DeSantis wants to revive Fla. State Guard
World War II-era defense force included in budget wish list
Gov. Ron DeSantis, citing a yeoman’s performance by the Florida National Guard, says he wants to revive a long-dormant state defense force that would buttress the state’s post-disaster relief efforts. The force also may be used to help quell civil disturbances and, if necessary, be armed with guns.
While unveiling a 2022 budget wish list for the state’s armed forces, the governor said he wants to bring back the Florida State Defense Force, also known as the Florida State Guard — a World War II-era creation that emerged during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Administration.
The State Guard, like nearly two dozen others like it around the U.S., would support the 12,000-member Florida National Guard “and would be trained and authorized to do the same duties as the National Guard,” said Christina Pushaw, the governor’s press secretary, said in an email Friday.
That means there could be occasions when the State Guard members would carry weapons in the event of civil unrest in the streets. As with the National Guard, the State Guard members would not carry weapons “for every activation,” Pushaw said, “but they do have the necessary training and authorization, and they can be armed if the situation warrants it.”
DeSantis’ announcement drew praise from his supporters, who thanked him for his efforts to keep the state safe. Others criticized the plan, raising concern about the governor reviving a force under his control.
State Guard and National Guard
A key difference between the two forces is that the State Guard would not be called for overseas duties.
Over the years, National Guards have been called to serve in combat missions in foreign countries and can be asked to help repel an invasion of the United States. They also engage in counter-drug efforts waged by various law enforcement agencies.
The State Guard generally operates with emergency management and homeland security missions. It is controlled and funded by the state “rather than the federal government,” Pushaw said.
“This is important because [the] Florida National Guard has devoted more than 2.9 million work days to federal missions between 2016 and 2021, but only 834,000 work days on state missions,” she added.
The State Guard would aid in emergency-response efforts as a result of a hurricane, natural disasters and other emergencies in Florida.
Those “other state emergencies” could include civil unrest, “but we do not anticipate civil unrest occurring,” she said.
DeSantis said he is asking the state Legislature for $3.5 million to reactivate the State Guard and train some 200 volunteers.
“We want to be able to have a quick response capability, and re-establishing the Florida State Guard will allow civilians from all over the state to be trained in the best emergency response techniques and have the ability to mobilize very, very quickly,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis’ supporters welcomed the idea of him controlling the State Guard instead of the federal government. Supporters lauded the plan as an “Awesome idea!”, noting how Florida law already allows for the State Guard’s existence. They question why anyone would
be alarmed about the idea, given that several other states already have them.
Others criticized the plan, raising concern about whether DeSantis would take a militaristic approach.
“Your efforts to militarize Florida are very concerning,” Fred Guttenberg, the father of a 14-year-old girl killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, tweeted to DeSantis on Friday. “Will you be removing guns from people’s homes for public safety, or will your Proud Boys be using guns on Floridians?”
Nikki Fried, the state’s agriculture commissioner and a Democrat who is running for governor, said Florida “doesn’t need a paramilitary force” that only answers to DeSantis. “Millions of Floridians know what it’s like to live under regimes like this — and came to our state to escape them,” Fried tweeted. “This must be stopped.”
Pushaw tweeted back at Fried, telling her to “maybe ease up on scaremongering about ‘paramilitaries’ ” and provided a link to a webpage that lists such defense forces in many other states, as well as in Puerto Rico.
Tim Lenz, a political science professor at Florida
Atlantic University, said DeSantis is “clearly positioning himself ” to occupy the inside track for Republican presidential nomination in 2024 as a strong leader who contrasts with President Joe Biden. The governor, Lenz noted, has characterized the president as “soft” on border security, immigration policy and support for law enforcement and the military.
“The governor is actively courting the veterans’ vote and the law enforcement votes,” Lenz said. “The language he used when describing the initiative reflects that.”
A prewar initiative
In October 1940, more than a year before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed the State Guard Act, which authorized the states to create replacement forces for National Guards whose members were destined for overseas service. With war on the horizon, Congress passed the act to allow states to maintain forces other than the National Guard, which had been federalized.
Funded and trained by the states, the guards served
under the command of governors.
The state Legislature authorized the Florida Defense Force in 1941. It was rebranded as the Florida State Guard, and deactivated in 1947, two years after the war’s conclusion. When it was disbanded, the force had 1,859 enlisted men and 131 officers, according to figures from a National Guard fact sheet.
But the history of a state defense force in Florida dates to the late 19th Century, when the Legislature authorized a voluntary militia, according to the fact sheet. At the onset of World War II, state lawmakers “became concerned with foreign sabotage” and enacted the Florida Defense Force. Unlike the state’s World War I Home Guard, the defense force fell under the direction of The Adjutant General of Florida.
In 2012, the conservative Heritage Foundation urged the return of voluntary defenses forces in all 50 states.
At the time, there were 22. In a statement, the governor’s office said Florida’s would be the nation’s 23rd.
“These units, formally known as state defense forces (SDFs), are today’s state militias,” the foundation said in a position paper. “Authorized by the Constitution and built on a strong U.S. militia tradition, today’s SDFs offer a vital, low-cost force multiplier and homeland security resource.”
A financial package
The money for the revived state guard is part of a $87.5 million package that would go toward a number of projects, including the expansion of a readiness center in Miramar and establishing new armories in Homestead, Gainesville and Malabar.
The governor is also seeking more than $16 million for armory maintenance; a new headquarters for the National Guard Counter Drug Program, which for 25 years has helped various anti-drug agencies combat illegal drug trafficking and use. The money would also provide financial aid for National Guardsmen pursuing college degrees.
Major Gen. James E. Eifert, the state adjutant general who oversees the National Guard and serves as the governor’s senior military adviser, indicated the revived state guard and additional dollars are critical to support a National Guard that has seen record levels of deployments in the last two years.
Florida’s Guardsmen, Eifert said, “have given back to their communities on an unprecedented scale.”
He said the National Guard has devoted “more time in last two years than the last 20 years” answering calls for help ranging from disaster relief to COVID-19 assistance.
More than 1,500 are now overseas in places including Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Ukraine. Some are serving in the U.S. border states of Texas and New Mexico.
The budget request proposed by the governor, he added, is the “most substantial investment in the entire history of the National Guard.”