WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to cities across America —from Los Angeles to Chicago, often over governors’ objections — has thrust the nation’s oldest military organization into the center of a constitutional clash over state versus federal authority.

But who exactly are these National Guard members being ordered into American cities? And how does this centuries-old force, which answers to both state governors and the president, actually work?

The National Guard traces its origins to 1636, predating the U.S. Army itself. When the Massachusetts Bay Colony formed three militia regiments to defend against threats and provide security for early settlements, it created what would become the nation’s oldest military organization.

“We predate the Arm

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