The Militia, the Constitution, and States Rights

I, (First, Middle, Last Name) do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of , that I make this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the Office of (Grade) in the Army/Air National Guard of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of upon which I am about to enter, so help me God. — US National Guard Officer’s Oath, 2019-09-13 Ng.mil, Archive.org.

So there’s a contradiction; where is an officer’s duty when loyalty to their state conflicts with loyalty to the federal government? What is the history? What did the Founders say about this?

The Founders’ model for an army was a force based in universal conscription at the state level; the “well-regulated militia,” able to refuse federal abuses of power and, indeed, until the Cold War, the United States had no standing army. Of the state militia, Madison wrote:

To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties, and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. — Federalist Paper 46.

The militia did not live up to this hope. As Washington knew and Madison found as President, it was ineffective against British regulars, but I think we can fairly say that, if it came to a conflict between state and federal governments over commanding the militia, it was the intention of the Founders that the state governments prevail and the National Guard is the current form of the state militia. The ultimate loyalty of the state Guards, therefore, are to the government of the states to which they are sworn, not the federal government.