Guard - 6 reference results
coast guard, special naval force assigned to seaboard duties. Its primary responsibilities usually consist in suppressing contraband trade and aiding vessels in distress. The British coast guard was established just after the Napoleonic Wars for the purpose of preventing smuggling. When the Coast Guard Act of 1856 put this task under the direction of the admiralty, the British coast guard was reorganized to perform coast-watching and lifesaving duties. In the United States a coast guard was formed in 1915 when an act of Congress combined the Revenue Cutter Service with the Life Saving Service. The cutter service had been established by Congress in 1790, at the suggestion of Alexander Hamilton, to prevent smuggling; until the creation of the navy in 1798 it was the only U.S. armed service afloat. The Life Saving Service developed some years later. The U.S. Coast Guard subsequently absorbed the Lighthouse Service (1939) and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation (1942). In peacetime the Coast Guard is under the jurisdiction (since 2003) of the Dept. of Homeland Security; in wartime, and for such other periods as the president may direct, it is under the control of the navy. In addition to its rescue and antismuggling activities, the service enforces navigation rules and maintains jurisdiction over the regulations concerning the construction and equipment of merchant ships and over the licensing of merchant marine officers and seamen. It also operates and maintains weather ships, an ice patrol in the N Atlantic, and various navigational aids, including lighthouses, lightships, buoys, and loran stations. The Coast Guard Academy, for the training of officers, is located in New London, Conn.
See studies by M. F. Willoughby (1957), H. R. Kaplan (1972), and G. Gurney (1973).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Yeomen of the Guard, bodyguard, now ceremonial in function, of the sovereign of England. When the guard was originated by Henry VII in 1485, its members had numerous duties as defenders of the king's person and household functionaries. Until 1743 (the last time a British monarch appeared on the battlefield) they accompanied the king in battle. For a time purchased by civilians, positions in the corps were restricted in 1848 to veterans of the army and marines. Sometimes called the Beefeaters because of their fine physiques, the Yeomen of the Guard still wear the scarlet and gold uniform of the 15th cent. and carry halberds.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
United States Coast Guard Academy, at New London, Conn.; for training young men and women to be officers of the U.S. Coast Guard; established 1876, opened 1877 as United States Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction, took its present name in 1915. The academy, differing from the other federal service academies, gains its candidates through a nationwide competition. There are no congressional appointments or geographical quotas. Each applicant must be between the ages of 17 and 22. A cadet's education consists of military and academic instruction, including professional training at sea. Cadets receive full scholarships to the academy as well as pay and allowances. Upon graduation they are appointed ensigns in the U.S. Coast Guard.
See I. Crump, Our United States Coast Guard Academy (1961).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
National Guard, U.S. militia. The militia is authorized by the Constitution of the United States, which also defines the militia's functions and the federal and state role. Article 1, Section 8 provides that Congress shall have the power to call forth "the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions." Congress was entrusted with organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, but the appointment of officers and the training of the militia were reserved to the states. Further provisions were made in the Second Amendment. In peacetime the National Guard is placed under state jurisdiction and can be used by governors to quell local disturbances, as in Newark and Detroit riots in 1967, and to help in times of local disasters, such as floods and hurricanes. In times of war or other emergencies the National Guard is absorbed into the active service of the United States and the president is commander in chief. The National Guard has been partially mobilized during the Korean War, the Berlin crisis of 1961, and the Persian Gulf War and for peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The National Guard's equipment and personnel are standardized to conform with U.S. army regulations. Enlistment is voluntary; compensation, paid by the federal government, is given for periods of drill and field training. The Air National Guard was formed in 1947.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Iron Guard, Romanian nationalistic, anti-Semitic, and antiparliamentary group, founded in 1924 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. Originally named the Legion of the Archangel Michael, it was organized on military lines and operated through terrorism. Its most notable victims were Premier Ion Duca, assassinated in 1933, and ex-Premier Nicolae Iorga, assassinated in 1940. Banned in 1933, the Iron Guard carried on as the All-for-the-Fatherland party. When King Carol II proclaimed his personal dictatorship in 1938, he had Codreanu and other leading Guardists imprisoned and eventually shot. Following the king's abduction in 1940, Marshall Ion Antonescu seized power with the help of the Iron Guard, but soon found himself in disagreement with it. He suppressed (1941) an Iron Guard rebellion, and Horia Sima, then leader of the Guard and vice premier, fled to Germany. With the collapse of the Axis Powers in World War II the Iron Guard disappeared from Romanian politics.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Licensed from Columbia University Press
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HighBeam Research, Inc. © Copyright 2009.
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
