The Florida National Guard is the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

force of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It comprises the

Florida Army National Guard The Florida Army National Guard is Florida's component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. In the United States, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the federal army's available combat forces ...

and the

Florida Air National Guard The Florida Air National Guard (FL ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Florida. It is, along with the Florida Army National Guard (FL ARNG), an element of the Florida National Guard. It is also an element of the Air National Guard (ANG ...

. The

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

charges the National Guard with dual

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

and

missions. Ordinarily under the control of the state government (in which the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

is the commander-in-chief) pursuant to

Title 32 of the United States Code Title 32 of the United States Code outlines the role of the United States National Guard in the United States Code. It is one of two ways the National Guard can be activated by the US Federal Government. Under Title 32, National Guard remains u ...

, National Guard troops may also be called into active federal service with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

or the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

(in which the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

serves as commander-in-chief) and deployed worldwide 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 Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...

in case of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

or national emergency. Guardsmen may take part in functions ranging from limited actions in non-emergency situations to full-scale law enforcement (

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

) 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 State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation of which it is a part. It is used when the constituent components of a federation are themselves called states. Federations made up of provinces, cant ...

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

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. ...

(SDF), reactivated as of 2022. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

Florida State Guard The Florida State Guard (FSG) is the state defense force of the U.S. state of Florida. The FSG was created in 1941 to serve as a stateside replacement for the Florida National Guard while the National Guard was deployed abroad during World War II. ...

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

National Guard Bureau The National Guard Bureau is the federal instrument responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was cre ...

Commanders

File:Theodore W. Brevard.jpg, Theodore W. Brevard, 9 June 1860 to 8 July 1861 (resigned) File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, William H. Milton, 1861, to 1863 File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, Hugh Archer Jr., January 1863 to 1868 File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, Horatio Jenkins Jr., 9 July 1868 to 4 August 1868 File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, Georgi B. Cane, 5 August 1868 to 20 February 1870 (resigned) File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, John Vamum, 21 February 1870 to 4 March 1877 File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, John J. Dickison, 5 March 1877 to 16 January 1881 File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, James E. Yonga, 17 January 1881 to 16 January 1885 File:MG Lang.jpg, David Lang, 17 January 1885 to 4 December 1893 File:BG Houston.jpg, Patrick Houstoun, 5 December 1893 to 6 May 1901 (died in office) File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, William A. MacWilliams, 7 May 1901 to 28 June 1901 (resigned) File:MgFoster.gif, J. Clifford R. Foster, 29 June 1901 to 9 January 1917 File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, J. B. Christian, 10 January 1917 to 29 March 1919 File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, James McCants, 30 March 1919 to 31 August 1919 (resigned) File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, Sidney J. Catts Jr, 1 September 1919 to 3 January 1921 (resigned) File:83rd Troop Command SSI.jpg, Charles P. Lovell, 4 January 1921 to 25 January 1923 (died in office) File:MgFoster.gif, J. Clifford R. Foster, 23 February 1923 to 18 June 1928 (died in office) File:BGCollins.jpg, Vivian Collins, 29 June 1928 to 15 April 1947 File:MG Lance.JPG, Mark W. Lance, 16 April 1947 to 27 April 1962 File:MG McMillan.JPG, Henry W. McMillan, 28 April 1962 to 12 August 1975 File:BGBullard.jpg, Kennedy C. Bullard, 13 August 1975 to 31 December 1981 File:Robert Ensslin.jpg, Robert F. Ensslin Jr., 1 January 1982 to 29 February 1992 File:Brigadier General Ronald O. Harrison, Florida National Guard.jpg, Ronald Harrison, 1 March 1992 to 3 November 2001 File:Douglas Burnett.jpg, Douglas Burnett, USAF, 3 November 2001 to 26 June 2010 File:Emmett R. Titshaw, Jr.jpg, Emmett R. Titshaw Jr., USAF, 26 June 2010 to 29 March 2015 File:CALHOUN, MICHAEL MG.jpg, Michael A. Calhoun, 29 March 2015 to April 2019 File:James O. Eifert (3).jpg, James O. Eifert, April 2019 to present

Army units

* Headquarters,

- St. Francis Barracks * 83rd Troop Command (Tallahassee) ** 3/

20th Special Forces Group The 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (20th SFG) (A) is one of two Army National Guard groups for the United States Army Special Forces. 20th Group—as it is sometimes called—is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: uncon ...

