Draft guards as well as soldiers (7)
I believe the answer is:
platoon
'soldiers' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'draft guards as well' is the wordplay.
'draft' becomes 'plan'.
'guards' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'as well' becomes 'too' ('too' can be a synonym of 'as well').
'plan' enclosing 'too' is 'PLATOON'.
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for platoon that I've seen before include "Infantry unit" , "Military group" , "Team under lieutenant" , "Small military unit" , "Group under lieutenant" .)