Florida National Guard

Florida National Guard
Country United States
Allegiance Florida
Branch National Guard
Type Joint
Garrison/HQ St. Augustine, Florida
Commanders
Current
commander		 Brigadier General Michael A. Calhoun[1]
Ceremonial chief Governor Rick Scott
Headquarters
St. Francis Barracks

The Florida National Guard is the National Guard force of the U.S. state of Florida. It comprises the Florida Army National Guard and the Florida Air National Guard.

The United States Constitution charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. Ordinarily under the control of the state government (in which the governor is the commander-in-chief) pursuant to Title 32 of the United States Code, National Guard troops may also be called into active federal service with the United States Army or the United States Air Force (in which the president serves as commander-in-chief) and deployed world-wide with their active duty Army and Air Force counterparts.

The Florida National Guard, like those of other states, provides trained and equipped units for prompt mobilization in case of war or national emergency. Guardsmen may take part in functions ranging from limited actions in non-emergency situations to full-scale law enforcement (martial law) in cases when the governor determines that ordinary law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control. 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."

The Florida National Guard serves as the state's "defense force."

Florida currently has no State Defense Force (SDF). The State Defense Force is a military entity described by the Florida Statutes as a state-authorized militia prepared to assume the state mission of the Florida National Guard in the event that all of Florida's National Guard units are federally mobilized and authorized by executive order when the situation requires. If needed, the SDF would be recruited, trained, organized, equipped and deployed, under direction of the Adjutant General of Florida and the cadre of full-time state military officers within the Florida Department of Military Affairs at the department's joint training center at Camp Blanding, Florida. It is unlikely that a SDF would be created in the near future. During World War II, the Florida State Guard served as the official state defense force of Florida, and was organized as a stateside replacement for the Florida National Guard and executed the stateside duties of the National Guard for the duration of the war.[2]

National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.

Commanders

  1. ^ http://condocommunicator.blogspot.com/2010/06/major-general-douglas-burnett-retires.html
  2. ^ http://www.fl.ang.af.mil/resources/biographies/bio.asp?id=13651

Army Units

Air Force Units

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 TDA), 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.

Active Duty Callups

A young boy says a last goodbye to Dad before deployment.

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 as either Active Guard and Reserve (AGR), Army Reserve Technicians or Air Reserve Technicians (ART). This changed dramatically during the 1990-91 Gulf War, and continued on to present day, with both the Federal Reserve Components and the National Guard increasingly utilized as an "operational" force for worldwide deployment.

The current forces formation plans of the US Army call for the typical Army National Guard unit (or Army National Guardsman) to serve one year of active duty for every three years of service. The US Air Force applies a similar utilziation model for Air National Guard units (and Air National Guardsmen).

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 has changed 1 August 2007, the new policy stating that Guard soldiers and airmen will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months, individual states have differing policies). The Florida National Guard is composed of approximately 9,600 soldiers and airmen (as of July 2007).[3]

See also

References

Sources

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.flgov.com/2015/01/07/governor-scott-announces-brigadier-general-michael-a-calhoun-as-the-adjutant-general-of-florida/
  2. ↑ "Civil Defense: Florida Defense Force". Palm Beach County History Online. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Florida Army National Guard

External links