Should the National/ Air National Guards be under total control of the State Governors?

Question

I mean should DoD ask permission from the Governors to use National Guard units? After they are the Miltias of the States, are they not?

Answer 1

In my opinion, yes. I think the ability of the Federal Government to use the Guard at will undermines the power of the states. It also leaves the states shorthanded in the event that the state should need to deploy the Guard for some internal problem. Thus, if a problem arises, one of two things happens: the residents of the state suffer from the problems of a shorthanded Guard, or Federal reinforcements must be sent in to bolster the depleted Guard.

This being the case, I think Federal control of the Guard represents an overstepping of boundaries by the Federal Government on two accounts. First, it allows the Feds to unfairly control what is basically a state entity and resource by using it as the Feds wish, rather than as the states wish. Second, it almost, in the case of catastrophe or other state emergency in a state where the Feds have taken control of the Guard, requires federal intervention in state affairs, even mild emergencies that could be handled with a non-depleted Guard.

However, I must insert a caveat: The National Guard is a component of the U.S. Military (Army for National Guard, Air Force for Air National Guard). This being the case, my position would require the Guard detatch from the Military, and each state's Guard unit become completely state funded. It's at least theoretically possible, as the state militias weren't combined into the Guard until the early 20th century. This way, each state would have its own true militia to deal with specific state problems. I think that doing this would help to define the line between federal and state problems more clearly, and would help prevent, or at least ameliorate, problems like the post-Katrina debacle.

In essence, I'm in favor of less Federal Government and more states' rights, and I see the turnover of the Guard to the individual states as a good step towards this.

Answer 2

I believe they should be placed, quite contrarily, under direct and permanent control of the DOD. The Governors can request troops as needed from Homeland Security.

Did you watch the Congressional hearings last week on the issue? The system they have now is not good at all. DOD ignores them during times of peace, as they are under State control. But robs them blind when Federalized.

The system we have for National Guard command lineage is broken, very broken. From the mouth of the top National Guard General (though I can't recall his name). Listen to what he had to say. He doesn't make a case for total control either way, but says his command should report directly to Sec Def, rather than a variety of sub-sections at DOD.

For what it's worth, I think they should be rolled into a Federal Reserve force, combined with what is now the reserve denomination. But they should remain local, as this allows for the citizen-reserve component quite well. They can be soldiers when needed, but civilians usually. Logistically, that is the success of the National Guard as it now stands.