Glen, Who's talking about the 60's. In the 60's men were trying to
get into the guard in order to avoid active military service. (read
Vietnam) By 1973 most of the 60's era members had fulfilled their 6
years obligation and were gone. The culture of the National Guard had
changed completely by the 70's. By '73 the US Military was under
congressional mandate to downsize drastically and immediately. I was
on active duty at FT Lewis, WA in 1972 when the official word went out
"anybody want out of the Army see your First Sergeant". Officially
the Vietnam War ended in 1975, but the buildup of forces ended in
1972. In 1973 Officers were a dime a dozen and there were all kinds of
active duty aviators trying to get a guard slot. It was a pivotal
time, you had to be there to know it. Nothing like this had happened
since the end of WWII. Air Force Officers who had come to love the
service were being forced out. They were trying to get a NG slot in
order to keep an affilliation going, to provide some income during
transition to civilian life, and perhaps while at school on the GI
Bill. Any Officer who didn't want to fully participate in the NG
program at that time would have been allowed to fade away, which is,
in fact, what happened.
Paul