HISTORY

 

THE NEW YORK GUARD AND THE SEVENTH CIVIL AFFAIRS REGIMENT

 

The 7th Civil Affairs Regiment; New York Guard received its designation in 2001 in honor of the first state militia unit to refer to itself as the National Guard. That unit was formed from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of Artillery of the New York State Militia, which in turn had been established in 1825 from prior units. On Bastille Day of that year, 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution, left New York City for his return to France. To honor him on his day of departure, the unit adopted the name "National Guard" in remembrance of the Garde National de Paris, once commanded by Lafayette during the early days of the French Revolution. This unit was reformed as the 7th Regiment, New York National Guard in 1847. Its campaign credits include the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I and World War II. Its present direct descendant is the 107th Support Group of the New York Army National Guard.

By the early 20th Century, many other states had named their home defense force the “National Guard,” and Congress made those designations official with enabling legislation in 1903. To this day, each State maintains a force designated as the National Guard that can perform State service upon Order of the Governor or federal service if so directed by the President.

Reviving the purely State Militia function of the original units, the New York Guard was created at the beginning of World War I. The federalization of most National Guard units left a gap in home defense and at risk from German saboteurs. When the New York National Guard was activated and sent to Europe on 3 August 1917, the Adjutant General of New York, the highest-ranking military officer in the State, organized a State Military Force known as the New York Guard. On 11 December 1917, a Provisional Brigade of the New York Guard was created out of existing elements of the National Guard. The New York Guard was deactivated after the Armistice, and reactivated during World War II. Towards the end of that conflict, the New York National Guard was reconstituted out of existing New York Guard units.

Wartime activation of the National Guard during the Korean War once again led to the re-establishment of the New York Guard. The modern New York Guard arose out of federal legislation enacted in 1950, authorizing the establishment of State Militia, for which a Headquarters was created in New York by Executive Order in 1951. Additional federal and State legislation authorizing legislation was passed in 1955 and 1958, respectively.

Typically, when the New York Guard was first created in 1917, New York Guard unit designations would correspond to the unit designations of the National Guard that they replaced. Thus, the 7th Regiment New York Guard corresponded to the 7th Regiment New York National Guard, and was similarly stationed at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan.

What is known in the military today as the “civil affairs” function originated for the New York Guard in 1979. At that time, after a New York Guard staff study recommended that the Table of Organization for the service should include professional and technical skills that could implement and utilize advancing technologies, the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs authorized a Command Headquarters Technical and Professional Detachment. This unit was redesignated a Command Support Brigade on 7 July 1989, and had various other designations, including that of Government Liaison Office.

The present structure, established in 2005, places the 7th Civil Affairs within the 88th Brigade, Army Division, New York Guard. The 7th Civil Affairs Regiment, headquartered at 346 Broadway in Manhattan, honors both the original 7th Regiment National Guard that was formed in 1847 and its predecessor 7th Regiment New York Guard, first formed in 1917.