Big Picture: I Am the Guard

Year Published: ca. 1974

Creator: National Archives and Records Administration

Format: 16mm/video file

Description: National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 2569731 / Local Identifier 111-TV-474 Big Picture: I Am the Guard DVD Copied by Timothy Vollmer. Civilian in peace, soldier in war--so begins the theme for this episode, titled "I Am the Guard." Here is a film documentary which details the dedicated efforts of citizen soldiers toward maintaining the strength, fitness, and combat readiness of the Army National Guard as a full-fledged member of the Army team. Much of the production was filmed on location in and around Concord, Massachusetts, where one of the embattled farmers stood, and fired the shot heard around the world. Living among signs of the past, Guardsmen assigned to a Nike-Ajax site are seen reacting to an alert warning. Whether the alert is practice or the real thing, men of the Guard get to their posts on the double. As established in the film, an Unidentified Flying Object has been detected not far from the coast of Massachusetts. As a result of the alert, a large group of trained Guardsmen throughout a wide area of New England have been sent into action. In a final film montage, the many and varied roles of the Army National Guard are examined at close-up range. Included is the role of Guard units in case of a natural disaster.