Why would someone in the Texas/Wherever Nat'l Guard be sent overseas for fighting?
Who do you think is currently and has been fighting in Iraq? Approximately 40% of our troops over there now are either reservists or Texas/Wherever Army National Guard.
Guard members are paid by the state they serve for while reservists are paid by the federal government.
Guard units are mostly combat oriented while Army Reserve units are mostly support orientated (MP, medical, postal, etc.) edit: According to TallBill, they are now totally support with no combat arms. They were working towards that a few years ago, but I didn't realize they had achieved it. Guard units can be activated for local state emergency service while reserve units can't.