The Military Department, also known as the California National Guard, is responsible for the command, leadership and management of the state’s Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The National Guard has both a federal and state mission and throughout its long history has exercised a dual role of both assisting state government in times of disaster and the country when fighting overseas. The California Guard has been scandal-wracked in recent years and is currently under multiple federal investigations, including a possible misappropriation of $100 million. The Military Department maintains a headquarters complex in Sacramento, more than 100 armories, maintenance facilities, training sites and aviation centers throughout the state to support the operations for a force of more than 23,000 troops. Its leader is the Adjutant General, who is chosen by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. 

As in many states, California’s National Guard grew out of existing militias that predate statehood. It traces its lineage  to the semi-professional home defense/fighting forces seen in Alta California when it was still part of Mexico. Some members of these locally-organized, funded and commanded militia  became the army of the nascent California Republic in the 1846 revolt against Mexico They fought alongside United States Army regulars in the resulting Mexican-American War, after which the Mexico Cession yielded Alta California to the American government.

California’s first militia company formed on July 27, 1849, in San Francisco under the name of the First California Guard. The 41-member unit was an artillery company but was also proficient in infantry tactics. California joined the union in 1850 and by December 1854, the state had 24 companies numbering 1,500 armed men. Companies were organized for various reasons: some to protect settlers, others to preserve law and order in mining communities and some were more social in nature. The units were outfitted at each member's expense. Old records tell of the Sacramento Hussars, who in colorful uniforms with feather-adorned fur caps and red and yellow boots formed a mounted escort for the first Pony Express rider to reach Sacramento from Placerville on March 3, 1860.

In 1861, the state joined the Civil War on the side of the North. Companies were assigned to the Second Massachusetts Cavalry Volunteers and participated in 25 engagements. Other California outfits guarded the Overland Mail route and formed the California Column which marched into New Mexico and Texas. After the war ended in 1865, the California fighting force was officially named the National Guard of California.

California sent troops to the Philippines in 1898 during the Spanish-American War and the state Guard, as well as members of the varied local militia, also assisted the United States Army regulars against Indian uprisings and other incidents of domestic unrest. However, the modern version of the National Guard didn’t emerge until passage of the federal Militia Act (also known as the Dick Act of 1903) which brought about greater federalization and standardization of all state military forces. The law also mandated that, within five years, the organization, pay, discipline and equipment of the National Guard equal that of the Army.

In June 1916, the National Defense Act essentially created the modern National Guard, providing increased federal support and regulation. When officers and units reached Army standards in regard to strength, equipment and skill, they were federally recognized and eligible for federal support. These changes proved pivotal when America entered World War I, with more than 379,000 Guardsmen ordered to active duty. During the war the National Guard supplied 17 combat divisions, or about 40% of the entire American Expeditionary Forces.

The forerunner of the California Air National Guard got its start in 1917, serving in France during World War I. Since that time, the Guard has been sent overseas to fight the nation’s wars, from trenches in France during World War I to the deserts of Iraq and mountains of Afghanistan in 2011. It has also been deployed to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, to Humboldt and Mendocino counties to destroy marijuana crops, to Folsom and San Quentin prisons to quell riots, and to the docks in Los Angeles and San Francisco to control labor demonstrations.

Early Cal Guard (by 2nd Lt. Michael Anthony Rodriquez, Guard historian) (pdf)

A Brief History of State Defense Forces in California (California State Military Museum)

The History of the California National Guard (Military Department website)

General Sherman (by 2nd Lt. Michael Anthony Rodriquez , Guard historian) (pdf)

California Army National Guard (GlobalSecurity.org)

The Oldest Component of the US Armed Forces (Maine Army National Guard)

National Guard Bureau (AllGov.com)

The California Military Department runs the California Army National Guard and Air National Guard, and includes the offices of the Adjutant General and the State Military Reserve. The National Guard has both a federal and state mission and throughout its long history has exercised a dual role of both assisting state government in times of disaster and the country when fighting overseas.

Since 9/11, the National Guard across the country has been increasingly called upon to deploy troops around the world. Thousands have been stationed in Kosovo, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, where high-security detainees from the Mideast are imprisoned. But in California, as elsewhere, they remain a critical force at home, helping fight wildfires, aiding when natural disaster strikes, controlling riots and participating in rescue missions on land and at sea. They have assisted the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and state Campaign Against Marijuana Planting in their annual marijuana plant eradication efforts on state and federal forest lands. In 2010, 260 personnel were also deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border to support Customs and Border Protection.

