In addition to headquarters’ Soldiers, the Nevada Army Guard includes the 17th Sustainment Brigade, the 991st Aviation Troop Command and the Recruiting and Retention Battalion.

[5] In Nevada, the same occurred in response to strained Native American relations and fear of secessionists before and during the Civil War.

In the winter of 1859–60, the discovery of the Comstock Lode brought a “Rush to Washoe” that increased friction with the Native population in what was then still far-western Utah Territory.

A loosely organized militia attacked Pyramid Lake Paiutes in retaliation for perceived crimes against white settlers.

Union regulars and citizen militias from California mining towns quickly responded, defeating and dispersing the Paiutes by June 1860.

In July, the War Department began construction of Fort Churchill and other federal posts in Nevada to maintain peace and protect the Overland Trail.

Still, in 1892, with fewer than 50,000 people living in the state — the smallest in the nation by population, but fifth largest in area — Nevada Guardsmen held their first summer encampment in Carson City.

According to the federal officer from the Presidio in California: “The replies of both were that not a man could be relied upon to obey the order of the Governor, and I wish to add that in my opinion both captains and all company officers, as well as the enlisted men, would not only refuse to obey orders of the Governor, but would be arrayed on the other side [of labor violence].”[8] The Nevada Guard's disbandment occurred simultaneously with the rise of labor radicalism, especially in Goldfield, Nevada, the state's population center at the time, which included the Industrial Workers of the World.

In 1927, Nevada Governor Fred Balzar named Mineral County District Attorney Jay White state adjutant general, with the goal of reorganization.

He helped reorganize the Nevada National Guard again after the state force was federalized during World War II.

This was also true for other western states, especially California, as the federal government with its burgeoning defense establishments during the Cold War emerged as a major economic multiplier in the growth of the American West during the 20th century.

Also that year, the Nevada Air Guard answered President Lyndon B. Johnson's call-up in response to North Korea's capture of the USS Pueblo, a naval intelligence vessel.

While no direct military retaliation was initiated, more than 600 Nevada Air Guardsmen were activated on one-day notice for service in South Korea and various places around the United States.

After the Vietnam War and the draft, the Department of Defense adopted its total force concept, using the National Guard of the states more during federal missions.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Nevada Army National Guard expanded with various support missions, assisting the warfighter overseas and citizens at home during natural disaster.

They dodged anti-aircraft artillery, obtained photos of burning wellheads, spotted strategic targets and conducted assessments on the first morning of the war.

Anthony Cometa, of Las Vegas, was manning a HMMWV machine gun turret when his vehicle lost control and flipped.

Two months after Cometa's death, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the fuel tank of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan, killing Chief Warrant Officer 3 John M. Flynn, of Sparks, and Sgt.

In 2016, the 152nd Airlift Wing was named the newest unit to operate the U.S. Forest Service's Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS.