Colorado Army National Guard
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| Headquarters, State Area Command Colorado Army National Guard |
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|---|---|
| Active | 1903-present |
| Country | United States |
| Allegiance | Colorado |
| Branch | Army National Guard |
| Type | ARNG Headquarters Command |
| Part of | Colorado National Guard |
| Garrison/HQ | Centennial, Colorado |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Major General Michael H. Edwards |
The Colorado National Guard is comprised of both Army and Air National Guard components. The United States Code, Titles 10 and 32, specifically charge the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. In fact, the National Guard is the only United States military force empowered to function in a state status. Those functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full scale law enforcement of martial law when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control.
The National Guard may be called into federal service in response to a call by the President or Congress.
The Colorado Army National Guard is composed of over 3500 soldiers, maintaining 30 armories in 24 communities (as of 1999).
When National Guard troops are called to federal service, the President serves as Commander-In-Chief. The federal mission assigned to the National Guard is: "To provide properly trained and equipped units for prompt mobilization for war, National emergency or as otherwise needed."
The Governor may call individuals or units of the Colorado National Guard into state service during emergencies or to assist in special situations which lend themselves to use of the National Guard. The state mission assigned to the National Guard is: "To provide trained and disciplined forces for domestic emergencies or as otherwise provided by state law."
Colorado currently has no State Defense Force. Should Colorado create a Colorado State Defense Force it would be a purely state military organization which would be authorized for creation by the United States and Colorado Constitutions, the United States Code, and Colorado Revised Statutes. The Colorado National Guard and the Colorado State Defense Force (COSDF), when one exists would both be components of the state’s organized militia. The COSDF would assume the state mission of the Colorado National Guard in the event the Guard is federalized and deployed outside of the state.
The Colorado Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.
Colorado Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ranks and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards. The Colorado Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in or to the state of Colorado.
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[edit] Units
100th Missile Defense Brigade ([Ground-based Midcourse Defense]) - operators of the National Missile Defense system [1]
2d Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment -- deployed to Iraq August 2006 through August 2007.
1/157th Field Artillery Battalion
2/157th Field Artillery Battalion
169th Fires Brigade -- deployed to Iraq through July 2007.
8th WMD Civil Support Team
89th Troop Command
169th Field Artillery Brigade
High Altitude Aviation Training Site (HAATS)
3650th Maintenance Company
Medical Battalion (Emergency Medicine)
193rd Military Police Battalion
140th Signal Company
117th Space Support Battalion
HQ/HHD 5/19th SF BN (Abn)
101st Army Band
947th Engineer Company (CSE)- Deployed to Iraq's Al Anbar Province 2005-2006
117th Space Battalion
1/157th Infantry Regiment - Standing up November 2007
[edit] Duties
National Guard units can be mobilized at any time by presidential order to supplement regular armed forces, and upon declaration of a state of emergency by the governor of the state in which they serve. Unlike Army Reserve members, National Guard members cannot be mobilized individually (except through voluntary transfers and Temporary DutY Assignments TDY), but only as part of their respective units. However, there has been a significant amount of individual activations to support military operations (2001-?); the legality of this policy is a major issue within the National Guard.
[edit] Active Duty Callups
For much of the final decades of the twentieth century, National Guard personnel typically served "One weekend a month, two weeks a year", with a portion working for the Guard in a full-time capacity. The current forces formation plans of the US Army call for the typical National Guard unit (or National Guardsman) to serve one year of active duty for every three years of service. More specifically, current Department of Defense policy is that no Guardsman will be involuntarily activated for a total of more than 24 months (cumulative) in one six year enlistment period (this policy is due to change 1 August 2007, the new policy states that soldiers will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months, individual states have differing policies).
[edit] History
The Colorado Volunteer Militia, predecessor of the Colorado Army National Guard, was originally formed in 1860. The Militia Act of 1903 organized the various state militias into the present National Guard system. In 1914 in Ludlow, Colorado a unit of the guard was deployed during a strike by coal miners, but the sympathies of the militia leaders allied with company management resulted in the deaths of 20 people.
Many states also maintain their own state military forces. These state military forces are not federally recognized, but are authorized and are separate and distinct from the National Guard. These state military forces and are not meant to be federalized, but are meant to serve exclusively within the state, especially when the National Guard is federalized, deployed, overwhelmed or otherwise unavailable.
See History of the United States National Guard for a more complete history of the guard at a national level.
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[edit] See also
- State Defense Forces
- Militia
- Home Guard
- 36th Combat Aviation Brigade -- approx. 300 Colorado ARNG soldiers deployed to Iraq with the 36th CAB in Sep 2006.
- Transformation of the Army National Guard
- 947th Engineer Company (CSE)
[edit] References
- United States National Guard, accessed 4 Nov 2006
- Colorado National Guard, accessed 20 Nov 2006
- GlobalSecurity.org Colorado Army National Guard, accessed 20 Nov 2006
[edit] External links
- The National Guard Bureau
- The National Guard Bureau Heritage Collection
- The Army National Guard Recruiting Site
- Information about joining the guard
- GlobalSecurity.org Army National Guard page
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