In addition to commanding the Army and Air National Guard, the Military Department manages the retirement benefits of state National Guard veterans in a manner similar to the federal Veterans Administration. It also oversees: the California Cadet Corps, which provides military training in state middle and high schools; is in charge of the State Military Reserve, an all-volunteer group that assists National Guard deployment and return to civilian life efforts; and supervises the California Youth National Guard, which operates five military academies and other youth programs around the state. The California Army National Guard also runs the California Military Academy at Camp San Luis Obispo, Camp Roberts near Paso Robles and a large airfield at Los Alamitos, at which other western states’ National Guards also train.

The Military Department’s roles and responsibilities are broken down by spending into eight categories: direct support of the state Army National Guard, which includes equipment, training and maintaining armories, barracks and other required facilities; direct support of the state Air National Guard, which also includes equipment, supplies, training, and maintaining the airfield at Los Alamitos; military support to civil authority, which means responding to calls for Guard assistance from the governor or other state politicians; military retirement, paying for the benefits earned by active Guard members or Guard veterans; the California Cadet Corps; the California State Military Reserve; the California Youth National Guard; and the Office of the Adjutant General, which also includes the Military Department’s administration.

Army National Guard

The Army National Guard organizes part-time citizen soldiers into a “community-based land force” that is sufficiently “manned, equipped, trained and resourced” to be sent overseas to fight foreign wars as well as respond to domestic disasters or emergencies. It also oversees much of the necessary supply infrastructure – the supply depots/warehouses – required to keep the Guard equipped. The California Army National Guard  maintains Camp San Luis Obispo and Camp Roberts, two of the largest National Guard training camps on the West Coast, at which other state National Guard units train.

These state-funded National Guardsmen fly helicopters in Iraq, truck supplies in Afghanistan, provide military police services at Guantanamo Bay, and act as UN peacekeepers in Kosovo and Bosnia. Guard members also head overseas to train with foreign nations’ armies – in one instance, pretending to be Afghan mujahedeen in Germany in order to prepare regular Army units for deployment to the Middle East.

In addition to the attendant Quartermaster (supply) and transportation units, the state National Guard also has smaller medical units and chemical warfare units.

Air National Guard

Similar to the Army National Guard, but with much more federal involvement, the Air National Guard organizes, trains, and equips airmen to provide air, space, cyberspace, and support capabilities to the state and nation. “Virtually all supplies, equipment, transportation, subsistence and support” are provided by the federal government, according to the department. The state Air National Guard maintains Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, which includes the only military airfield in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County area.

The Air National Guard has a unit of rescue helicopters, a unit of F-16 Fighting Falcon multiuse fighter aircraft which patrols much of the western United States’ airspace, a unit of large transport aircraft that also drops fire retardant on wildfires and a unit that flies a spy aircraft.

Office of the Adjutant General

This is the office of the general in charge of the Military Department. It oversees the management and distribution of dollars and people, the Military Department’s self-policing (“judicial affairs”) and other internal controls, fiscal, disciplinary or otherwise. The Joint Staff provides staff support for the office. The commander of the state National Guard, the adjutant general is a Military Department employee, not a federal one. He loses this control responsibility when the Department of Defense steps in during a military emergency. The Adjutant General’s office relies almost entirely on state funds, rather than federal.

Military Support to Civil Authority

The Military Support to Civil Authority Program supports the emergency needs of civil authority when called to duty by the governor. The objectives of this program are to plan and prepare for the deployment of National Guard personnel and equipment to support civil authority when there is a domestic emergency or natural disaster.

Military Retirement

State National Guard members are eligible for various retirement benefits depending on the nature of their service.

California Cadet Corps

Similar to Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, but on a much smaller scale, the Cadet Corps exists in schools that already have a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (which is part of the federal military) system in place. In 2009, it allowed JROTC cadets to receive a physical education credit for complete a Cadet Corps curriculum.

State Military Reserve

The Military Reserve is made up of 840 uniformed volunteers who are assigned various support roles when the National Guard is called into action during state emergencies and disasters. It is purely domestic and has no role when the National Guard is called into federal service aside from assisting in training exercises or other locally-based tasks. These members, all former Guardsmen and women, train active Guard members before they are deployed overseas and also during the requisite “one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer” training when not in national emergency status.

