Home guard

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A Zemessardze (Latvian National Guardswoman) guards the battalion tactical operations center during the Strong Guard 2016 (Zobens 2016) distinguished visitor's day.

Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense.

The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting with units formed by German immigrants in Missouri, and may derive from possible historical use of the term Heimwehr ("home guard") to describe units officially known as Landwehr ("country guard"), or from an attempted translation of landwehr.

Military units[edit]

Active[edit]

Country Name Active
 Sweden Swedish Home Guard 1940–
 Norway Norwegian Home Guard 1946–
 Denmark Danish Home Guard 1949–
 Estonia Estonian Defence League 1918–1940, 1990–
 Germany Heimatschutz of Bundeswehr 1965–2007, 2019–
 Latvia Latvian National Guard 1991–
 Lithuania Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces 1991–
 India Indian Home Guard 1962–
 Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Home Guard 1986–
 Poland Polish Territorial Defense Force 2017–
 United States State defense forces of State governments and Territory governments 1917–
 Ukraine Territorial Defense Forces 2022–

Historical & Defunct[edit]

Similar units[edit]

Other[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Conduct of Anti-Terrorist Operations in Malaya, Director of Operations, Malaya, 1958, Chapter III: Own Forces