The Rhode Island Naval Militia is the inactive

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 ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Along with the

Rhode Island National Guard The Rhode Island National Guard consists of the: *Rhode Island Army National Guardbr>* Rhode Island Air National Guardbr>** 102nd Information Warfare Squadron ** 143d Airlift Wing ** 281st Combat Communications Group ** 282nd Combat Communicatio ...

and the

Rhode Island State Guard The Rhode Island State Guard is the currently inactive state defense force of Rhode Island. As a state defense force, the Rhode Island State Guard served as a state military unit which assumed the stateside duties of the Rhode Island National Guar ...

, it is one of the military forces available to the

Governor of Rhode Island The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, o ...

History

The Rhode Island Naval Militia traces its roots to the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, when the Rhode Island State Navy was initiated in June 1775 with the commissioning of two

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, the ''Washington'' and the ''Katy'' (later renamed ''Providence''), for the purpose of repelling from

waters. When the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

was formed in late 1775 the ''Alfred'' and ''Providence'' became part of it. In the 1890s, during the first decade of the invention of the modern naval militia, the Rhode Island Naval Militia was organized as a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

unit and frequently trained at the Navy's torpedo school on Coaster's Island near Newport. The Rhode Island Naval Militia first saw combat during 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 = (clock ...

when one hundred forty two members of Rhode Island Naval Battalion were federalized and served alongside the

United States 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 ...

. served briefly under the Rhode Island Naval Militia before her

decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decommi ...

in November 1895. After being decommissioned on 8 October 1898, was loaned to the Rhode Island Naval Militia on 12 December 1898; however, ''Kanawha'' was returned to the Navy on 12 August 1899 and transferred to the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * Dep ...

. In 1910, the naval militia was assigned . By 1916, the naval militia maintained an aeronautic section. In early 1916 recently retired Lieutenant (junior grade)

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

, USN was appointed as Inspector and Instructor of the RINM. He is credited with making great strides in improving the efficiency of the RINM and was elected by its members as its commander in December 1916. In April 1917, following the US declaration of war against Germany, Byrd was recalled to active duty. Byrd went on to lead the first flight over the North Pole in 1926 and to lead five expeditions to Antarctica. The RINM was called into active service during World War I but was not reformed after the war since the US Naval Reserve had taken the place of state naval militias. In the early 1970s, due to historical interest caused by the Bicentennial of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, the RI Naval Militia was reformed as one of the state's historic military commands with the replica sloop ''Providence'' as its flagship. Interest in the historic Naval Militia was short lived and it disbanded.

Personnel

Naval militias are recognized under federal law and are equipped by the federal government, and therefore, membership requirements are partially set according to federal standards. Under 10 U.S. Code § 7854, in order to be eligible for access to "vessels, material, armament, equipment, and other facilities of the Navy and the Marine Corps available to the Navy Reserve and the Marine Corps Reserve", 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 ...

Legal status

Naval militias of U.S. states are recognized as part of the organized militia of the United States under 10 U.S. Code §7851. Rhode Island law also recognizes the Rhode Island Naval Militia as a component of the militia of Rhode Island. Therefore, although inactive, an act of legislature by the

Rhode Island General Assembly The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower house, lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 re ...

would return the Rhode Island Naval Militia to active service.

Legal protection

Under Rhode Island law, no employer may fire an employee due to the employee's membership in the Rhode Island Naval Militia, or due to their obligation to perform military service, or attempt to hinder their ability to perform military service. Nor may employers threaten or otherwise insinuate that an employee will suffer repercussions from the employer as a result of his or her service with the Rhode Island Naval Militia. Any employer or agent of an employer who is guilty of these offenses is guilty of a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

offense.

References

{{State Defense Forces Military in Rhode Island State defense forces of the United States