California National Guard Youth

The California National Guard Youth Programs are responsible for the command, leadership, and management of five unique youth programs. These programs are financed with federal, state and local funds. These programs include the Grizzly Youth Academy, Sunburst Youth Academy, Oakland Military Institute, STARBASE Academy and Santa Clara Alternative Placement Academy. These schools cater to at-risk youth and high school dropouts, but in the case of schools like the Oakland Military Institute (which Jerry Brown had a hand in founding) they also provide an “alternative” high school in stressed school districts. 

The Military Department technically has a 2011-12 budget of $156.4 million. More than 70% of that comes from the federal government and the rest is from the state General Fund and reimbursements. But the federal government also is on the books for another $948 million that it allocates directly to the Army and Air National Guards along with the Adjutant General’s office. Those federal funds are not further expanded upon in the published department budget because they are not deposited in the state treasury. 

The Military Department spends half of its money on salaries and benefits, and the other half on equipment. “Equipment” means everything from fuel to bullets to boots to blankets to beds. The construction of armories and other high-ticket items for contractors comes from federal money and is not overseen by state budget-watchers. In addition to spending on the regular departments mentioned above, an extra $13.3 million in special set-aside state funding is paying for a new headquarters complex in Sacramento. This project is still in the planning phases.

The funding by department breaks down as follows:

Army National Guard

$78.5 million total, $51.1 million from the federal trust fund, $24.8 million from the state General Fund, $1.8 million reimbursed by the federal government.

Training: $9.7 million, all from the state General Fund.

Logistics: $65.77 million, $12.5 million from the General Fund and $51.1 from the Federal Trust Fund.

Command Support: $884,000, all from the General Fund.

Personnel salaries and benefits: $2.1 million, all from state money.

Air National Guard

$22.9 million total, $16.1 million from the federal trust fund, $6.8 million from the General Fund.

Training: $424,000, all from General Fund.

Logistics: $21.7 million, $5.6 million from the General Fund and $16.1 million from the federal trust fund.

Command Support: $498,000, all from General Fund.

Personnel salaries and benefits: $300,000, all from General Fund.

Adjutant General’s Office

$15.4 million, all from the General Fund. This is salaries and benefits of the full-time staffers, from National Guard members who handle weapons in training to civilian bureaucrats in Sacramento.

California National Guard Youth Programs $18.6 million. $6.8 million from the state General Fund and $11.8 million from federal funds.

Military Retirement $3 million, all from the General Fund.

Cadet Corps $330,000, all from the General Fund.

State Military Reserve $627,000, all from the General Fund.

Proposed 2011-12 Budget (pdf)

$100 Million Fraud Alleged

The federal auditor who oversees the California National Guard called it “war profiteering.” One of the whistle-blowers who came forward called it “spine-chilling.”

From 1986 until her retirement in 2009, as the Sacramento Bee told it, Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe's job with the California Army National Guard was to give away money. And that she did with gusto, doling out an estimated $100 million to soldiers who didn’t really qualify for federally subsidized student-loan repayments and cash bonuses the Guard is supposed to use to tempt new recruits and entice Guard members to sign on for another stint. Another $43 million in possibly improper payments OK’d by Jaffe just before the scandal was revealed have been suspended.

For years, California's incentives program was allegedly operated as a slush fund spent by hundreds of soldiers with fabricated paperwork that utilized a high-speed assembly line for bonuses and loan repayments in which Jaffe single-handedly processed some 8,600 payments over a 16-month period in 2007 and 2008 – about 25 per workday. The vast majority of questionable payments reportedly occurred from 2007 through 2009.

Most student loan repayments were drawn from money designated for combat vets although a large portion of those funds went to Guard members who hadn't served a day at war. Captains and majors were among those who auditors believe improperly benefited.

Capt. Ronald S. Clark, a federal auditor who oversees funds spent by the California Guard, learned of the alleged problems in July 2010 from managers who replaced Jaffe after she left the service. He took the problem to the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. 

Jaffe, known as the “M&M lady” for decorating her cubicle with confectionary keepsakes and her unabiding devotion to the candy as reflected on her Facebook page and vanity license plates, denied she did anything wrong. “They would always tell me that I was doing a good job, then stab me in the back. They are there just to protect themselves. … They are still trying to blame me for s--- I didn't do. I wish I never joined the Guard. I regret it, and I hate the Guard.”

