THE REAL STATE MILITIA

When ever the subject of the Second Amendment comes up, many liberals will automatically start babbling about how "the people" somehow suddenly means the National Guard. I suppose this confusion arises because the founders made many mentions of the militia in their writings.
Of course, anyone who has studied the both the text of the Constitution, as well as the context in which it was written, understands that the authors of the Constitution differentiated between the "militia" which was the body of the people, prepared to take up arms in defense of them selves and the state, and the "Trained Militia," a term of art they used to describe what we today would refer to as a reserve military force.

Many actually think that the National Guard is a State Militia. I have yet to talk to a liberal who has served in the National Guard make this claim, but since most liberals have never bothered to dirty their hands with service to their country it is understandable that they are confused. I have served in the Air National Guards of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Texas and have served in the Army Reserves and the Air Force Reserves. My active duty time was spent in the United States Army. When I was serving in the Air National Guard the patch over my left breast pocket did not say for example "Texas Air National Guard." Nor did the patch over the pockets of my brothers in the Texas Army National Guard say "Texas National Guard." The patch on my uniform said "U.S. Air Force." Those serving in the Texas Army National Guard wore patches that said "U. S. Army." This is true for the Army and Air guards of each of the 50 states.

Not only did I wear a uniform that clearly made me a federal troop, but my pay check came from the U. S. Air Force. The guys in the Army National Guard got paid by the U. S. Army. The regulations we operated under were the federal forces regulations and the oath we took when enlisting was one of loyalty to the United States of America and we were equipped and trained by and with the federal troops. Clearly the National Guard is a branch of the federal military forces.

There are actually State Militias but they are sadly under used. I currently live in Washington State. Washington has a Washington State Militia which has as its only function the safeguarding and maintenance of Washington State National Guard Armories in the event that National Guard units are activated. They do not have a uniform nor do they get any military training or weapons training.

Other states may have similar arrangements or may make no use whatsoever of their power to establish a militia. Of course I am only discussing official state militias or state defense forces, not private organizations which refer to themselves as state militias. Perhaps in light of the rising propensity to activate National Guard units for federal duty and in light of the aftermath of the hurricanes this year, it is time for the states to take a look at making better use of a true volunteer militia, equipped and trained to provide for community defense and assistance.
I view this as a volunteer organization which would neither be paid nor provided with equipment. Those wishing to serve would need to provide their own uniforms and equipment. The state would provide a specification or perhaps even buy the uniforms and equipment and sell it at cost to militia men. Training would be provided by local National Guard, county sheriff, police and other agencies.

A militia of this type should be a bottom up organization. Each county in the State would have one or more "companies" depending on the size of the county (i.e. on the number of volunteers). Each company would be commanded by an Officer of the County Sheriff (a Lieutenant or a Captain). The Militia companies would have no officers higher than Lieutenant as the organization would be subordinate to the Sheriff. Since there is no pay involved, rank would only have meaning in terms of functional responsibility so that there would only be the number of officers and NCOs needed to command the company. For those who have been in a National Guard or Reserve unit you will know what I mean when I refer to the Guard and Reserves as "The Sergeants Corp."

Uniforms do not need to be flashy and could be simply specified as to basic requirements such as grey work trousers, white long sleeve dress shirt, black belt, black boots. Hats might be left to each county to pick so that some may wear a ball cap, others some sort of beret and others may wear a cowboy hat. Such distinctive headgear would help foster esprit de corp. Organization, name and rank insignia could be incorporated into a simple pin or badge (plastic laminated type) worn on the shirt pocket.

Training would be primarily oriented around assisting the County Sheriff. In emergencies he would have the militia to call on. When he loses people and is short handed or when vacation schedules or illnesses leave him short handed and balancing work schedules, he would have the militia to call on. When events such as the hydroplane races in my community or Marde Gras in New Orleans happen, he would have extra men to double up with his normal patrol. Police training, first aid training, emergency response training would all be high on the list of training requirements. As individuals become trained and essentially get up to speed they would then start to receive additional military training to allow them to function as a military entity rather than as individuals assisting deputies. Of course in larger emergencies, the state would have the power to call forth the militia in the service of the state.

Since the militia would be providing both police and military service to the county and potentially to the state, they would receive weapons training. Volunteers would need to provide their own weapons which would be certified by the Sheriffs office as being safe, of the appropriate caliber and type. For example, the state might specify that safe functional 12 gauge shotguns of any type may be carried by militia men. Or a state might get much more specific and specify that only safe, functional 12 gauge Remington 870 pump action shotguns will be carried. This would allow the state to standardize, as far as possible, the training requirements. In addition, by specifying the caliber, the state would be able to provide all training and operational ammunition to assure that inappropriate or unsafe ammo is not used by militiamen. For those militia men carrying handguns the same rules would apply. The sheriff or the state would specify caliber and type and would inspect the militia mens guns to make sure they were safe but the militia men would be responsible for providing and maintaining their weapons.

Militia men would be required to do a specified number of ride alongs with Sheriff officers or police officers each month. They would be encouraged to ride along as often as they wanted. In some communities this would provide many more police officers on duty at any one time and in some rural areas would provide a deputy, who may be an hour or more away from back-up, some welcome assistance.

The basic idea is to have a true state militia composed of the people at the minimum cost to taxpayers. Since it would be organized at the county level, it would be uniquely situated to respond to local emergencies. Even wide spread emergencies can benefit if each county has a force to respond when needed and the desire to be there and help would be strongest when those responding militia men are our neighbors.