Fallout Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Fallout Wiki

The National Guard was part of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. They also served as a domestic defense and disaster relief force.

Background[]

The National Guard descended from colonial militias that later fought the British in the American Revolutionary War, such as the Massachusetts militia who fired the first shots of the war in the battles of Lexington and Concord. During the war, some of these militias were organized into the Continental Army by George Washington, which later became the United States Army. However, state militias continued out of distrust of a large standing centralized military, and the majority of soldiers participating in wars from the late 18th century to the middle of the 19th century came from state militias, including most of the forces that fought in the American Civil War. In 1903, the state militias were reorganized into the modern National Guard, and National Guard units fought in World War I and World War II.

Sino-American War[]

Main article: Sino-American War, United States of America, the collapse of America

With the considerable unrest in the United States due to the ongoing food and resource shortages, and with rioting and protesting were at their peaks, the National Guard was in more demand than ever before in its history.[Non-game 1] They came to be widely used as strike breakers to suppress the widespread riots, with Guard units and regular troops deployed across the country in the worst trouble spots.[Non-canon 1]

Appalachia[]

One such deployment was following the labor strike of Poseidon Energy Plant WV-06. After Poseidon Energy developed and installed the Poseidon Power Management System, it essentially rendered the facility automated. The employees, fearing being fired as so many others were, worked with the Associated Miner's Union to peacefully protest and try to renegotiate their work contract. While they were trying to guarantee their own job security, under the terms of the existing contract with Poseidon, they were fired the second they joined the picket line.

While the now jobless protesters continued to gather more pressure and support, the plant's chief of security, Brent Olson, decided that instead of negotiation they should call in the military. Since its reactivation Energy Plant WV-06 was using newly discovered ultracite to provide power to the region, making it easy for the company to convince the government that the strike had become a matter of national security.

Since sending in soldiers to clear out what was a peaceful protest wouldn't go over well in the media, a conspiracy to remove public support for the workers began. To tarnish their image, Olson needed the protesters to become violent. The plan was for the National Guard to launch HalluciGen gas at the protesters to incite them into attacking one another, then the Guardsmen could use whatever force necessary to quell the riot.

Poseidon's first step was to forcibly detain the union sympathizing manager Renee Hargraves, so she wouldn't interfere in the operation. When the National Guard were deployed, they released their gas, however, it worked too well. While the gas did forcibly incite most of the protestors to violence, instead of attacking each other, they charged the National Guard lines, quickly overwhelming them and storming the power plant. With the Great War occurring soon after the incident ended, those left alive had other matters to attend to.

Already deployed en masse to maintain order,[2] on October 23, 2077, the organization had a twenty-nine minute early warning of the oncoming nuclear attack from the Department of Defense via the Defense Intelligence Agency.[3] Although in the dark, the National Catastrophe Relief Auxiliary were also deployed en masse in accordance to their scores in preparatory drills.[4]

After the nuclear detonations devastated the nation, all the surviving, and still active, personnel executed their respective contingency plans: surviving personnel established checkpoints, evacuated the populace, initiated cleanup operations and locked down contaminated areas as well as vital parts of integral infrastructure.[5] One particular unit stationed near Mariposa Military Base and containing Leila Rahmani and Alan Connors learned of the formation of the Brotherhood of Steel and joined them.[6][7][8]

Other survivors continued to operate during the coming days and weeks after the bombs fell, but factors such as radiation, lack of manpower and resources, as well as the waves of violence that followed post-War, led to many servicemen deserting, with those who stayed finding themselves soon overwhelmed by the collapse of society. In the weeks following the end of America, the National Guard had largely ceased to exist.

The remnants of their contingency plans still litter the landscape. Checkpoints, although ravaged by time, may still contain stockpiles of ammunition and equipment among the remains of the guardsmen; still guarded by their robotic materiel.[5]

Organization[]

Created by the Militia Act of 1903, the National Guard Bureau was the federal instrument responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and with the National Security Act of July 26, 1947, the Department of the Air Force. As part of the militia of the United States as defined by 10 U.S.C. § 311 National Guard units were under the dual control of the state and the federal government. They operated under their respective state or territorial governor, except in the instance of Washington, D.C., where the National Guard operated under the President of the United States. Furthermore, the National Guard was called up for active duty by the to help respond to domestic emergencies and disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and emergency radiation cleanup.

Locations[]

Bases[]

Checkpoints[]

Capital Wasteland[]

The Commonwealth[]

Technology[]

As a reserve military force, the National Guard typically used the same materiel as the United States Army and Air Force; however, due to their reserve nature and the needs of the ongoing Sino-American War, the National Guard was primarily outfitted with surplus equipment.