She eventually confessed to that “s--- I didn’t do,” admitting in a plea bargain to having submitted $15.2 million in fraudulent claims to the government on behalf of undeserving fellow guard members. Her guilty plea—to one count of making false claims against the United States—carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years of supervised release. The government also wants  restitution for its fraudulent loss.

Massive Fraud at California Guard, Officials Alleged (by Charles Piller, Sacramento Bee)

Ex-Guard Sergeant from Citrus Heights Admits Role in Bonus Fraud (by Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee)

More Fraud Allegations

About 100 California National Guard members were accused of fraudulently or improperly collecting $500,000 in pay from 2006 to 2010. More than half the money, $286,000, went to 95 Guard members as compensation for wildfire-response duties in 2008. The third-highest-ranking Guard member, Col. Robert A. Spano, was among those accused in a report by the Guard’s internal auditor. Guard members receive a controversial fire-duty premium above their normal pay when assisting the state in times of emergency.

Not all the accusations involved fire duty. The most egregious case involved Maj. Thomas Venable, a homeland security specialist, who was accused of using fraudulent time sheets to obtain $163,074 for expenses that included tax-free housing subsidies for a Texas residence. Another high-ranking officer, Lt. Col. Irma L. Goodwater, a comptroller, was also cited for receiving at least $3,092 in fire pay, according to payroll records. The auditor indicated that Goodwater collected fire pay while on sick leave. Three service members were accused of receiving $65,000 in inappropriate commute expenses.

The allegations follow on the heels of investigations that revealed as much as $100 million in improper or illegal recruitment and retention payments to service members, and dual-pay violations by Guard pilots. Those cases are the subject of ongoing criminal investigations by federal law enforcement agencies.

The newly-appointed head of the California National Guard, Brig. Gen. David Baldwin, said, “The root cause of the problem is that the organization lost its way, ethically and morally.”

California National Guardsmen Improperly Collected Fire Pay, Auditor Finds (by Charles Piller, Sacramento Bee)

Bill Seeks Independent Watchdog of California National Guard (by Charles Piller, Sacramento Bee)

Ex-Leader Booted from the Guard

Maj. Gen. William H. Wade II, who led the Guard from late 2005 through early 2010, boosted his salary by working hundreds of days on federal duty while being paid by both the federal and state governments. An investigation by the Sacramento Bee estimated that about $155,000 of his state income was beyond the statutory limits for dual pay.

An independent investigation by the California controller prompted a demand by the state that Wade repay $80,720. (The statute of limitations affected some of the double-dipping allegations.) When he refused to pay, current Adjutant General David Baldwin took the seemingly unprecedented step of removing Wade from active duty in August 2011.

Governor Jerry Brown concurred in the decision.

The Guard has referred the matter to federal military authorities for review. At the time of his removal, Wade was NATO deputy chief of staff for operations in Italy.

Former California Guard Leader Is Booted Into Retirement (by Charles Piller, Sacramento Bee)

Base Is Falling Apart

Reserves and National Guard made up approximately 45% of the force deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as of August 2010 and received 18.4% (863) of the casualties. But before many of California’s National Guard members face the depredations of overseas combat, they get a taste of what lies ahead at Camp Roberts, the state’s main training base. A report in February 2011 by Sgt. Dustin Shepherd, a noncommissioned officer in charge of camp operations, detailed instances of raw sewage bubbling up through shower drains, heating systems failing in sub-30-degree temperatures, and air-conditioning out during the blazing summer. “I am literally sick over this and completely disgusted with the lack of soldier care,” he wrote.

Camp Roberts was built in the early ‘40s as an Army training center on the border between San Luis Obispo and Monterrey counties. The Army closed the base in 1970 and the California National Guard took control of it the next year. But scores of buildings built during World War II remain and have fallen into disrepair. An investigation by the Sacramento Bee published in March 2011 found jerry-built plumbing, missing floor coverings and peeling paint throughout the camp.

The Bee investigation found that millions of dollars in building materials, appliances and other supplies sit unused or ruined in Camp Roberts warehouses. The camp orders dozens of unneeded items because inventory controls are so poor that officials don't know what they have or what is missing. Many of these deficiencies have been catalogued in the Guard’s own reports but not acted upon for various reasons.

“It's a travesty – their lack of care for soldiers,” said retired Col. William Hatch, who commanded Camp Roberts from 2003 to 2004. “If we are sending them to war, we owe them the best training facilities. We owe that to the soldiers, their families and the citizens of the state of California.”

