I agree that quality of the State Guards would be dubious at best. I have written the existence of an Arizona State Guard (AZSTAG) into my history of Arizona. They don't do very well, despite an urgent Johnny-come-lately effort to make them credible. 2nd Brigade, which covers metro Phoenix, falls apart when things get tough in 1998. 1st Brigade, which covers the northern 2/3 of the state, remains in being through 2001 largely by absorbing police and de-federalized troops who make the escape from the Phoenix debacle.
The one AZSTAG formation that does pretty well is 3rd Brigade. Though a brigade in name only in 1998, the formation has a lot of retired senior NCOs who passed through Fort Huachuca and Davis-Monthan AFB en route to retirement. These guys form a fairly solid kernel that keeps the formation in existence through the dark days.
The New Mexico State Guard also survives into 2001, although in very truncated form. The state government at Santa Fe controls a few thousand civilians and a few hundred modern-day dragoons. These guys are the remnants of the New Mexico State Guard, which was otherwise wiped out during the fighting in the south or disintegrated at Albuquerque.
Webstral
|