National Defense Act of 1920
The National Defense Act of 1920 was sponsored by United States Representative Julius Kahn, Republican of California. This legislation updated the National Defense Act of 1916 to reorganize the United States Army and decentralize the procurement and acquisitions process for equipment, weapons, supplies and vehicles. It was passed by Congress on June 4, 1920.
Rep. Julius Kahn, Sponsor of the National Defense Act of 1920
Brigadier General John McAuley Palmer, military theorist and advocate for the National Guard
Major General George C. Rickards, the first National Guard officer to serve as Chief of the National Guard Bureau
National Defense Act of 1916
The National Defense Act of 1916, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law 64–85, 39 Stat. 166, enacted June 3, 1916, was a United States federal law that updated the Militia Act of 1903, which related to the organization of the military, particularly the National Guard. The principal change of the act was to supersede provisions as to exemptions. The 1916 act included an expansion of the Army and the National Guard, the creation of an Officers' and an Enlisted Reserve Corps, and the creation of a Reserve Officers' Training Corps. The President was also given expanded authority to federalize the National Guard, with changes to the duration and the circumstances under which he could call it up. The Army began the creation of an Aviation arm, and the federal government took steps to ensure the immediate availability of wartime weapons and equipment by contracting in advance for production of gunpowder and other material.
Rep. James Hay of Virginia, Chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs.
Rep. Julius Kahn of California
William Oxley Thompson, Ohio State University President, ROTC advocate.
William Abram Mann, first head of the expanded and reorganized Militia Bureau.