Welcome to Camp Roberts (Guard website)

California Guard’s Largest Training Facility Steadily Deteriorates (by Charles Piller, Sacramento Bee)

Historic California Posts – Camp Roberts (California State Military Museum)

Dozing for Dollars

Pilots with the Air National Guard’s fighter unit stationed near Fresno reportedly received regular multiple-shift paydays on the same calendar day in violation of rules. Although first reported in December 2010, the Sacramento Bee said the practice had been going on for years and that pilots are the subject of a criminal investigation by the federal Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Pilots often grabbed shifts on alert at full pay after their normal day jobs flying F-16 Fighting Falcon warplanes were over. When on alert duty, pilots relax in a ready room where they can entertain themselves or grab some sleep.

Among those investigated was Col. Gary Taylor, who oversaw the unit. It was estimated that up to 40% of his income may have come from the improper payments. He was relieved of command in 2010. Four of the pilots under investigation were appointed to leadership positions in the fighter wing, including the top spot, despite being grounded indefinitely. 

The grounded pilots might have been confused about the laws and rules, and relied on guidance from their superiors, according to Col. John Crocker, governmental and public affairs director for the California Guard. Regardless, he said, “There is at a minimum an appearance that (commanders) self-enriched. And boy, does that smell bad.”

Double-Dipping Probe Targets Air National Guard Pilots in Fresno (by Charles Piller, Sacramento Bee)

Grounded Pilots Raised to Key Posts (by Charles Piller, Sacramento Bee)

Abuse in Iraq

The 685-man 1st Battalion of the California National Guard’s 184th Infantry Regiment was sent to Iraq in 2005, led by Lt. Col. Patrick Frey, a special education teacher from Salinas who had taken command a few days earlier. The soldiers patrolled some of the toughest parts of Baghdad and lost men to roadside bombs, but were best known for becoming embroiled in a scandal involving the torture of Iraqi prisoners.

The entire 130-member Alpha Company, stationed just outside Baghdad, was placed on restricted duty while the Army investigated allegations that members of the unit mistreated detainees in Iraq, possibly with a stun gun. The use of a stun gun on a man who had been handcuffed and blindfolded was reportedly videotaped. Eleven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty and some were charged with mistreatment of a person under their control, assault and making a false statement. As many as 17 soldiers were under investigation.

In addition to the accusations involving Alpha Company, at least six soldiers in the battalion were alleged to have extorted money from Iraqi business owners, apparently in exchange for protection from insurgents. The payments allegedly exceeded $30,000 and were made in U.S. currency.

Three sergeants were court-martialed and pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty and conspiracy to maltreat detainees. They went to prison for up to 12 months. Eight others received lesser punishments in lower-level proceedings. Several other Guard officers and non-commissioned officers were reassigned. One soldier was found not guilty. Frey, the battalion commander, was suspended for a month and then was reassigned in July to brigade staff duty.

Within months the battalion had new leadership and participated in the bloody Operation Clean Sweep in October 2006. The battalion lost 10 Guardsmen and seven active duty soldiers attached to the unit during its 10 months in Iraq. More than 100 soldiers were wounded. The Army awarded the battalion 14 Bronze Stars for valor, in addition to 48 Bronze Stars for merit and 80 Purple Hearts.

California Guard Under Investigation for Iraqi Abuse (Associated Press)

How a Black-Sheep Guard Unit Came Home Heroes (by César G. Soriano and Martin Kasindorf, USA Today)

Fire – When Not Ready

Exhausted from repeated deployments in the War on Terror, it’s perhaps no surprise that the National Guard was found unready to respond to California wildfires that ravaged the state in 2007 during the Bush Administration. Nevertheless, state Guard officials blamed the Bush Administration for delays in getting the planes the proper firefighting equipment – and local government bureaucracy was blamed for equipped helicopters and planes standing idle on runways as fire burned, waiting for the proper clearance.

State National Guard Warns It's Stretched to the Limit (by Mark Martin, San Francisco Chronicle)

Copters Grounded as Fires Burned (Associated Press)

Guard Planes Not Yet Equipped to Fight Wildfires (Associated Press)

Office of the Inspector General

The Military Department has an inspector general, but it hasn’t done much to staunch the flow of scandalous activity experienced by the Guard in recent years. Although its website boldly states, “The State Military Department IG is sufficiently independent so that those requesting assistance will do so,” a key whistleblower in a $100 million scandal that was revealed in 2010 said he went to the FBI and Internal Revenue Service with his information because he didn’t trust the department to police its own. A state Senate bill introduced in February 2011 would shift the inspector general's post from reporting to the guard's commander to reporting directly to the governor. He would be outside the chain of command, serving as an independent watchdog.

