Joint Task Force Empire Shield is an element of the

New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs (NYS DMNA) is responsible for the state's New York Army National Guard, New York Air National Guard, New York Guard and the New York Naval Militia. It is headed by Adjutant General of N ...

partly responsible for the military defense of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, primarily the deterrence and prevention of internal security threats. It is composed of personnel from the

New York Army National Guard The New York Army National Guard is a component of the New York National Guard and the Army National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximat ...

, the

New York Air National Guard The New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of New York, United States of America. It is, along with the New York Army National Guard, an element of the New York National Guard. As state militia units, the units ...

, and the

New York Naval Militia The New York Naval Militia is the naval militia of the state of New York, and is under the authority of the Governor of New York as Commander-In-Chief of the state's military forces. With the New York Guard, the New York Army National Guard and Ne ...

History

New York National Guard at Grand Central Station

Joint Task Force Empire Shield was activated in response to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

. As of 2009, New York was spending $16 million per biennium to maintain Joint Task Force Empire Shield. By 2011 this had grown to $19.5 million. For 2018 the proposed budget for Empire Shield was $33 million.

Organization

Empire Shield is composed of three ''

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

'' companies: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie. Personnel are volunteers drawn from the

, the

, and the

who are placed on state active duty status. In 2017, the force had an authorized, but not actual, strength of 500 personnel. The three companies rotate between three mission assignments: quick reaction force (QRF), pop-up mission, and training cycle. The quick reaction force fulfills the National Guard reaction forces mission in New York City, which provides combat units "designed to respond to an incident ahead of federal assets with the capability to be logistically self-sustaining for up to 72 hours". Pop-up mission elements, meanwhile, conduct preventative patrols of New York transportation hubs including

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinci ...

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...

, and

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

. Joint Task Force Empire Shield also conducts random patrols at the

Indian Point Energy Center Indian Point Energy Center (I.P.E.C.) is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, just south of Peekskill, in Westchester County, New York. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of Midtown Manhattan. Th ...

, a nuclear power plant in

Buchanan, New York Buchanan is a village located in the town of Cortlandt in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 2,230 as of the 2010 census. The now decommissioned Indian Point nuclear power facility is located in Buchanan. The 2000 R ...

. Joint Task Force Empire Shield is headquartered at

Fort Hamilton Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which is ...

Notes

References

{{reflist, 2 Joint task forces of the United States Armed Forces New York National Guard National Guard (United States) Military units and formations established in the 2000s

History

Organization

See also

Notes

References