Poll – What Do You Think Of The New York Guards Deactivation Of Engineering, Search and Rescue & Medical Units?

We recently have been in contact with The Division of Military & Naval Affairs for New York, the military department of New York that manages The New York Army National Guard, Air National Guard, New York Guard (State Defense Force), and Naval Militia (US Navy & Marine Corps Reserve Personnel). We contacted them to discuss certain changes that have occurred to The New York Guard over the last decade.

Within this timeframe significant changes have been made to the units and organization of The New York Guard. Originally The New York Guard performed Search & Rescue missions, but in 2014 that mission was removed. In 2019, The New York Guard Engineering Unit was deactivated, which previously performed a multitude of missions assisting The National Guard in maintenance and construction operations at armories and training sites. And during this weeks Annual Training, The New York Guard has just deactivated their last remaining medical unit. New York Guard medical units previously performed a multitude of missions supporting and assisting The National Guard during the last two decades. From assisting in high profile units such as The National Guard CERFP Team to mobilization assistance for deploying National Guard units.

Many of these deactivations are attributed to a new direction taken within The New York Guard which aims to align each soldier to more of a generalist in role. Soldiers that are trained in multiple skills and able to be deployed in multiple roles. The New York Guard wants each of their soldiers to be trained in many skills and fields so they can deploy their troops to assist their National Guard in any mission set required.

This is very different to other State Defense Forces which all possess Medical, Engineering, and Search & Rescue units. Examples of these include The Texas State Guard Medical units which are heavily utilized especially in Operation Border Health Preparedness, or The Georgia State Defense Force Search & Rescue units which assist local authorities in locating missing individuals as well as assisting The National Guard during state wide emergencies following natural disasters.

The poll question we wanted to ask you this week is what are your thoughts on the deactivation of The Engineering, Medical and Search & Rescue units?

• Amazing! Perhaps my State Defense Force should consider such a path
• Wrong Path. Dismantling Engineering, Medical and Search & Rescue units will only hurt The New York Guard
• To Each Their Own. Each State Defense Force knows best how to serve their National Guard

Click Here To Vote