DeSantis wants to reinstate the Florida State Guard, liberal heads explode

| December 3, 2021

Governor DeSantis essentially reminds Joe Biden to do his job and that if he were going to infringe on state and people rights issues, he would stand in the way. (10 Tampa Bay)

Many states in the union continue to have a State Guard, that is to say a state organized militia that is not subject to any federal service as the National Guards are. These state defense forces as they are sometimes called are composed of volunteers (many of which are military veterans but that’s not usually a requirement) who generally are unpaid even when on duty. They most often work humanitarian relief efforts such as wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes.

From The Hill;

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday proposed reestablishing a World War II-era civilian-military force that he would control.

DeSantis pitched the idea of creating the Florida State Guard, which would be independent of federal control, while speaking about his military budget proposal.

The Guard would consist of 200 volunteer civilians “trained in the best emergency response techniques” that would aid in the event of natural disasters or other state emergencies, according to a press release.

The Florida State Guard was initially created in 1941 to fill in for National Guard members deployed during World War II. It was later disbanded in 1947.

DeSantis said the proposed unit would “not be encumbered by the federal government,” adding that this force would give him “the flexibility and the ability needed to respond to events in our state in the most effective way possible.”

DeSantis is asking for $3.5 million from the state legislature to establish the unit.

If established, Florida will become the 23rd active state guard in the country.

The idea was part of DeSantis’s larger military budget proposal, which included establishing three new armories, a new National Guard Headquarters and supporting service members getting degrees.

Florida Democrats pushed back on the proposal, with 2022 Democratic gubernatorial challenger Rep. Charlie Crist (Fla.) calling the proposed unit “handpicked secret police.”

No Governor should have his own handpicked secret police. https://t.co/BWEPhM5rHa

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) December 2, 2021

DeSantis’s proposal comes after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged National Guard members to get vaccinated or face losing their pay.

Here’s a map of places with current state defense forces. You’ll notice such far-right Republican strongholds as California, Oregon, Washington, New York, and Illinois have such “handpicked secret police” forces.

Category: Politics

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26Limabeans

He should also institute an instate draft.
Talk about exploding heads!

Roh-Dog

Or, Gov.DeSantis should name the ‘Florida Department of Border Defense’ as a stick-in-the-eye to the ‘Department of War’ as the dotgov can’t seem to find the Mexican front of this Coward-Piven Strategy conflict.

MarineDad61

Ironic, that many blue states have active state guards (entire westy coast included),
and former Republican turned 2012 Obama Democrat Crist (who else??)
would resort to this type of a hasty and ill advised response.

KoB

DeSantis gonna keep screwing around and find hisself nominated for pres…and that’s gonna piss off a lot of folks in Flur-ruh-duh. Mainly cause that would give Crist an inside shot to be the guv…which would be a good reason for a lot of folks to leave.

Used to be EVERYBODY was required to be in the State Militia. And they drilled on a regular basis. One reason why them damned insurrectionists Johnny Rebs was able to field a fighting force as quick as they did. And who can forget the headache that Gov Joe Brown of GA gave Jeff Davis when Joe kept certain State troops exempt for Confederate Service.

ChipNASA

I’m down with DeSantis as Pres or even Vice, but with Trump as Pres and DeSantis as Vice, that’s a strong willed ticket and I’m not sure they’d get along completely. (So I’ve heard the argument)
Oh and FUCK Crist.
Florida is doing so well these days.

USAFRetired

Chip I don’t think that can happen. I believe the US Constitution still requires the Pres and Vice Pres to be from different states.

Some States also have Naval Militias as well as unorganized militias. For example At one time the Commander of South Carolina’s Naval militia was a retired USN O-6 who held the position of Naval Militia Commander with Rank of RADM (LH).

Also, the Professor’s at The Citadel are Commissioned as officers in the Unorganizes Militia of South Carolina (UMSC) There may be members of the alumni of that August institution that refer to it as The South Carolina Unorganized Nilitia of South Carolina or (SCUM) for short.

Here in Georgia there is an existing Contingency Plan (CONPLAN) for how the State Guard as well as the National Guard will activate in the event of the death Jimmy Carter in order to support his State funeral.

Article II Section 1

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves.

I guess on further reading perhaps its not unconstitutional but Florida electoral college elector may only be able to vote for one or the other.

xyzzy

DeSantis / Romney would be better. DeSantis gets the Trump voters; Romney attracts swing voters and centrist Democrats.

