Confessions Of A Weekend Warrior

Thirty-five Years In The National Guard

By Paul “Greg” Smith, and Reviewed by Nicholas J. Hurley

Article published on: September 1, 2025 in the Fall 2025 Issue of Army History

Read Time: < 4 mins

McFarland & Company, 2024

Pp. viii, 246. $29.95

Many people have written and talked about the National Guard’s transformation from a strategic reserve to an operational force over the past fifty years. The Reagan years, the end of the Cold War, the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, and the subsequent changes to national defense strategy have all had a tremendous influence on how the Army funds, equips, trains and deploys the guard.

One thing that has remained constant throughout this period of transformation is the guard’s role as a dual status force: in addition to maintaining their readiness for potential federal service, units provide support to state and local governments in times of emergency. This latter mission defined the career of the author, retired Brig. Gen. Paul “Greg” Smith, from fighting a flood during his very first drill in 1979 to commanding the Massachusetts Army National Guard in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. His thoughtful retelling of these and other events makes Confessions of a Weekend Warrior: Thirty-Five Years in the National Guard an entertaining and informative read.

The title of this book is entirely appropriate given its contents. Smith offers plenty of confessions, many in the form of anecdotes from his time as a junior officer in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the National Guard at times resembled, in his words, the “gaggle of card-playing, beer-swilling amateurs” that the American public made them out to be (2). He is just as quick, however, to point out how f lawed this stereotype actually was, highlighting the professionalism, initiative, and adaptability he witnessed from reservists who made up for their lack of parade-ground spit and polish with a willingness to answer the call whenever their community needed them. This disparity between perception and reality is so significant at times that the title’s reference to the “weekend warrior” comes off as tongue-in-cheek, given how frequently the author and his comrades found themselves in uniform outside of a typical drill period.

Besides telling the story of his time in uniform, Smith’s self-proclaimed goals for this book are to “paint a realistic portrait” of the people who make up the National Guard and share his thoughts on leadership through lessons learned during his many years of service (2–3). He is successful on both counts. There are numerous references within the text to individuals with whom Smith served and how those associates affected his career. Although he depicts some of these interactions as cautionary tales, the vast majority are positive; Smith clearly has respect for many of the men and women with whom he served and is not afraid to praise and thank them, often by name, publicly.

Smith is equally candid when evaluating his leadership over the years, highlighting his successes and reflecting on instances where he believes he could have done better. While noting that this is not a book on leadership theory, Smith nonetheless finds a way to share his views and advice on the subject without preaching. He concludes many of his chapters about a particular assignment or event with a brief overview of lessons learned and how those lessons influenced his development as an officer and leader.

Although the text proceeds more or less chronologically, the chapters themselves could have benefited from more deliberate organization. Some pertain to a specific assignment or anecdote from Smith’s career but interspersed among these are others more thematic in nature, offering his views on issues such as race, gender, and sexual orientation in the military. Placing these latter chapters at the end of the book and consolidating the few that are less than five pages long would have allowed for better delineation between Smith’s retelling of events and his thoughts on military life in general.

Given how introspective Smith is throughout much of the book, the lack of a final chapter discussing the legacy and impact of his long career is surprising. As it stands, he devotes just three pages to his decision to retire and his last day in uniform. In all fairness, Smith notes that on the day he relinquished command in 2014, he purposely avoided thinking too much about what was transpiring, finding it slightly overwhelming. Because this book was published ten years later, however, it would have been nice to know his thoughts after a decade of hindsight and reflection.

These issues notwithstanding, Confessions of a Weekend Warrior provides a unique and honest perspective on change and continuity within the National Guard across five decades and it will be of interest to a wide audience. As a primary source, it holds value for any scholar studying the guard’s long-term transformation and its role in supporting civilian authorities. As a collection of war stories, Smith’s often humorous account of the challenges, rewards, and eccentricities that come with being a citizen-soldier will appeal to anyone who has served time in the reserve components.