[chico20854]

MINNESOTA REGIMENT - The Minnesota State Guard was reactivated in December 1996, following decades of existence on paper only. Organized as a two-battalion regiment, it was staffed by retirees of the Minnesota National Guard who were medically unfit for overseas service, retired law enforcement officers, carefully screened veterans and students and recent graduates of the National Guard’s program for troubled teens. A third battalion was also raised as a paper formation, composed of state law enforcement officers (state police, game wardens, prison guards and park rangers), so that they could be granted military status under the law. Each battalion was formed with seven small companies, each of which served one day a week; the unit’s admission standards led the regiment to be one of the most professional militia units in the nation, on par with many National Guard units. First Battalion protected various industrial sites in the Twin Cities area, while 2nd Battalion guarded the port facilities in Duluth as well as establishing evacuation sites in rural areas, using Minnesota’s state park system as well as hundreds of campgrounds and resorts. Units were equipped with M-1 Garand rifles and M-1911 pistols; no heavier weapons were issued. Like other state defense force units around the nation it was involved with the repeated false alarms throughout the summer and fall of 1997 as the nuclear exchange escalated worldwide. Both regular battalions were called into full-time service following the Thanksgiving Day Massacre, with 1st Battalion responsible for assisting in the evacuation of the Twin Cities and 2nd Battalion in their reception in smaller towns and cities. First Battalion was called away from evacuation duties to respond to the SLBM strikes on the Rosemount and St. Paul Park refineries on December 18. By the time relief duties had been completed (firefighting and support of survey and salvage efforts) order had broken down in large areas of the state and the state government had relocated to the military-controlled enclave at Camp Ripley. First Battalion relocated to the military base, while 2nd Battalion, dispersed across hundreds of sites, was officially disbanded and 3rd Battalion called into active service (absorbing additional recruits from the 70th ID on base to fill the battalion out). A detachment seized the M-16s and M-203s awaiting delivery from a small arms plant in Becker and ammunition from plants in the suburbs of Minneapolis, allowing 3rd Battalion to be fully equipped with automatic weapons. During this time the regiment took its first casualties from radiation, both from service near the refinery blasts and from fallout from the ground bursts on the ICBM fields and SAC bases in the Dakotas to the west. In the summer of 1998 the two-battalion regiment played a major role in maintaining order in the central part of the state, conducting joint patrols with Task Force Trailblazer of the 70th ID and protecting the state government as well as overseeing distribution of the limited amounts of food, fertilizer and fuel available to the state. The state government effectively avoided choosing allegiance to either Milgov or Civgov, officially recognizing the authority of both but taking its own decisions in the absence of support of any kind from either entity. Local opposition consisted of biker gangs, wandering groups of desperate, armed refugees and, on occasion, recalcitrant local farmers who balked at the quantity of crops seized by the unit to support the civilian population.

Subordination: Minnesota State Government
Current Location: Camp Ripley, MN
Manpower: 500