Trump is out. It’ll take two consecutive terms to undo Bitchden’s damage. There’s also the matter of his health. It’s not an age thing – the British head of state is 95 years old and is still doing a fine job. It’s a health thing. Trump is obese, a Covid-19 survivor, and likely diabetic to boot. Will he be able to perform all the way up to 20JAN2029? Doubtful. Have President DeSantis give Trump the Presidential Medal of Freedom and let him retire with honor.

AW1 Rod

If that scenario ever plays out, Tennessee will welcome all of the Florida EXPATs.

Steadfast&Loyal

Some state National Guards do both State Guard and Federal (title 10 and 32). Which means they partake of both budgets. My state our NG is both. So yeah they get federal funds but they also get a healthy dose of state. THEN they have a department for pure state guard which are the non veterans.

They are usually First Responders types. Civil Air Patrol are usually lumped in here…they are in my state, and we have authorization for a Navy though it hasn’t been stood up since 1942.

I thought about joining my State guard for the fun of it. I am a volunteer paramedic so I am already plugged in to the CERT community. I am not sure about running around the woods like that any more.

E4 Mafia '83-'87

I would say that ‘Charlie Christ should eat a dick’, but I think he might like it to much.
As an American by birth and a Floridain by choice, I think Gov. DeSantis is chock-full of good ideas.

A Proud Infidel®™

Charlie Crist is an empty-suit POS in my book, let’s not forget how he suddenly dumped being in the GOP as soon as Marco Rubio won the GOP Nomination for US Senator, ran as an independent and was handily defeated by Rubio who did us all a favor by snuffing Crist’s political career out like a cigarette being put out in an ashtray.
NEVER trust a political chameleon!

Old tanker

Hand picked secret police? Oh you mean like the fbi is now since they seem to be the private PD of the demokrat party.

SSG Whiskey Tango

In Utah, back in the eighties, we had a “State Guard” that existed only on paper. It’s only function was to maintain armories in the event of a National Guard call up. Some enterprising soul got the legislature to fund it and he created his own army with state funds. They weren’t paid but they purchased guns and police cars and explosives and started training on official police facilities. They explosives training out on the Great Salt Lake and at several military bases.

They attracted guys who otherwise were rejected from military and police service for being mentally unfit and aligned themselves with several Militant groups. They were totally out of control. It ended when they started taking alot of training and financial resources from legitimate law enforcement and trying to acquire serious weaponry to include an attempted theft of a SAM missile from Hill AFB. They were disbanded and a couple of guys went to jail and now they are back existing only on paper with only one actual member, a full time Utah National Guard E7 that updates an annual report of how they “could” be used in an emergency.

Texas, Alaska and California do it the right way. Nothing wrong with it if the state supervises it.

CDR D

California has the California State Military Reserve (CSMR), as well as Naval Militia.

They are all part of the State Military Department under the State Adjutant General, which also includes the National Guard and the California Cadet Corps. The National Guard is the only part that is supposed to get Federal funds, the others are State funded only. If the NG is federalized and deployed, the CSMR fills the void. CSMR cannot be deployed out of the country, but could be used in neighboring states in extraordinary circumstances.

CDR D

A little further research reveals that a recent name change took place and the CSMR is now the CSG, California State Guard. Also the Naval Militia has been folded into the CSG as the Maritime Support Division. It used to be just several legal officers, but has resumed a more traditional naval type function. On 18 March 2017, the California State Guard established the Maritime Support Command (MARSCOM) under the command of CAPT M. Hanson, with SCPO E. Anderson as the MARSCOM Senior Enlisted Advisor, in a ceremony aboard the decommissioned WWII-era carrier USS Hornet.

Bubblehead Ray

The Georgia State Defense Force is an all volunteer, unarmed,State Guard that serves many functions here in Georgia. When I was in, we helped with crowd and traffic control for the UGA games for several years after 9/11, augmenting the security forces with eyes and ears at the games. We were also mobilized for Katrina, and helped receive over 2500 (mostly sick or injured) refugees into Dobbins AFB over the week following the storm. The GSDF also does rapid response search and rescue, opfor training for National Guard and State Troopers training and a long list of other tasks.

All members supply their own equipment and uniforms and work long hours for no pay. Most members are ex military, but it’s not required. The GSDF follows the Army structure, and is under the command of the State Adjutant General who is also in command of the Georgia National Guard. They are non-deployable, and help free up other resources so more can be done with less.

I think it’s smart for Florida to restart their program.