The Alaska Naval Militia (AKNM) is the official

naval militia A naval militia is a reserve military organization administered under the authority of a state government in the United States. It is often composed of reservists of the Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve, retirees an ...

of the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The Alaska Naval Militia falls under control of the state of Alaska. The legal basis for the naval militia comes from both federal and state law.

History

The Alaska Naval Militia was established in 1984. In 1989, the AKNM was deployed to assist in recovery operations after the

Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west o ...

. In 2019, members of the Alaska Naval Militia were deployed to help fight the Swan Lake Fire in southern Alaska. In March 2020, the Alaska Naval Militia was called to action in response to the

COVID-19 epidemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

Duties

The AKNM has focused on four mission areas: *Medical: Comprehensive medical support, provided by medical, nursing, and paramedical personnel. *Explosive outload team: Specialized cargo handling, with an emphasis on ordnance, provided by trained stevedores, cargo handlers, and safety officers. *Reconnaissance: Route reconnaissance and port security, provided by Marines trained in SOF skills and associated field corpsmen. *Naval construction: Tactical construction, security support, and basic services operations, provided by construction personnel and engineers.

Membership

Unlike

state defense force In the United States, state defense forces are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. State defense forces are authorized by state and federal law and are under the command of the governor of each state. ...

s, naval militias are partially regulated and equipped by the federal government, and as such, membership requirements are in part dictated by federal rules. Under 10 U.S. Code § 8904, in order to be eligible for federal aid, at least 95% of members of the naval militia must also be members of the

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

or the

United States Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned pe ...

. As such, Alaska law requires that membership be limited to members of the United States Naval Reserve or the United States Marine Corps Reserve.

Equipment

Under federal law, the naval militias of each state may be loaned or given vessels, arms, and equipment from the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and have use of facilities made available to the Navy Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy.

Legal protection

Employers in Alaska are required by law to grant an unpaid leave of absence to any employee who is a member of the Alaska Naval Militia, and who is activated to perform active state service. The employer must also guarantee the employee's right to return to his or her employment position upon that employee's return from deployment.

References