North Carolina State Naval Milita EC Unit

The North Carolina 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 ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. The naval militia, along with the

North Carolina National Guard The North Carolina National Guard (NCNG), commonly known as the North Carolina Guard, is a component of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the National Guard of the United States. It is composed of Army and Air National Guard uni ...

, the North Carolina State Defense Militia, and the historic military commands, is a component of the organized militia of North Carolina.

History

The naval forces of North Carolina were originally organized as the North Carolina State Navy during 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 ...

The state of North Carolina commissioned three ships: the ''Washington'', the ''Pennsylvania Farmer'', and the ''King Tammany''. The USS ''Nantucket'' was transferred to the North Carolina Naval Militia in 1895. 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 = (cloc ...

, the ''Nantucket'' and its crew were sent to guard the city of

Port Royal, South Carolina Port Royal is a town on Port Royal Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 14,220 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort metropolitan area. Port Royal is home to Marine Cor ...

. By 1910, the naval militia consisted of two battalions. In 1915, the naval militia first drilled aboard a battleship, and practiced using

3-inch gun A 3-inch gun is a gun with a 3-inch bore. Examples include: * 3-inch M1902 field gun also M1904, M1905 *3-inch gun M1903 - US coast defense gun, also M1898, M1902 seacoast gun *3"/50 caliber gun - US dual purpose naval gun *3"/23 caliber gun - US ...

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 Se ...

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 p ...

. Officers of 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 ...

and

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

may be appointed by the governor as officers of the naval militia.

Legal status

Naval militias of U.S. states are legally defined as part of the organized militia of the United States under 10 U.S. Code §7851. North Carolina law recognizes the North Carolina Naval Militia as a component of the organized militia of North Carolina. Therefore, although inactive, an act of legislature by the North Carolina General Assembly would return the North Carolina Naval Militia to active service. The Governor of North Carolina has the authority to appoint officers of the

and

as officers of the naval militia, so the governor maintains authority to reactivate the naval militia through executive order.

References

{{State Defense Forces North Carolina militia State defense forces of the United States