Amilitia is a group of people who are not in thestanding army or regularmilitary but do many military tasks such as collecting weapons, training soldiers, defending people or land andpolicing an area. Militias are often made up ofveterans, who used to be in the military.
Some militias, like theUnited States National Guard, are organized by a government. It is a group of state militias that help with wars,natural disasters and otheremergencies. Others are not connected to a government and may even be illegal. One commondefinition 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.