Missouri Reserve Military Force

The Missouri Reserve Military Force (MRMF) is the official state defense force of Missouri. As a state defense force, the MRMF is a reserve military force which serves parallel to the Missouri National Guard. MRMF members serve as reservists and therefore can hold full-time jobs while serving, like their National Guard counterparts. As the MRMF falls solely under the command of the state of Missouri, it cannot be federalized or deployed outside the borders of Missouri, unlike the National Guard. Although the MRMF and the Missouri National Guard are separate organizations, the MRMF's primary scope is to work alongside the National Guard during stateside operations, or in lieu of the National Guard when the National Guard is deployed outside of Missouri.

Legal Basis
All U.S. states and territories are allowed to create and maintain their own military forces, independent of the federal military, under Title 32 of the U.S. Code. State defense forces are allowed under Missouri law as well, under Chapter 41, Section 41.070 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. On Sept. 9, 1982, Governor Christopher “Kit” Bond signed Executive Order 82-17 creating a Missouri Reserve Force and ordering the state's adjutant general to organize the force. However, the adjutant general did not execute this order at that time. It was not until 2012 that the force was officially organized.

Membership
As of 2014, the MRMF is still in development, with three steps of recruiting planned to bring the MRMF to full force. The first step, currently in progress, is to establish a cadre of former Missouri National Guardsmen to serve as an organizational foundation for the MRMF, and so membership is currently limited to former members of the Missouri Army and Air National Guard. This is ostensibly to ensure that the officers of the MRMF are familiar with the procedures of the National Guard and can better develop the organization to work more seamlessly with the National Guard.

Once this cadre of former Missouri National Guardsmen has been fully established, membership requirements are loosened under the second step, in which former veterans of all branches will be actively recruited, as well as certain civilian licensed professionals such as doctors, dentists, attorneys, engineers, counselors, emergency responders, among others. Lastly, membership will be open to civilian volunteers.

There is no physical examination required for membership, but members must guarantee they are able-bodied citizens, in good health, and capable of performing moderate physical activity.

Duties
The MRMF carries the same stateside responsibilities as the Missouri National Guard, including assisting the National Guard on recovery operations following natural disasters. In the event of the National Guard deploying outside of the state, the MRMF is assigned to assist in the mobilization process and assume the stateside duties of the National Guard for the duration of the deployment, including:


 * protecting life and property in times of emergency
 * assisting the adjutant general in preparation of the mobilization of the Missouri National Guard for active duty
 * assisting family members at home during deployments
 * assisting the adjutant general in control and operation of state military property left behind following Missouri National Guard mobilizations.