Yesterday, The Florida State Senate Appropriations Committee spent time discussing House Bill 1285. This legislative bill includes several major changes to the command structure and funding of The Florida State Guard.
Originally allotted 10 million in funding for the creation and initial setup of The State Guard, the bill increases the funding to 107.9 Million dollars. This additional funding would provide for 10 permanent Active Duty positions to handle administrative, logistical and command support within The State Guard. It would allow for The State Guard to purchase land, sea and aerial vehicles for the transportation of soldiers, medical evacuation missions, as well as Search & Rescue missions.
Other major changes the legislation includes is an unusual separation of The Florida State Guard from The Department of Military Affairs. Unlike other State Defense Forces which are under the direct command of The Adjutant General (Senior National Guard General), The Florida State Guard will not be under the command of The Adjutant General nor under the hierarchy of The Department of Military Affairs which oversees The Army National Guard & Air National Guard. Under this new legislation The Commanding Officer of The Florida State Guard will report directly to The Governor instead of The Adjutant General.
One last major change included was the removal of a particular clause which allowed the Governor to activate The Florida State Guard only in the event of a State Emergency. If the legislation is passed The Governor would be able to activate and utilize The State Guard at any time.
Lastly The Bill would call for the creation of a specialized armed unit within The Florida State Guard. This unit would augment State & Local Law Enforcement to provide additional security following a major natural disaster or severe weather event.
Yesterdays Senate committee hearing lasted approximately 1 hour and covered multiple aspects of the bill. The bill was being advocated by Senator Bryan Avila, who on top of serving in The Florida State Legislature also serves in The Florida Army National Guard. Senator Avila has been serving as a First Lieutenant for approximately eight years and has been involved in numerous operations and deployments in his career.
Throughout the hearing many concerns were addressed from deploying The State Guard to other states, financial costs of activations & deployments, to command structures. One major concern that multiple senators voiced was that guardrails that supervised The Florida State Guard would be removed. They were addressing the fact that within The legislation The Florida State Guard would not be under the command of The Adjutant General (Senior National Guard General) of Florida, nor under the supervision of The Department of Military Affairs. This differentiates The Florida State Guard from every other State Defense Force / State Guard within the country who are under the direct command of The Adjutant General & their States Department of Military Affairs. In The Florida’s case The Director of The State Guard would report directly to The Governor and take their orders from that one individual.
Another concern that was discussed was the deployment of The Florida State Guard out of the state. Under The Emergency Management Assistance Compact or EMAC, States are able to request emergency assistance from other States during a natural disaster or serious event. Thea state can then send their National Guard and/or State Defense Force to assist in recovery operations. Senators spent time discussing who would command such forces, the chain of command, as well as financial reparations for deployment & activation.
Senator Avila addressed all these concerns, he iterated that Florida is the third largest state in the country but has one of the smallest National Guards. He added that despite multiple attempts to enlarge the states National Guard through The Federal Government such attempts failed. And with the increasing amount of natural disasters hitting the state both in frequency and intensity The Florida National Guard is in need of additional manpower. Senator Avila informed that The Florida State Guard’s ability to provide augmentation and support to domestic National Guard missions would be highly valuable. He also believes the need of The State Guard would only become more paramount as The Florida National Guard is mobilized and deployed overseas to address international conflicts.
The Senator followed up by highlighting that The State Guard would only augment The National Guard as well as local authorities. They would assist in the following missions:
– Wild-land Firefighting
– Search & Rescue Missions
– Point Of Distribution Missions*
– Augmenting The Department of Corrections if needed**
– As well as being a force multiplier for Domestic National Guard missions
Regarding the specialized armed unit, The Senator informed that they would be trained and activated if local & state law enforcement would need assistance during natural disasters. He cited a few examples where local law enforcement were overwhelmed providing security following major hurricanes and that the State Guard could augment such law enforcement agencies to ensure the stability of the area.
Upon conclusion of the hearing, the legislation was voted upon and succeeded to progressing to The Senate chamber with a vote of 13 Yeas (Voted For) and 6 Nays (Voted Against).
If you would like to watch the legislative session:
* = Point Of Distribution Missions involve troops setting up distribution points throughout the state to provide citizens emergencies supplies of food, water and medication. Such missions were highly utilized during The Covid-19 Pandemic
** = Augmenting The Department of Corrections if needed. In 2022 The Florida National Guard was called up to augment The Department of Corrections which experienced heavy staffing shortages.
Sources: WUSF
