The Ohio Naval Militia (Ohio Navy) is the naval militia of the State of Ohio. It is the naval arm of the State of Ohio's Adjutant General's Department, and is part of Ohio's

military forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. Their operational headquarters are on the

Camp Perry Camp Perry is a National Guard training facility located on the shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio near Port Clinton. In addition to its regular mission as a military training base, Camp Perry also boasts the second largest outdoor rifle range ...

Joint Training Center, in

Port Clinton, Ohio Port Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, located at the mouth of the Portage River on Lake Erie, about 44 miles east of Toledo. The population was 6,056 at the 2010 census. The city has been nicknamed the "Walleye Capit ...

, on the shores of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

. Members, who range from 17–67 years old, typically drill one weekend a month and one "short" week in the summer. From the months of April, through November, the drills consist primarily of patrolling the impact area of Lake Erie immediately adjacent to Camp Perry's firing range.

History

On March 1, 1896, an act was passed by the Ohio General Assembly providing for the organization of two battalions to be known as the Naval Brigade of the National Guard of Ohio. Without funds for outfitting or maintenance, they mustered in Toledo in July and through further organization, one

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

was located in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and one in Toledo. USS Essex (1876) in 1913

In 1898, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

declared war against Spain. In an effort to get Spain out of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

was authorized to use all land and naval forces, as well as militia to enforce Congressional demands. At this time, the naval forces in the State of Ohio became the Ohio Naval Militia (ONM). The Ohio Naval Militia participated in the war, fighting as part of the 10th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The ONM later purchased the old revenue cutter '' Andrew Johnson'', which was refitted accordingly. The

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

also assigned the to train naval militias on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

. The first training was at

Johnson's Island Johnson's Island is a island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Initially, Johnso ...

Sandusky Bay Sandusky Bay is a bay on Lake Erie in northern Ohio, formed at the mouth of the Sandusky River. It was identified as ''Lac Sandouské'' on a 1718 French map, with early variations recorded that suggest the name was derived from Native American lan ...

in July 1897. On 20 April 1917 the ship's company of at Cleveland, part of the ONM, was the first Ohio National Guard unit activated for service in the First World War In 1936, a new Naval Militia Armory, located in Bayview Park in Toledo and built by the

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

was dedicated. It served the needs of the ONM until 1947 when it was taken over by the newly formed

U.S. Naval 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 Se ...

. The ONM was deactivated following World War II, and remained so for nearly 30 years. In 1974, the former lieutenant governor, John W. Brown began the process of reactivating the Ohio Naval Militia; and on November 1, 1977 the ONM was reactivated with John W. Brown as the first commandant. In 2020, the Ohio Naval Militia was activated alongside the Ohio National Guard and the Ohio Military Reserve to take part in Operation Steady Resolve, the name given to the National Guard's mission to combat the

COVID-19 pandemic 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 identi ...

Mission

The ONM assists in natural disasters or other emergencies, as called upon by the governor or the Adjutant General. Their active mission is to patrol the government impact area off Camp Perry, in the waters of Lake Erie. It is a live-fire area that requires keeping pleasure boaters and fishermen from entering. By patrolling the impact area, the ONM provides support for the Ohio National Guard and other state and federal military units as they perform weapons qualifications prior to deploying. By conducting continuous training on their boats and in the classroom, members have the opportunity to become coxswains (boat operators) and boat crew. ONM members also receive basic boating education training to prepare for certification by the Ohio Division of Watercraft. They teach basic navigation, radio communications, boat handling, maintenance, boating safety, and boating support functions. All ONM training hours are documented and can be applied toward obtaining a captain's license from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Organization

Ohio Naval Militia Chief Petty Officer Mowry inventories COVID testing kits

The Ohio Naval Militia is an organized all volunteer State Defense Force, which serves under the direction of the Governor of the State of Ohio as Commander in Chief through the office of the Adjutant General. They are governed by

Ohio Revised Code The ''Ohio Revised Code'' contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments of the Ge ...

chapters 5921, 5923, and 5924. Command: * CO - COMMANDANT – CAPT Bethany Carpenter * XO - EXECUTIVE OFFICER - CDR Kurt McClurg * CMC - COMMAND MASTER CHIEF - CMDCM (SW) Damian D. Myers

Legal protection

Under Ohio law, members of the Ohio Naval Militia are guaranteed the same employment rights and protections as federal reservists enjoy under 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). Among other legal rights guaranteed under this provision, Ohio Naval Militia members are protected from discrimination based on their membership in the Ohio Naval Militia both during the hiring process and after becoming employed; they are also 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 ...

from their places of employment whenever they are activated for training or to take part in an emergency, and their employers are required to reinstate these employees to their previous positions when they return from deployment.

References

External links