The Massachusetts State Defense Force (MSDF) is the currently inactive

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. ...

of the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. It was inactivated in 2016 by Governor

Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Baker was a cabinet official under two governors of Massach ...

. The purpose of the Massachusetts State Defense Force, when active, is to augment the Massachusetts National Guard during emergencies in the state, especially when some or all of the National Guard was deployed. The MSDF is an all-volunteer

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

which reported to the State Adjutant General and was under the command of the Governor of Massachusetts. Members met for drills one weekend per month unless activated by the Governor during an emergency. The MSDF was headquartered at Milford, Massachusetts, in the same building as the Massachusetts

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 ...

. The director of the MSDF was appointed by The Adjutant General of Massachusetts (TAGMA). The Massachusetts State Defense Force is authorized by both the

Constitution of Massachusetts The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual state governments that make up the United States of America. As a member of the Massachuset ...

and chapter 33 § 10 of the Massachusetts General Laws. The MSDF operates within Massachusetts and cannot be called into federal service. The MSDF can assist the

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.color guard In military organizations, a colour guard (or color guard) is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is so prestigious that the military colour is generally carried by a young ...

s and funeral details.

History

Early history

The

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from th ...

formed the MSDF's predecessor in 1863, which served until its disbandment in 1866. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, Massachusetts provided

multiple units A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contro ...

to support the Union cause. The Massachusetts militia was reformed in 1898 as the Massachusetts Provisional Militia for the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

before again being disbanded in 1899. During the course of the war, five infantry regiments and one artillery regiment from the Massachusetts Provisional Militia were deployed.

20th century

By 1908, the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia consisted of two brigades and some unattached units ("total strength, 6,524"), commanded by William H. Brigham and Governor Curtis Guild, Jr. In April 1917, the General Court again reformed the militia, renaming it the Massachusetts State Guard due to the events of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Anticipating a possible German invasion or other emergency and lacking the National Guard due to deployment, many states created and trained state guard units. After the

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in 1917, a medical detachment from the Massachusetts State Guard was among the first units to arrive and offer aid. As an expression of gratitude for the aid provided by the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts State Guard, the city of Halifax sent the city of Boston a Christmas tree, a gift which was revived in the form of an annual tradition conducted by the province of Nova Scotia in 1971 which continues to this day. During the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

, the Massachusetts State Guard operated nine hospitals to treat civilians. The State Guard was activated 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 opposing ...

and served as a light infantry division until deactivation in February 1947. During World War II, the Massachusetts State Guard, training alongside other guardsmen from other states in New England, practiced capturing soldiers from

Fort Devens Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was li ...

(then Camp Devens) who would pose as enemy paratroopers, and "practiced using grenades, digging trenches, charging across fields with their shotguns, making incendiary and smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails, and creating roadblocks." The guard also maintained a Flying Column as a quick reaction force to help compensate for the National Guard's absence, and were active for the duration of the war. In addition to the combat division, the Massachusetts State Guard operated the Women's Defense Force (WDC), a unit made up of women who were responsible for medical, firefighting, air raid alert, transportation, canteen, and communications services. During the Vietnam War, the Massachusetts State Guard was reorganized and trained to be able to replace the 26th Infantry Division of the Massachusetts National Guard in the event that the guard unit was deployed.

21st Century

Massachusetts State Defense Force activation ceremony

The Guard was renamed the Massachusetts Military Reserve in June 1994; the State Guard name was restored during the group's reorganization after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Massachusetts State Defense Force went on inactive status in February 2008. However, due to the need for additional assistance in emergency management, and the shortage of state resources due to frequent deployments of the National Guard, the Massachusetts State Defense Force was reactivated on May 31, 2011. The State Defense force was deactivated in 2016 by

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 ...

; no explanation for this decision was offered by the Governor's administration.

Duties

The purpose of the Massachusetts State Defense Force is to execute the state duties of the Massachusetts National Guard when the Guard is either partially or completely deployed. Since the MSDF cannot be deployed outside the state of Massachusetts, the Governor of Massachusetts always has military units in the state able to respond to an emergency. The primary responsibilities of the MSDF are to provide operational support to disaster relief, to provide professional support to the Massachusetts National Guard, and to aid in providing a medical response during and after a disaster. State Guardsmen may also aid in color guards and military funerals. On the recommendations of a steering committee involved in the reformation of the Massachusetts State Defense Force in 2011, the MSDF was slated to expand into a number of different roles, including: * Support or augment professional staff functions of the National Guard including legal, chaplain, public affairs, information technology, medical, dental, mental health, and other professional functions; * Support operational capabilities of National Guard operations including DOMS, Joint Adaptive Battle Staff, and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high yield explosive (CBRNE) enhanced response force packages (CERFP).

Membership

Recruiting in the Massachusetts State Guard is focused at the following residents of Massachusetts (and non-residents on a case-by-case basis): * Honorably discharged members of the uniformed services of the United States, including active duty, reserve, and National Guard; * Ordained clergymen of any religious denomination; * Health service professionals (Chiropractors, Dentists, Optometrists, Physicians, Podiatrists, Psychologists, and Veterinarians as well as Audiologists, Biomedical Laboratory Technologists, Clinical Mental Health Professionals, Dieticians, Health Service Administrators, Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacists, Physical Therapists, Physician Assistants, Public Health Specialists, Occupational Therapists, Registered Nurses, Respiratory Therapists, and Social Workers); * Licensed attorneys permitted to practice law in Massachusetts. To become an officer in the Massachusetts State Defense Force, a Guardsman must have earned a bachelor's degree. Like the National Guard, members served on a reserve basis as part-time members and may only be called into service at the discretion of the Governor of Massachusetts, with the exception of drills one weekend per month. Therefore, prospective members are only required to commit to one weekend of training per month unless called up.

Units

Members of the MSDF were assigned to either the MSDF's staff brigade or one of the three MSDF battalions: 1st Battalion (Operational Support), 2nd Battalion (Professional Support), or 3rd Battalion (Medical Response Force).

Uniforms

The Massachusetts State Defense Force most recently used the

Army Combat Uniform The Army Combat Uniform (ACU) is the current combat uniform worn by the United States Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Space Force. Within U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, it is referred to as the OCP (Operational Camouflage Pattern) Uniform ...

and a patrol cap. The patch which says "U.S. Army" on federal army soldiers is replaced by one which says "Massachusetts." An MSDF unit patch is worn on the left sleeve along with the American flag, and combat badges and awards earned during federal or National Guard service are allowed to be worn on the right sleeve of the MSDF uniform.

Legal protection

Under Massachusetts law, members of MSDF are guaranteed the same employment protections as federal reservists are provided through the

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA, , codified as amended at ) was passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Bill Clinton on October 13, 1994 to protect the civilian employment of a ...

(USERRA), guaranteeing that all MSDF are guaranteed a

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

in the event they are activated, and are guaranteed their position upon returning from deployment.

References

External links

Official Website (2014)
via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

Massachusetts State Defense Force Application
via

Massachusetts Guard Bibliography
a reference bibliography 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 Ar ...

{{State Defense Forces State defense forces of the United States Military in Massachusetts 2011 establishments in Massachusetts