Some Veterans quit Florida State Guard, the program had changed from what was advertised
When Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida government set up the Florida State Guard, they initially billed it as an outfit to help the community. They envisioned an organization that would help out during state emergencies. However, the folks that volunteered noticed that things changed. They saw more military like training as if they were in the military instead of being in an organization that augments emergency response.
From the Tampa Bay Times:
When DeSantis announced in 2021 that he wanted to revive the long-dormant State Guard, he vowed it would help Floridians during emergencies. But in the year since its launch, key personnel and a defined mission remain elusive. The state is looking for the program’s third leader in eight months. According to records reviewed by the Times/Herald and interviews with program volunteers, a number of recruits quit after the first training class last month because they feared it was becoming too militaristic.
Weeks into that inaugural June training, one volunteer, a disabled retired Marine Corps captain, called the local sheriff’s office to report he was battered by Florida National Guard instructors when they forcibly shoved him into a van after he questioned the program and its leadership.
DeSantis’ office referred questions to Maj. Gen. John D. Haas, Florida’s adjutant general overseeing the Florida National Guard.
In a statement, Haas said the State Guard was a “military organization” that will be used not just for emergencies but for “aiding law enforcement with riots and illegal immigration.”
“We are aware that some trainees who were removed are dissatisfied,” Haas said. “This is to be expected with any course that demands rigor and discipline.”
Three former members told the Times/Herald the program veered from its original mission.
“The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from: a militia,” said Brian Newhouse, a retired 20-year Navy veteran who was chosen to lead one of the State Guard’s three divisions.
The original leadership team envisioned a disaster response team of veterans and civilians with a variety of practical skills, according to Newhouse. Two other former military veterans, who asked not to be named for fear of potential consequences and later quit, expressed similar concerns over a change in the State Guard’s mission.
The Tampa Bay Times has additional information to this story.
Category: Veterans in the news
The short-lived and long-since-defunct State Defense Militia here was paramilitary and slam full of military retirees and veterans. It was set up like a military unit in terms of leadership and duties but it was super laid back. Maybe that’s why it went away, maybe not…but the “defined role” thing…we didn’t have one either, we just “helped the Guard”, whatever that meant. It felt more like a weekend get-together in tiger-stripe camo…
So their is a Florida State Guard and a Florida National Guard down her in Florida, , I’m a little confused.
jeff LPH 3 63-66,
About 20 states have a “State Guard”,
completely separate from the National Guard,
that report solely to the Governor,
and NO obligation to DOD, NGB, or Congress.
Pennsylvania State Guard.
Created 1941.
Disbanded 1953.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_Guard
And don’t get me started on the PASDF,
Pennsylvania State Defense Force
(voluntary military organization).
So, what is your take on the Pennsylvania State Defense Force? 😀
I grew up listening to Paul Harvey.
Hopefully MD61 will give us “the rest of the story”.
RGR and thebesig,
The PASDF is trying repeatedly for legitimacy in PA,
but no one in the state Assy or Senate
can write anything that passes vote
for the PASDF to become official anything,
or to receive any state funding.
So, they’re on their own,
remaining unofficial and private,
just like any other group of private “militiamen” yahoos.
That’s what we were supposed to be…extra bodies for statewide emergencies if/when the Guard was activated. I’m guessing we would have reported to Guard brass…didn’t last long enough to actually happen.
In addition to the National Guard, many states have an organized state militia under the control of the state, not under the control of the federal government.
One of the phonies busted here, reported to have eaten 7 pounds of cheese in one night, was in the Texas Guard/Texas State Guard. This organization is separate from Texas’s National Guard.
Virginia also has an organized militia that is under the control of the governor, the Virginia Defense Force. These state militia/military organizations are generally utilized to assist that state’s National Guard, to perform relevant tasks the state may need them to do, and they may even be utilized to backfill National Guard billets within the state that are emptied courtesy of activation of the National Guard.
Here is a link to the Virginia Defense Force website as an example:
https://vdf.virginia.gov/
I recall in my college days seeing the NYS Naval Militia vessels running up and down the East River and conducting their landslide training at Fort Schuyler. Been a minute since I thought of them…
My kids there at SUNY Maritime.
The Texas State Guard even has a Maritime Regiment🙄
They also seem to have a lot of Colonels.
What are them funny looking white things around that black thing?
The “black thing” is actually dark blue and it’s a bust of either George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Probably Washington…as for the white things, I gots nothin’.
They look like clenched buttholes. Maybe from trying to keep the Federal Hands off?
We had a SDF that deactivated about 12 years ago. They really weren’t doing squat anyway. I’m in favor of having a local response disaster response team but it apparently is too much trouble.
Disaster Response Teams
They are expensive for local budgets if they can’t get State and Federal funding.
The overtime for the training as well as the training itself is costly.
The team needs to be 72 hours self-sufficient. Food, water, fuel, uniforms, equipment. The equipment is costly and must be periodically replaced even if never used.
Egos, what a pain in the ass.
The “funny looking white trees” is Virginia’s State Flower and Tree, the Dogwood.
If there’s any smidgen of truth to this, Gov. Desantis needs to correct it right away, and publicize the correction if he really wants to be president. Any opponent will use this in both the primary and general election to state that he’s raising a private army, his own version of the Wagner group.
As soon as it becomes a high paying, profitable mercenary group I’m in. If they march on Washington I’ll have to make that tough call on which side to support.
