for the fiscal year 1917 being 160,084. The record of National Guard enlistments has not yet been completely compiled, but the act authorizing a temporary increase in the military establishment provided that any deficiency remaining in either the Regular Army or the National Guard should be made up by selective conscription. The introduction of this new method of enlistment so far affected the whole question of selection for military service that any deductions, either favorable or unfavorable, from the number of voluntary enlistments, would be unwarranted. It is entirely just to say that the States generally showed a most sympathetic spirit of cooperation with the National Government, and the National Guard responded with zeal and enthusiasm to the President's call.