I enjoyed “The Seventeenth Largest Army” by Gene Smith (December). It was so clearly written, accurate, informative, and very interesting! I do feel a little disturbed, though, that the impression is given that the only thing the United States had in the way of ground forces was that little Regular Army. We had the National Guard, who, by and large, were as well or better trained than the Regular Army. This is as it should be in the United States.