the national guard of the united states is a military reserve force composed of state national guard members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the united states. created by the 1933 amendments to the national defense act of 1916, the national guard of the united states is a joint reserve component of the united states army and the united states air force. the national guard of the united states maintains two subcomponents: the army national guard of the united states for the army and the air force's air national guard of the united states.