Georgia State Defense Force

The Georgia State Defense Force (GSDF, GASDF, or SDF) is an unpaid, volunteer component of the Georgia Department of Defense, serving in support of the national and state constitutions under direction of the governor and the adjutant general of Georgia. As a State Defense Force, members serve alongside the Georgia Army National Guard and the Georgia Air National Guard.

The mission of the Georgia State Defense Force is to provide an organized, trained, disciplined, rapid response volunteer force to assist state and local government agencies and civil relief organizations during emergencies to ensure the welfare and safety of Georgia citizens.

The SDF's members help support and augment the Georgia National Guard, provide professional skills to the Georgia Department of Defense, and assist Georgia communities. Volunteers are trained to assist the National Guard, provide search and rescue, medical support, and disaster relief.

Organization
The Georgia State Defense Force is currently organized with a headquarters based at the Clay National Guard Center in Marietta; three brigades with geographic areas of responsibility throughout the state; medical companies; a support brigade providing special skills augmentation; a Chaplain Corps (based on Army special branches religious support) with a Command Chaplain, Brigade Chaplain, Battalion Chaplain (UMT) Unit Ministry Team and a Chaplain Training Center; and a military band (based on the Army Band - Large, Music Support Team (MST) concept). Each brigade and equivalent unit is commanded by a field grade officer (usually a colonel). The current chain of command for the State Defense Force at the state level is organized under three positions: The commander-in-chief (Governor Nathan Deal), the adjutant general (Major General Jim Butterworth), and the Georgia State Defense Force commander (Brigadier General Thomas Danielson). At present, both the Georgia Army National Guard commander (Brigadier General Joe Jarrard) and the Georgia adjutant general are commissioned officers in the Georgia State Defense Force.

Requirements
Current eligibility to join the State Defense Force extends to men and women between the ages of 18 and 64. Prior military experience is not required, although approximately 40 percent of active members have prior service experience.

History
The Georgia State Defense Force’s rich heritage dates back to England. Under the direction of General James Oglethorpe, Sergeants of the Guard trained future colonists in militia tactics. Georgia settlers arriving in 1733 became members of General Oglethorpe’s militia and were called up during the Battle of Bloody Marsh in 1742 to help repel the Spanish invasion of Georgia. These militia forces later joined General George Washington in the fight for American Independence.

The volunteer militia remained in continuous service throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. During this time, the militia participated in Indian wars against the Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws, and, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, Georgia responded with over 100 volunteer regiments, battalions, and batteries. The portion that remained at home helped to defend Atlanta and Macon, shadowed by the Union advance in 1864. This volunteer commitment was second only in number to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

In 1917, following passage of the National Defense Act of 1916, the National Guard could be called into federal service. As a result, Georgia law organized the militia into three classes: the National Guard, the naval militia, and the unorganized militia. It further created a separate Home Guard, or State Constabulary, also subject to military law. After World War I, the militia was called to put down labor unrest at factories and mills across the state.

In 1940, with the onset of World War II, Governor E.D. Rivers requested the American Legion to organize the Georgia State Defense Corps. The next year, in 1941, Colonel Ryburn Clay was appointed to head the State Defense Corps and it was activated and placed under the command of Brigadier General Omar Bradley, commanding officer at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Its name was shortly changed to the State Defense Corps of Georgia and then to the Georgia State Guard in 1942. During World War II, 35,000 volunteer members guarded war plants, critical communications facilities, utilities, reservoirs, and transportation facilities. Approximately 8,000 served at any given time with about 10,000 left at the end of the war. They were trained to repel an invasion that never came. Although not officially disbanded until 1951, the Georgia State Guard began its retirement in July 1946.



The Georgia State Guard was re-authorized in 1973 to serve as a constabulary force, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s was tasked to serve as a backup for state police forces. Legislation resulted in the first muster in 1985 when it was re-activated as the Georgia State Defense Force under the command of Brigadier General John Gillette. The force was tasked to provide a cadre around a larger force to assume the vacated domestic missions of Georgia National Guard members called to federal duty.

The current Georgia State Defense Force is authorized by the federal government under 32 USC 109(e), by the State of Georgia under Title 38 of the Official Code of Georgia, and by the National Guard Bureau under NGR 10-4. The Georgia Department of Defense is composed of the State Defense Force, the Army National Guard, and the Air National Guard, all of whom serve under the direction of the adjutant general of Georgia.

Recent operations include support to National Guard units during the Gulf War, participation in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, emergency aid to agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), support to Georgia National Guard units and their families since 2001, and activation during the 2004 G-8 Summit at Sea Island and the 2005 Katrina and Rita hurricane evacuations.

In 2010, the GSDF and its members were recognized by a special resolution of the Georgia Legislature for their participation in Operation Healing Hands, providing disaster relief to earthquake victims in Haiti. After the devastating outbreak of tornadoes across the Southeast U.S. in May, 2011, members of the GSDF participated in relief efforts in Lamar County and other hard-hit areas of the state.