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Short Rounds
Mule Train
It was not until well into the nineteenth century the most military supplies stopped being moved by animal traction. During the Civil War, the U.S. Army assumed that a standard six mule wagon, which itself weighed about a thousand pounds, could make 16 miles a day, in good, dry weather. The precise load that could be carried varied according to road conditions.
| Mule Haulage Standards, c. 1860 |
| Road Type | Payload |
| Macadamized | 4,000-4,5000 pds |
| Graded Dirt | 3,000-3,500 |
| Ungraded Dirt | 1,800-2,500 |
The ranges indicated were due to the relative ruggedness of the terrain. Actually the total amount of freight carried was higher than the figures indicated, since each wagon had to carry six days' rations for the mules, roughly 900 additional pounds, not to mention the teamster and his gear and rations, hence the use of the word "payload' above.
The National Guard on State Active Duty, 1998
In addition to their liability for federal service, personnel of the National Guard are, of course, also available to the governments of their respective states and territories. During 1998, in addition to several thousand Guardsmen called to active duty for federal service, such as in Bosnia, the elements of the approximately 475,250 strong Army (c. 367,150) and Air National Guard (c. 108,100) were called to state active duty on 308 occasions, for a total of 374,156 man-days.
Missions varied, but the majority (172 missions � 55.8 percent) were for disaster relief, with "Law Enforcement Support" a distant second (82 missions � 26.7 percent). Call ups ranged from literally hundreds of troops to as few as one or two, in cases, for example, where a bomb had to be dismantled.
| National Guard Missions, 1998 |
| Type | Number |
| Civil Emergencies | 31 |
| Disaster Relief | (172) |
| Droughts | 3 |
| Fires | 27 |
| Floods | 38 |
| Hurricanes | 60 |
| Storms | 19 |
| Tornadoes | 25 |
| Law Enforcement | 82 |
| Other | 23 |
| Total | 308 |
Missions categorized as "Other" included such activities as providing security support to major athletic events, personnel for important ceremonial functions, and so forth.
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