I think this portion of the U.S. code applies here. Subsection c is particularly germane. California has a state defense force separate from the National Guard which fills in when the NG is called into federal service and is not available.
32 U.S. Code § 109 – Maintenance of other troops | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)
“The original leadership team envisioned a disaster response team of veterans and civilians with a variety of practical skills, according to Newhouse.”
Why didn’t the just volunteer for the Red Cross, or their county Office of Emergency Services. Seems like a duplication of effort and waste of resources.
Georgia gots one too. Not sure exactly what they do, but I’ve seen some of them around in the aftermath of storm damage.
https://gsdf.georgia.gov/
Are any of the “State Guard” organizations functional, or actually provide a service beyond cosplay and playing soldier?
Well…I don’t have the requisite fee of 7 pounds of 🧀 to consult a certain former member of “The Guard” so your guess is as good as mine.🤣 I’ve seen our state’s “Guard Reserve” performing training at Camp Atterbury, but I’ve never actually worked with them so I have no first-hand knowledge of what they do.
Are their allotments to the State Militia Relief Fund still going to be deducted?
In California, we call them “Care Bears”, in light of their shoulder patch (Grizzly bear superimposed on a rising sun). They are immensely helpful during mobilizations, and large unit movements, as they take over the paperwork and medical processing.
They do not, as far as I know, organize for any state disaster or law enforcement.
Task Force Rattlesnake Strengthens Its Forces with a Surge of New Soldiers Ahead of Wildfire Season – StateDefenseForce.com
Off-topic, but sorta related… and this one time at Advance Camp (ROTC summer tng is jacked-up of late):
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fort-knox-cadets-taste-army-130550851.html
Hello muddah… hello faddah..,
Indeed.
Sounds like a typical day in the Army. Maybe these “future leaders” can see how jacked-up things are and make some improvements?
When I did USMC OCS, they un-condemned a barracks to house us in, no hot water for the first three weeks, went out again on the last week. But those floors sure were shiny when we finished 😂
Was that the crappy old white wooden barracks that was near the fire station out on the back road by the Potomac River over on other side of the railroad tracks from the OCS grinder and the main buildings (OCS HQ, chow hall, etc.) at Brown Field?
Ohio has one too…https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Military_Reserve
I was doing some work at Camp Shelby last year and the post was full of MS State defense force. Army uniforms and Air Force colored patches and insignia. Took me a while to figure out what I was seeing. I was standing in line at the All Ranks Club to eat lunch. Listening to a Couple of COLs. One said to the other- “man, you were on fire this morning. I didn’t know that you had such a command voice.” The other replied – “you know, I had 2 years of ROTC in high school”!
I had to just walk away!🤣🤣🤣
Irving had ROTC…close to a year. He’s so jumpy and all I figure he’s still got a touch of it in him.
Other side of the story……According to this its the exact opposite.
StateDefenseForce.com Chooses Not to Endorse Florida State Guard, Citing Crucial Factors – StateDefenseForce.com
Sorry
My default setting is – “If the media is covering it, it is a hit piece.”
My heavily opinionated rant, after reading the comments below (particularly about the large numbers of “Colonels” and the two-years of high school ROTC qualification of at least one)…
State Defense Forces attract a few types of volunteers, all of whom want to be part of something:
Veterans who did their time and want to continue contributing.
Veterans who feel they didn’t realize their full potential–maybe they got a general discharge, an ELS, or simply failed to make rank. Maybe they decided the military life was too hard for too little pay, but then realized it ain’t altogether that bad sometimes.
Civilians who “woulda, coulda, shoulda been”, but the military just wasn’t ready for them. You know the type, they did 2.5 years in JROTC, dropped out of high school and then went to a semester of community college. When they went to the Recruiter, he told them, “Stay in school, you’re officer material and shouldn’t undersell yourself as a lowly enlisted Soldier”. The aforementioned “high school ROTC” Colonel probably fits that category, getting his well-deserved rank after working his way up from Space Cadet Ensign 2nd Class.
Civilians who want to contribute to the community but hold zero illusions of grandeur.
The problem is that whenever a paramilitary organization, state sponsored, unorganized, or other, is created, egos come to the forefront real fast. We see it even with veterans’ organizations like the VFW. A lot of people want to feel like part of the club, and many join to assist others and get a sense of camaraderie, but eventually someone has to ruin the fun, making false claims or deciding that “they” are large and in charge and “you” are just the Little Person to be treated as they see fit.
The allegations of abuse by instructors does not really surprise me. I can see where some underwhelming Florida National Guard NCO might envy a former Marine Corps officer and decide that their position permits them to do as they see fit. We see it on Active Duty: someone is promoted above their peers and they suddenly hold all the power, or a PFC goes to West Point, commissions, and knows more than all the NCOs in the company combined. In this case, perhaps a tried-and-true disabled Marine officer questioned the program and hurt the little feelings of a FLARNG SGT or SSG who decided to show this miscreant what’s what.
The thing is, most volunteers do so to get out of the house, feel like part of a team (again, when it comes to Vets), and do something to benefit the community. Whenever a military-style rank system and uniforms are added, there will be those who want to play Army. If you were the “real deal”, having served as “somebody special” in the military (might be a Ranger, might be a Drill Sergeant, might just be an average retired NCO or officer), and you volunteer as the FNG, there will be a level of hate from the “never was” types who feel challenged by your presence. It’s human nature, and though not the exact same situation, the Stanford prison experiment showed what can happen when people are given some semblance of power over their peers.
This….X1000%