PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Anyone who joins the National Guard must sign an enlistment contract and take a sworn oath. The recruit states the date, the state’s Guard unit, and the length of service. They promise to voluntarily join, to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution and their state’s constitution from enemies, to be loyal, and to obey the orders of the President, the state Governor, and their officers under the law and military rules. The oath can be sworn or affirmed and ends with the traditional closing that asks for God’s help. The oath may be given by a National Guard officer of the state, territory, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, or by any other person who the local law allows to administer enlistment oaths.

Title 32, §304

National Guard, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Each person enlisting in the National Guard shall sign an enlistment contract and subscribe to the following oath: “I do hereby acknowledge to have voluntarily enlisted this __ day of ____, 19_, in the ______ National Guard of the State of ______ for a period of __ year(s) under the conditions prescribed by law, unless sooner discharged by proper authority. “I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and of the State of ______ against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to them; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of ______ and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to law and regulations. So help me God.” The oath may be taken before any officer of the National Guard of the State or Territory, or of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, as the case may be, or before any other person authorized by the law of the jurisdiction concerned to administer oaths of enlistment in the National Guard.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 30432:123.

June 3, 1916, ch. 134, § 70; restated

June 4, 1920, ch. 227, subch. I, § 38; restated

June 15, 1933, ch. 87, § 8, 48 Stat. 156;

June 19, 1935, ch. 277, § 3, 49 Stat. 391;

July 9, 1952, ch. 608, § 806(b), 66 Stat. 506. The words “or affirmation” are omitted as covered by the definition of the word “oath” in section 1 of title 1. The words “Each person” are substituted for the word “Men”. The words “______ National Guard” are substituted for the words “National Guard (Air National Guard)”.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1988—Pub. L. 100–456 struck out “the Canal Zone,” after “Puerto Rico,”. 1962—Pub. L. 87–751 substituted “support and defend the Constitution of the United States and of the State of ______ against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to them” for “bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America and to the State of ______: That I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies whomsoever” and inserted “So help me God.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1962 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 87–751 not to effect any oath taken before one year after Oct. 5, 1962, see section 3 of Pub. L. 87–751, set out as a note under section 502 of Title 10, Armed Forces.

§304 Enlistment Oath