Militia

A militia is a group of people who are not in the military but do many things that the military does likecollecting weapons, training soldiers, defending people or land and policing an area. Militias are often made up of veterans, who useed to be in the military.

Captain John Parker, a militia leader of during the American Revolutionary War

Some militias, like the United States National Guard, are organized by a government. It is a group of state militias that help with wars, natural disasters and other emergencies. Others are not connected to a government and may even be illegal. One common definition of a militia includes all men who can serve as soldiers.

In the early late 20th century, some militias acted as professional forces but were still "part-time" or "on-call" organizations.