Florida Army National Guard

The Florida Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.

The Florida Army National Guard is composed of approximately 12,000 soldiers (as of March 2009). The main state training grounds is Camp Blanding.

Florida Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same enlisted ranks and officer ranks and insignia used by the United States Army are used by Army National Guardsmen and the latter are eligible to receive all United States military awards. The Florida National Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in or to the state of Florida.

History
The predecessor of the United States Florida Army National Guard was a Spanish militia that was originally formed in 1565 in the newly established Spanish presidio town of Saint Augustine, Florida. On September 20, 1565, Menéndez de Avilés attacked Fort Caroline (Jacksonville) which was the center of the French Huguenots.

In 1702-1704 an inter Indian Native American conflict started as part of Queen Anne's War, involving the English armies on one side and the Spanish on another resulted in the Apalachee massacre. The conflict later also escalated into the Yamasee War. Spain ceded St. Augustine to Britain in 1763, in exchange for Havana, and it became the capital of East Florida. St. Augustine was ceded back to Spain in 1783.

Upon the end of the First Seminole War Spain ceded Florida to the United States. The process was finalized after the ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821. United States merged two Floridas into an organized territory in 1822 and transferred the capital to Tallahassee. From 1835 to 1842 the Second Seminole War resulted in the elimination by force of most of the Native Americans from the territory. Florida was incorporated into the United States as a state in 1845. After Florida's incorporation into the United States problems with Seminoles continued until almost 1860.

The militia served under Spain for 236 years, Great Britain for 20 years, and the Confederate States of America for 5 years. The Militia Act of 1903 organized the various state militias into the present National Guard system. The FL ARNG included the 48th Armored Division from 1954 to 1968.

The Florida Army National Guard was composed of approximately 9,950 soldiers in January 2001.

Historic units

 * 153rd Cav. Reg coa.png 153rd Cavalry Regiment (United States)
 * 124TH Infantry coa.jpg 124th Infantry Regiment (United States)
 * 211InfRegtCOA.jpg 211th Infantry Regiment (United States)
 * 116FARegtCOA.jpg 116th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)

Units
53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team 83rd Troop Command 50th Area Support Group 164th ADA
 * 1-124th Infantry
 * 2-124th Infantry
 * 1-153rd Cavalry
 * 2153rd Finance Detachment
 * 779th Engineer Battalion
 * 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group
 * 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment (GSAB)
 * 2nd Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment (AOB)
 * 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation (Support & Security / Reconnaissance And Interdiction Detachment)
 * 927th Combat Service Support Battalion (CSSB)
 * 146th Expeditionary Signal Battalion
 * Detachment 1, 32nd Army Air & Missile Defense Command
 * 211th Regiment (RTI)
 * 260th Military Intelligence Battalion (Linguist)
 * 13th Army Band
 * 856th Quartermaster Company
 * 1-265th ADA (Avenger)
 * 3-265th ADA (Avenger)
 * 254th Transportation Battalion
 * HHD 254th Transportation
 * 715th MP Co
 * 806th MP Co
 * 690th MP Co
 * 1218th TC (Cargo)

Duties
National Guard units can be mobilized at any time by presidential order to supplement regular armed forces, and upon declaration of a state of emergency by the governor of the state in which they serve. Unlike Army Reserve members, National Guard members cannot be mobilized individually (except through voluntary transfers and Temporary DutY Assignments TDY), but only as part of their respective units. However, there has been a significant amount of individual activations to support military operations (2001-?); the legality of this policy is a major issue within the National Guard.

Active Duty Callups
For much of the final decades of the twentieth century, National Guard personnel typically served "One weekend a month, two weeks a year", with a portion working for the Guard in a full-time capacity. The current forces formation plans of the US Army call for the typical National Guard unit (or National Guardsman) to serve one year of active duty for every three years of service. More specifically, current Department of Defense policy is that no Guardsman will be involuntarily activated for a total of more than 24 months (cumulative) in one six-year enlistment period (this policy has changed 1 August 2007, the new policy states that soldiers will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months, individual states have differing policies).

The largest mobilization in state history began in mid-2009. More than 4,000 soldiers were called to active duty, and most were to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.