It's the 381st birthday of the National Guard - inspiring photos show how they protect the US at home and abroad

On this day in 1636, the legislature of the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law that officially organized the colony's various militias into three militia regiments - the first units that would eventually become the National Guard.

Three hundred eighty one years later, the descendants of these first regiments - the 181st Infantry, the 182nd Infantry, the 101st Field Artillery, and the 101st Engineer Battalion of the Massachusetts Army National Guard - make up just a small part of hundreds of thousands of guardsman across all 50 states, 16 territories, and the District of Columbia.

National Guardsmen have fought in every US war since 1637, and are even deployed today in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have been the go-to units for rescue operations and emergency situations like hurricanes, earthquakes, and riots.

We collected a number of photos to show what they do: