In its state role, the National Guard assists local law enforcement agencies during emergencies at the direction of the governor.

The distribution of soldiers, equipment and facilities across the state allows the National Guard to respond quickly and efficiently to emergencies statewide.

Around the time of the Beaver Wars, French colonists established trading posts and villages, forming militias for their defense.

When the American Revolutionary War began, many militias in modern-day Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky declared for the United States against the British.

[7] The Northwest Territory proved difficult to subdue, however, as the local Miami and Shawnee tribes resisted the United States.

After the failures of Harmar and St. Clair, General Anthony Wayne reorganized and expanded the Continental Army, calling his force the Legion of the United States.

Wayne marched his army into the Northwest Territory, where he broke America's string of bad luck with his decisive victory at the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Years later, in 1807, Harrison founded the Indiana Rangers, modeling them after General Wayne's mounted troops used at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

The Indiana Legion was charged with the defense of all settlements in the Territory, while the Rangers were tasked with safeguarding the Buffalo Trace, the main transportation route between Louisville, Kentucky and Vincennes.

With so many Hoosiers serving in the Union Army, the Indiana Legion was reactivated to guard the home front, taking part in the Battle of Corydon.

It was in this year that the modern organization of the Indiana National Guard took form, with the creation of the 38th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, MS and the 113th Aero Squadron, the predecessor of the 181st Intelligence Wing.

The final amendment in 1921 allowed the National Guard to "preserve the names, numbers and other designations, flags and records of the division that served in the World War."

The 38th Infantry Division was activated at Camp Shelby, MS, and would serve in the Pacific from 1944-1945, earning the nickname "Avengers of Bataan."

After the Vietnam War, Chief of Staff Creighton Abrams saw the negative effects of President Lyndon B. Johnson's decision to use the draft rather than activate the National Guard and Reserve.