( Camp Blanding Joint Training Center) *** HHC, 3/20th SFG *** Support Company ** 153rd Finance Battalion (St. Augustine) *** 1153rd Finance Detachment *** 2153rd Finance Detachment *** 3153rd Finance Detachment ** 111th Aviation Regiment (Jacksonville / Cecil Field) *** 1-111th Aviation Regiment *** 2-111th Aviation Regiment (AOB) ** 171st Aviation Regiment *** Company B, 1st Battalion (Brooksville / Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport) ** 417th Signal Battalion (Composite) *** HHD *** 144th Transportation Company (Marianna) *** 708th General Support Maintenance (Quincy) *** 653rd Range Extension Company (Crestview) * 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team ** 1- 124th Infantry (South Florida) ** 2- 124th Infantry (Central Florida) ** 1- 153rd Cavalry (RSTA) (Panhandle of Florida) ** 2- 116th Field Artillery **753rd Brigade Engineer Battalion * 164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade ** 1-265th ADA (SHORAD) ** 3-265th ADA (SHORAD) ** 254th Transportation Battalion *** HHD 254th *** 1218th Transportation Company *** 806th Military Police Company (I/R) *** 715th Military Police Company (CS) *** 690th Military Police Company (I/R) ** 3- 116th Field Artillery *** FSC 3-116th * 50th Area Support Group **

927th Combat Service Support Battalion The 927th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion is a component of the 50th Regional Support Group in the Army National Guard of the United States. Its headquarters are located at Camp Blanding in Florida. , the battalion is commanded by lieutenant ...

* 32nd Army Air & Missile Defense Command - Detachment 1 * 211th Infantry Regiment (Regional Training Institute, that offers the State OCS program) * 260th Military Intelligence Battalion * 13th Army Band * 146th Expeditionary Signal Battalion

Air Force units

* Headquarters,

- St. Francis Barracks * 125th Fighter Wing (125 FW) - Jacksonville Air National Guard Base ** 159th Fighter Squadron (159 FS) ** Detachment 1, 125th Fighter Wing -

Homestead Air Reserve Base Homestead Air Reserve Base (Homestead ARB), previously known as Homestead Air Force Base (Homestead AFB) is located in Miami–Dade County, Florida to the northeast of the city of Homestead. It is home to the 482nd Fighter Wing (482 FW) of th ...

601st Air and Space Operations Center The 601st Air Operations Center (601 AOC) is an active unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the First Air Force and stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The unit plans, directs, and assesses air operations for the North Americ ...

(601 AOC) -

Tyndall AFB Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (325 ...

325th Fighter Wing The 325th Fighter Wing (325 FW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based in Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Mission The 325th Fighter Wing's primary mission is to provide air dominance training for F-22 Raptor pilots and maintenance per ...

Associate Unit (325 FW AU) -

* 202d RED HORSE Squadron (202 RHS) -

Camp Blanding Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain nonflying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation is ...

* 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron (290 JCSS) -

MacDill AFB MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...

114th Space Control Squadron The United States Air Force's 114th Space Control Squadron (SPCS) is a Florida Air National Guard unit located at Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It is operationally gained by the United States Space Forc ...

(114 SPCS) -

Patrick Space Force Base Patrick Space Force Base is a United States Space Force installation located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is named in honor of Major General Mason Patrick, USAAC. It is home to Space Lau ...

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the station ...

* 131st Training Flight (131 TF) -

* 159th Weather Flight (159 WF -

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 A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

by the

of the state in which they serve. Unlike

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

and

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

members, National Guard members cannot be mobilized individually (except through voluntary transfers and Temporary Duty Assignments TDA), but only as part of their respective

unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (alb ...

s. However, since 11 September 2001 there have been a significant number of individual activations under Title 10 USC to support military operations (2001–Present); the legality of this policy has been a major issue within the National Guard.

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 "One weekend a month, two weeks a year" is a former recruiting slogan used by the U.S. Army National Guard. It indicated the amount of time an individual would need to spend actively in the Guard to be a Guardsman with benefits. Though never offici ...

", 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 The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, 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 utilization model for Air National Guard units (and Air National Guardsmen). More specifically, previous

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

policy was that no National Guardsman would be involuntarily activated for a total of more than 24 months (cumulative) in one six-year period. This policy has changed 1 August 2007, with the new policy stating that National Guard soldiers and airmen will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months; individual states have differing policies but remain subordinate to DoD policy). As of 2020, the Florida National Guard was composed of approximately 10,000 soldiers and 1,900 airmen.Florida Army National Guard
/ref>

References

General sources

United States National Guard The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the reserve components of the United States Army and the United States Air Force when activated for federal missions.Florida National Guard
accessed 20 November 2006

at

GlobalSecurity.org GlobalSecurity.org is an American nonpartisan, independent, nonprofit organization that serves as a think tank, and research and consultancy group. Focus The site is focused on national and international security issues; military analysis, syste ...

Army National Guard page
at GlobalSecurity.org
Red Horse going to war. 16 Nov 2006 press release.

Citations

External links

compiled by the

United States Army Center of Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Arm ...

Florida National Guard website
{{Authority control National Guard (United States) Military in Florida 1861 establishments in Florida