By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
Left: Notice in the Macon Telegraph April 10, 1955. Right: 1st Lt. Arthur Manning of the Georgia Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Bomber Squadron
in Savannah prepares to take off on the night of Operation Minuteman. Georgia National Guard Archives.
In April 1955, the National
Guard’s 400,000-strong force responded to an unprecedented activation exercise.
Operation Minuteman, conceived by Maj. Gen. Edgar Erickson, Chief of the
National Guard Bureau, successfully mobilized nearly 320,000 National Guardsmen
in an age long before e-mail, social media and smart phones.
“Considering this was the
first time that a nationwide alert has been held by a reserve
This 1955 Cartoon by Bill Canfield illustrates the reach
of Operation Minuteman. Georgia Guard Archives.
component of the
armed forces, the National Guard made a great showing,” said Maj. Gen. George
Hearn, Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard following the conclusion
of Operation Minuteman. “The people of the state and nation became instantly
aware of the potent force we mobilized in such a short period of time.”[1]
The purpose of Operation
Minuteman was to test the speed and efficiency with which the National Guard could
mobilize en masse in the event of a national emergency. Additionally, the
operation was intended to demonstrate to the public the efficiency and
readiness of the National Guard while stimulating local interest and boosting
recruiting. Widespread coverage of Operation Minuteman in media outlets across
the United States also provided a key deterrence message to nations of soon to
be Warsaw Pact which was signed just 24 days after Operation Minuteman.
“We welcome this test alert,”
said Col. Roy Hogan of Macon Volunteers, Headquarters and Headquarters Company,
121st Infantry Regiment.” Because it will give us a splendid
opportunity to test the speed and efficiency with which our units can be
mobilized in the event of an emergency.”[2]
At 3:30 on the afternoon of
April 20, 1955, the alert notification was dispatched from Washington D.C. to
the adjutants general of the 48 states and Alaska Territory.[3] In towns across the
country, local armories were flooded with National Guardsmen responding to the
exercise alert. One Georgia National Guard Soldier left his gas station job while
in the process of pumping gas, handing the customer the hose with the words “Take
care of the station for me ‘til I get back home!”[4] Another Georgia National Guard
Soldier of the 48th Military Police Company rushed from the hospital
delivery room directly to the unit’s armory in Springfield.[5] A Massachusetts Guardsmen,
brought his one-year-old son to the armory rather than wait for his wife to return
home.[6]
Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers rush to the Atlanta Armory during Operation Minuteman. The Soldiers are from the 122nd Infantry Regiment,
179th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Signal Company and 878th Engineer Aviation Battalion. Georgia National Guard Archives.
A company commander in the
California National Guard reported 70 percent of his personnel had reported
within one hour of the alert, ninety percent had reported by the second hour,
and all were present within three hours of the alert notice.[7] Numbers were similar in
Georgia. Sixty Soldiers of the Valdosta-based Company E, 121st
Infantry Regiment were on duty within one hour of the alert.[8]
After assembling, the
Guardsmen were dispatched on simulated missions. Units of the Atlanta-based
122nd Infantry Regiment established protective cordons around vital
infrastructure including power stations, water works and radio stations. Curious
citizens witnessed Soldiers of the local 560th Engineer Battalion
establishing security points bristling with machine guns in front of businesses
and government buildings in Columbus, Ga.[9] The 215th Medical
Battalion of the Tennessee National Guard set up four hospital tents near their
Memphis armory and ambulances were dispatched to receive simulated patients.[10]
A 57 mm recoilless rifle squad from the Rome-based Company E, 122nd Infantry Regiment secures an intersection during exercises as part of Operation
Minuteman April 20, 1955. Georgia National Guard Archives.
In addition to the myriad of Army unit movements, the Air National Guard also responded in force. Georgia
Air National Guardsmen of the 116th Fighter Bomber Wing launched 24 aircraft
within the first hour of the alert. While he declined to give official numbers
due to operational security concerns, Brig. Gen. Winston P. Wilson, Chief of
the Air National Guard, noted that hundreds of aircraft participated in the
exercise.[11]
Operation Minuteman
represented the first time in the history of the National Guard that a national
level alert was executed. While the National Guard had previously conducted
large-scale domestic mobilization efforts, such as those for Mexican Border
service in 1916, those mobilizations were incremental.
Trucks of the 179th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Armored Division, Georgia Army National Guard move out from the Atlanta Armory during Operation Minuteman
April 20, 1955. Georgia National Guard Archives.
Erickson, formerly the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, chose April 20 as the date for Operation Minuteman as it was the date that the Minuteman Companies of the Hampshire County Militia Regiment began marching to Boston following the battles of Lexington and Concord.
[1] George J. Hearn, “The Adjutant General’s Message,” Georgia Guardsman, Mar Apr May 1955, 1.
[2] “Georgia Guardsmen Ready
For “Operation Minuteman,” Macon Telegraph, April 10, 1955, 4.
[3] United Press, “Operation
Minuteman: Estimated 400,000 Join in Alert,” Madera Tribune, April 21,
1955, 1.
[4] “Operation Minuteman Proved Zeal of Troops to Answer Duty’s Call,” Georgia Guardsman, Mar, June, July 1955, 1.
[5] Operation Minuteman Proved Zeal of Troops to Answer Duty’s Call,” Georgia Guardsman, Mar, June, July 1955, 1.
[6] “Took Baby Along,” Atlantic Journal, April 21, 1955, 19.
[7] “National Guard Alert Successful,” Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise and Scimitar, April 28, 1955, 4.
[8] “Valdosta National Guards Move Out Quickly To
Take Vital Posts in Minuteman Alert,” Valdosta Daily Times, April 21,
1955, 3.
[9] Dick Berger, “Guardsmen Rush to Posts 400 Mobilize in Columbus,” Columbus Ledger Enquirer, April 21, 1955, 1.
[10] Buck Patton, “MP and Medical Units
Respond, Memphis Press-Scimitar, April 21, 1955, 4.
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