Attention! You May be in the Militia

AVALON – At Avalon Borough Council’s Dec. 13 meeting, Assistant Business Administrator James Waldron reported to council on some end-of-the-year work reviewing borough ordinances and regulations for compliance with state law. 
In that report, he made passing reference to New Jersey’s militia law.
“It would probably be a surprise to most citizens to know that able-bodied men between the ages of 17 and 45 are automatically in the militia,” Waldron said.
That statement surprised some in attendance. Many citizens do not understand that both federal law and state law make a distinction between what is termed the organized militia, which includes entities like the National Guard, and the unorganized militia which includes those who meet the age and other criteria that automatically places them in the unorganized militia.
In other words, if you are a male, between the ages of 17 and 45, and considered able-bodied, you are in the militia and technically subject to call up in the case of an exigent need.
Females must meet some additional criteria to be considered members.
The practical reality is that the unorganized militia is never likely to be called up. It is also the case that the various benefits of service in organizations like the National Guard do not apply to members of the unorganized militia.
Yet the militia status of many average citizens is an interesting window into the past.
Militias
The United States has had a long history with militias dating to the earliest colonial settlements.
Militias served as important social organizations and as sources of men for provincial conflicts. It was a local militia that played an important role in the battles of Lexington and Concord at the start of America’s fight for independence from Great Britain.
After victory in the Revolution, the debate continued on the role of a militia compared with the value and dangers of a standing army. George Washington argued strongly that the new nation had to invest in a standing military force for its defense. Yet, the concept and the reality of militias continued as well.
The Militia Act of 1792 gave the government the power to maintain a militia and call it up for three specific reasons: to execute the laws, to suppress insurrections and to repel invasions.
Debate raged during the Constitutional Convention on the transfer of power over militias from the states to the federal government, over arming a militia and over compulsory militia service.
Militias continued to play a role in the War of 1812 and even the Civil War.
The role of the reserve, or unorganized militia, faded from view and receives less attention even though it is still provided in both federal and state law.
The modern concept of the “reserves” is limited to the organized military reserve organizations. Many have lost that awareness of the unorganized militia of the ordinary citizen.
Concepts of a militia, a citizen guard, independent of the organized military, still plays a role in the debates over the Second Amendment where some citizens argue that the law makes them part of the unorganized militia but in some states prevents them from owning military-level firearms.
The militia concept also provides a foundation for some independent citizen organizations that form a “militia movement” that has, at times, found itself at odds with law enforcement.
The concept of the militia is deeply imbedded in the nation’s culture and history.
Some citizens who heard Waldron mention the unorganized militia at the borough council meeting had no idea those laws still exist.