It is headquartered at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania and has facilities in more than eighty locations across the state.

Having overcome the long pacifist tradition of Pennsylvania's founding Quakers, Benjamin Franklin lead approximately 600 "gentlemen and merchants" of Philadelphia in signing the Articles of Association to provide for a common defense against Indian raiders and French privateers.

These "Associators" (today's 111th Infantry Regiment and 103rd Brigade Engineer Battalion) are recognized as the foundation of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

During the Battle of Lake Erie, an artillery company provided volunteers to serve as cannoneers on Commodore Perry's fleet.

During the Civil War, after President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to fight for the union, five units from the Lehigh Valley and Lewistown (Logan Guards) [3][4] were quickly assembled and sent for protection.

Lincoln called them “The First Defenders.” These units, from the Lehigh Valley, are the predecessors of today's 213th Regional Support Group (RSG) based out of Allentown.

John Oppell Foering wrote, "Without question [the Washington Grays (Philadelphia)] have been the parent and pattern of the militia of the City and State, as well as the foundation upon which was erected the magnificent National Guard of Pennsylvania if not of the entire country.

After America entered World War II, the division trained extensively, both in the homeland and abroad in England and Wales.

Landing in France after D-Day, the division fought through Normandy, helped liberate Paris, and ended up bitterly engaged in the Siegfried Line campaign in Western Germany in November 1944.

The German High Command nicknamed the division "Bloody Bucket" following the fierce battles of the Hurtgen Forest and the Bulge.

As a result of the extensive damage caused by storms and flooding, the Pennsylvania National Guard was engaged in relief operations.

Approximately 2,000 Pennsylvania Soldiers and Airmen were deployed in 2004 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to search for weapons of mass destruction, provide convoy security, rebuild infrastructure, and protect senior officials.

Approximately 750 Soldiers assigned to Task Force Dragoon helped to protect 29 polling locations during Iraq's first free election in 2005.

Known as the "Iron Brigade," Soldiers conducted convoy escorts and patrols, and provided training for Iraqi civil defense forces.

On September 1, 2005, Governor Edward G. Rendell mobilized 2,500 Pennsylvania Army and Air National Guard members to support Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts along the Gulf Coast.

Members of these troops stood watch along the border between Egypt and Israel to ensure that the 1978 Camp David Accords peace agreement was upheld.

About 450 additional Pa. Guard members were activated to help provide security at the Pennsylvania capital in Harrisburg and other locations in the state.

[9] After those missions concluded, about 450 other Pa. Guard members were activated and deployed to Washington, D.C., in February 2021 to support federal law-enforcement agencies for several weeks.

Goodwill Senior Enlisted Leader: Army Command Sergeant Major Shawn Phillips Individuals who have served as Pennsylvania's adjutant general include: As part of the National Guard's State Partnership Program, the Pennsylvania National Guard has had a partnership with Lithuania since 1993.

Since the beginning of the partnership the two sides have had over 700 total engagements, including military exercises, senior leader exchanges, strategic planning, professional development and defense support to civil authorities training.