Although the terms militia and minutemen are sometimes used interchangeably today, in the 18th century there was a decided difference between the two. Militia were men in arms formed to protect their towns from foreign invasion and ravages of war. Minutemen were a small hand-picked elite force which were required to be highly mobile and able to assemble quickly. Minutemen were selected from militia muster rolls by their commanding officers. Typically 25 years of age or younger, they were chosen for their enthusiasm, reliability, and physical strength. Usually about one quarter of the militia served as Minutemen, performing additional duties as such. The Minutemen were the first armed militia to arrive or await a battle.
Via Chattanooga Times Free Press
The U.S. Defense Department wants armed volunteers who are showing up across the country to guard military recruiting centers following the July 16 shooting rampage at two facilities in Chattanooga to stop, citing potential “security risks.”
In a statement issued Friday, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the department takes “the safety of our service members, our DoD civilians, and the families who support them very seriously.”
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, Cook said, “is currently reviewing recommendations from the services for making our installations and facilities safer – including our recruiting stations.”
Across Tennessee and parts of the rest of the country, heavily armed civilians, many of them veterans themselves, have been standing patrol at some U.S. military recruiting centers following the Chattanooga attacks.[…]
In Cleveland on Thursday, state Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and his son Nathan, a Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan, came armed and stood guard outside a Cleveland military recruiting center.
Efforts to contact Bell on Saturday for his reaction to the Pentagon’s request were not immediately successful.