Missouri Deactivated

Missouri State Defense Force De-Activated

The Missouri National Guard have informed StateDefenseForce.com that the Missouri State Defense Force is no longer an active organization. We were informed that an assessment was done to identify if the Missouri State Defense Force provided valuable or needed services to the Missouri National Guard. The results of the assessment concluded that the Missouri State Defense Force provided little to no benefit to the National Guard and was in turn deactivated.

As the Missouri State Defense Force is now fully deactivated, StateDefenseForce.com will remove links to the force from the website.

Opinion from the Editor:

This marks the third State Defense Force to be deactivated in the last ten years. The Massachusetts State Defense Force was deactivated in 2016, the Alabama State Defense Force was deactivated in 2014 and now the Missouri State Defense Force has joined the list. This should act as a warning for those less active State Defense Forces. The purpose of the State Defense Force is to support, assist and augment the National Guard & Civil Authorities.

It is up to the leadership of the State Defense Force to seek out new and better avenues to assist their National Guard. Rather than focusing on solo missions where State Defense Force troops are working on their own, leadership should be looking for ways for their troops to augment National Guard units. There are many missions where the State Defense Force can directly assist their National Guard, from providing additional manpower to the National Guard to assist in warehouse supply, to providing medical, JAG, and administration assistance. There are many fields where providing this extra manpower would be extremely useful to the National Guard and in turn the State Defense Force.

State Defense Forces should always be looking at what other successful State Defense Forces are doing and seeing if they can replicate such a service. Examples of successful State Defense Forces are the New York Guard, California State Guard, Texas State Guard, Georgia Defense Force, as well as a few others. These Defense Forces provide an incredible and valuable service to their National Guard and are revered in the State Defense Force community.

The California State Guard (State Defense Force) developed an Emergency Response Command unit that provides hundreds of troops to a National Guard & CALFIRE Joint Task Force. This task force’s mission is to fight wildfires throughout the state. The California State Guard also assists their National Guard through a variety of other missions from Maritime Support & Rescue, which works with the US Coast Guard, to assisting the National Guard with specialized support units such as a Force Protection Team & a Small Arms Training Team.

The New York Guard currently augments their National Guard in a multitude of missions, from medical, supply, construction & logistics missions. Out of every 10 missions the New York Guard participates in, 8 of those includes New York Guard troops being embedded into National Guard units.

The Georgia State Defense Force provides their National Guard with an invaluable asset, an Opposing Force unit (OPFOR). Before such a unit existed the Army National Guard had to use their own troops as Opposing Forces during their Urban Assault Training, which put a strain on such units. The Georgia Defense Force offered to create a unit to act as the opposing force so that these Army National Guard units can train their entire unit in Urban Assault. The Georgia State Defense Force also assists the National Guard in Medical, and emergency response missions.

Many other State Defense Forces offer valuable services to their National Guard such as cyber units, which assist their National Guard Cyber Task Forces that protect government services & servers. Others assist by providing doctors, nurses to the National Guard for medical missions.

In conclusion, if a State Defense Force is not providing a valuable service to its National Guard they should expect deactivation. There are many ways to assist the National Guard, it is up to the State Defense Force leadership to continuously ask their Adjutant General, “What More Can We Do For You”. Utilize the resources and personnel you have to provide any and all support to the National Guard, even if that means getting a broom and cleaning the armories. As long as the Adjutant General and National Guard commanders see their State Defense Force providing a valuable service they will be grateful and keep them active.

– Jean Marciniak, Administrator of StateDefenseForce.com

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