Known equipment[]

Armor
Explosives
Weapons
Other
Robots
Vehicles

Notes[]

Appearances[]

The National Guard is mentioned in Fallout 2, Fallout 3, the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, its update Steel Dawn, Fallout Tactics, and the canceled Fallout 3 project Van Buren.

Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Nate served in the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment,[13] which is a real regiment in the New York Army National Guard.

References[]

  1. Sign outside the National Guard recruitment office
  2. Year: 2077
  3. The Switchboard terminal entries; central terminal, DEFCON Status - 2077
  4. Germantown police HQ terminal entries; terminal, Log Entry #003
  5. 5.0 5.1 Fallout 3 military checkpoints and Fallout 4 military checkpoints
  6. Vault Dweller: "Where are you from?"
    Leila Rahmani: "I'm originally from the California branch of the Brotherhood of Steel. I was posted near Mariposa before the bombs fell and I learned that some members of the US military had created an organization to help people. As a member of the US military, joining up with the Brotherhood was a natural transition for me."
    (Leila Rahmani's dialogue)
  7. Fort Atlas terminal entries; Scribe Valdez's terminal, Brotherhood: Chapter Scrolls, KNIGHT Connors, Alan
  8. Fort Atlas terminal entries; Scribe Valdez's terminal, Brotherhood: Chapter Scrolls, PALADIN Rahmani, Leila
  9. Fallout 2 item description: "{35500}{}{Light Support Weapon}"
    "{35501}{}{This squad-level support weapon has a bullpup design. The bullpup design makes it difficult to use while lying down. Because of this it was remanded to National Guard units. It, however, earned a reputation as a reliable weapon that packs a lot of punch for its size. Min ST: 6.}"
    (PRO ITEM.MSG (Fallout 2))
  10. Fallout 2 item description: "{33200}{}{M3A1 "Grease Gun" SMG}"
    "{33201}{}{This submachine gun filled National Guard arsenals after the Army replaced it with newer weapons. However, the "Grease Gun" was simple and cheap to manufacture so there are still quite a few still in use. Min ST: 4.}"
    (PRO ITEM.MSG (Fallout 2))
  11. Year: 2077
  12. Year: 2084
  13. Lookout: "Scanning. Scanning. Accessing pre-war records. Record found. 108th Infantry Regiment. Second Battalion. Ahoy there. 'Tis Providence a member of the Congressional Army is delivered to us in our hour of need."
    (Lookout's dialogue) Note: only if the player character is a male Sole Survivor.
Non-game
  1. Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition pp.293-295: "[2.32] National Guard Training Yard
    Two hundred years ago, the National Guard was in higher demand than ever before. This facility was expanded just prior to the bombs falling. Currently, this location has recently been visited by the Brotherhood of Steel; they used this location to house and repair Power Armor."
    (Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Map)
  2. Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets p.66: "Tesla Armor is designed to deflect energy weapons. However, its protection against impact attacks falls far short of what its military designers were looking for. Still, some surplus suits ofTeslaIn-game spelling, punctuation and/or grammar Armor found their way into National Guard Armories, and from there to the Wastes. Tesla Armor gives the wearer a 20% bonus to their Radiation Resistance."
Non-canon
  1. Van Buren Denver design documents, page 6: "Denver is a wreck. It was in the middle of a building boom shortly before the war, as many new jobs were opening there are the city was swollen to bursting. Most of the construction was housing for these immigrants. When the war with China started, resource rationing occurred and suddenly the construction workers didn't have anything to build with and weren't getting paid. Union riots and strikes occurred because the city couldn't pay and the federal government wouldn't step in to help. When Mexico and the Midwest started to suffer food shortages [FYI, I will be breaking up the pre-war U.S. into its thirteen distinct "zones". One of these zones is the Great Midwest Commonwealth, which was responsible for the majority of pre-war agriculture across the country. However, the U.S. as portrayed in my fakey history will be slightly more economically libertarian, so it's conceivable that the GMC actually had food to trade, but was being stingy with it/jacking up prices in the southwest. – Josh], Denver was hit hard because of its high population. Food rationing began. Food riots started because of the rationing, and some buildings were set on fire. The National Guard was called in to contain the rioting, using InstaPens (aka 'bullpens') to contain and imprison rioters. Some people deliberately attacked police and National Guard troops so they would be imprisoned and fed. Rioters, National Guard personnel who disobeyed orders, and other military folk who refused to help contain the riots were sent west and east. Then an outbreak of the New Plague hit the city. Rioters burned down large parts of the city in their fear of contamination and anger at their treatment. Many panicked and fled the city by car, clogging the freeways when they ran out of gas and trapping everyone behind them. And then the bombs fell, destroying some of what was left and killing everyone who had managed to live through everything else."
Advertisement