State Guards in T2K (Includes User-made Unit)

[CDAT]

Just some little info on at least some state guards. Some states use them for odds and ends jobs. I talked with some from WA and all most all of them are retired military who in the state guard retain their old rank (lots of MSG and above, on the enlisted side, and from my understanding LTC and above on the officer side with few of the lower ranks) and their main mission is to take care of national guard armories when the national guard is deployed.

On the other hand the CA state guard did a lot when the CA national guard unit I got attached to deployed, they did all the screening and all the admin stuff needed to make sure that the troop was deployable and again most of them were former military but with the ones I talked with they were not mostly retired and almost entirely officers with captain and major most common that I saw. Neither type would be very usable in a combat role the WA type they are too old and to far removed even when they were still in to know what to do in combat if it hit them in the face, and the CA model were all medical and admin staff. Not saying that there is not a third (or more) types out there but all the different state guards that I have seen fell into one of those types.

[rcaf_777]

Originally Posted by CDAT

Some states use them for odds and ends jobs.

I would guessing that would still be the case in Twilight, you see them doing maybe physical security at point were sabotage could committed by Soviet Agents, Nuclear Power Plants, Locks, Dockyards, War Material Productions Plants, Airports to name a few.

I could also see them doing POW duties such as escorting POW's within their state or watching them on work details. These duties would not mandatory but duties voluntary done as service to federal government thru the State government. (IE Hey Governor X, can your troops help out POW Camp 123 with work detail escort, we give you that federal money for project Y)

[RN7]

There was some discussion about State Guards midway down on the first page of this thread...

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=4800

[The Dark]

Originally Posted by CDAT

Just some little info on at least some state guards. Some states use them for odds and ends jobs. I talked with some from WA and all most all of them are retired military who in the state guard retain their old rank (lots of MSG and above, on the enlisted side, and from my understanding LTC and above on the officer side with few of the lower ranks) and their main mission is to take care of national guard armories when the national guard is deployed.

On the other hand the CA state guard did a lot when the CA national guard unit I got attached to deployed, they did all the screening and all the admin stuff needed to make sure that the troop was deployable and again most of them were former military but with the ones I talked with they were not mostly retired and almost entirely officers with captain and major most common that I saw. Neither type would be very usable in a combat role the WA type they are too old and to far removed even when they were still in to know what to do in combat if it hit them in the face, and the CA model were all medical and admin staff. Not saying that there is not a third (or more) types out there but all the different state guards that I have seen fell into one of those types.

VA has around 1000 members in the Virginia Defense Force (the goal is to have 1200 members). They follow both systems in a way - the VDF secures NG facilities when those units are deployed, assists in NG mobilization, and is used for disaster relief. They're also technically liable to be called up in case of invasion or insurrection, to support law enforcement, or "[w]hen any combination of persons becomes so powerful as to obstruct the execution of laws in any part of this Commonwealth". I haven't heard of any VDF working with law enforcement, but I've only been here for around a year, so it may have happened in the past. Any unorganized militia ordered into service by the Governor becomes part of the VDF (per Title 44-88) and anyone failing to do so when ordered is subject to court-martial (Title 44-90). The VDF is unarmed unless ordered otherwise by the Governor.

In a T2K scenario, I figure they'd get the leftovers of the VNG equipment and serve pretty much the same role - guarding bases and possibly civilian government facilities as well. Since they're not draft-exempt, I expect the VDF would fairly soon end up with the too-old and the too-young (they can accept volunteers as young as 16 under current law), and they'd probably have ended up with a lot of 16 and 17 year olds who saw it as a way to get some training before being sent to the war.

[chico20854]

I worked up a piece on the State Guards a few years back. I've posted it at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1i...ew?usp=sharing Please let me know if the link is dead!

I've written up a couple State Guard unit histories. I'll try to get some posted this week!

Enjoy!

[unkated]

Search on "State Guard" there are several threads.

Including this one: http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.p...=massachusetts

Uncle Ted

[Raellus]

@Chico: Great piece. Thanks for linking to it from this thread. I look forward to reading your SG histories.

RN7 posted that link two messages ago, but thanks, unkated.

[chico20854]

41ST OREGON REGIMENT - This unit, with headquarters in Tigard (a southwestern suburb of Portland), was called into state service in November 1996 and assumed responsibility for maintaining security for the port and shipyards in the city. It gradually absorbed new recruits flowing into the system, rejecting many due to histories of criminal or drug-related activity. This standard, unusual among state guard units, allowed the regiment to operate on a more professional basis than most of its peers across the nation. As the war spread across the world in 1997, the regiment, in cooperation with the other two Oregon regiments, began planning for evacuation of the civilian population of Portland. The 41st's role was to run the assembly/transportation sites and assist law enforcement in traffic control (as all major routes would be set up to run traffic outbound in all but one lane). The first panicked evacuation occurred in July following the first Soviet nuclear attack on NATO troops; several other false alarms occurred over the following months. During each of these, the regiment’s troops operated the sites (at local high schools) that loaded city transit and school busses with local residents that did not have cars and dispatched them to suburban and rural high schools that were considered safely out of danger from strikes on likely nuclear targets. Following the earlier evacuations the planning was modified to make greater use of the rail system (both commuter and freight) as well as barges on the Columbia River as well as providing for an armed militiaman as an escort for every vehicle (after a bus of elderly evacuees was stopped and robbed at gunpoint by bikers). After the nuclear strikes on Washington, DC and refineries around the nation the regiment once again evacuated the city; the evacuation was not flawless but was one of the most successful in the nation, moving nearly 1.7 million people over five days. The regiment’s troops dispersed during the evacuation, providing security at the evacuation sites. In spring 1998 the Governor of Oregon declared that the Portland area would be reoccupied and the regiment’s troops were tasked to encourage this movement. This was a considerably more difficult effort, as fuel stocks had dwindled and the unit’s elements had limited communications, having relied on the civilian telephone network or use of the state police’s radio network. Nonetheless the regiment was able to rally many of its troops back to Portland, where it, combined with the remnants of the 82nd Regiment, provided law enforcement for the city as well as protecting the state capitol and government alongside the 47th ID.

Current Location: Portland, OR
Manpower: 300

[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