Maine State Guard
During the War of 1812, the relatively large size of the various Maine militias was enough to discourage enemy interventions at Wiscasset, Bath, and Portland.[6] The federalization of the entire National Guard on the onset of World War II left states without a military force to protect infrastructure, respond to disasters, repel potential enemy incursions, and handle other emergencies that would normally fall to the National Guard.[7] At one point, three companies of the Maine State Guard used their own vehicles to assist in the search for six German prisoners of war who had escaped while working in the woods.[8] The Maine State Guard was reorganized in the spring of 1969 at a cadre level, reaching a strength of 97 officers, 272 enlisted men, and a smaller number of inactive guardsmen designated as the Maine State Guard Reserve.Although the unit was never activated, they drilled regularly through the Vietnam War, but was reduced to a force existing only on paper following the end of the conflict.