Guarding the Guard for State Taxpayers (Marysville-Yuba City Appeal-Democrat)

Welcome To the State Inspector General's Website (Military Department website)

The National Guard has had a dual state/federal role for much of its history. In 2010, more than 2,300 soldiers and 500 airmen from the California National Guard were deployed around the world, including Afghanistan and Iraq, in combat and noncombat roles. This mirrors a national effort in which around 38,500 Guard soldiers and 30,000 Reserve soldiers are deployed overseas.

Over the years, federal legislation has increased the authority of Washington over the Guard, precipitating clashes with the states over diversion of their resources beyond their borders.

For the State

States complain that the federal government is monopolizing a key local resource to support its foreign adventures and national priorities. While recognizing the dual role of the Guard, they complain that too many troops and equipment are sent overseas, leaving the states vulnerable to natural disasters and shouldering a cost they didn’t themselves incur. More recently, tussles over the use of the Guard to patrol the border with Mexico have precipitated harsh words.

President George Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had a 17-day standoff in 2006 when Bush ordered the National Guard to Southern California to patrol the border with Mexico for up to two years in response to worries of illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Governor Schwarzenegger refused unless the feds picked up the tab. Eventually, he sent 1,000 Guardsmen and the federal government paid the $1 billion tab.

In May 2007, a tornado ripped through the Kansas town of Greensburg. National Guard response to the disaster was slow and impeded by a lack of equipment. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D) complained strenuously to Washington that Guard resources were depleted because they had been shipped overseas. At the time of the tornado, the Kansas National Guard was operating with 40% to 50% of its vehicles and heavy machinery. Ordinarily, the Guard would have had about 660 Humvees and more than 30 large trucks to traverse difficult terrain and transport heavy equipment. When the tornado struck, the Guard had about 350 Humvees and 15 large trucks. The Guard also had only 30 of its 170 medium-scale tactical vehicles available to transport people and supplies.

Washington’s response to Governor Sibelius was to blame her for the Guard problems, accusing her of not following the proper procedures in seeking federal assistance. That exchange was similar to one between the Bush Administration and the Democratic Louisiana governor after Hurricane Katrina.

As far back as 2001, before a decade of war depleted Guard resources, the California State Auditor was warning that the National Guard was overstating its readiness and was ill-prepared to respond to natural disaster, civil disturbance, armed conflict or other emergencies.  When wildfires hit California in 2007, states like New Mexico felt obliged to help their impaired neighbor by sending help. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson wondered why it was necessary.

“I look at the natural disaster in California and feel compelled to also ask President Bush and every candidate who thinks it is okay for our troops to remain in Iraq until 2013 or longer - where is our National Guard? It is a sad irony that yesterday, the very day I sent fire crews to California, 300 more New Mexico National Guard members were sent to Iraq.”

The National Guard employs a number of C-130 tankers that could be equipped to fight fires and promises were made as far back as 2003 to do so. But when the wildfires broke out in 2007, they weren’t ready and Governor Schwarzenegger was forced to ask the Pentagon to fly in six older C-130s from the East Coast.

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi said the state’s National Guard was under funded, mismanaged and stretched to the breaking point. Approximately 2,500 of its members were deployed overseas at the time of the fire. Its equipment was generally 30 to 40 years old. And, according to a USA Today article, at least 800 Humvees, 700 medium tactical vehicles and 50 heavy lifter trucks were unavailable, primarily because they were being used in Iraq.

For the Federal Government

Through most of the decade preceding President Obama’s election, complaints about the federal government overstepping its authority regarding the National Guard were dismissed by many as just politics as usual. Defenders of the administration said the states complaining the most had Democratic leadership that was taking pot shots at a Republican president over domestic policy and conduct of the Mideast wars. They point out that a century of legislation clearly empowers the federal government to utilize the National Guard, it has a long history of doing so and most of the Guard’s funding comes from Washington.

Those who favor the present arrangement say its advantages far overshadow the drawbacks and recommend the kind of policy tweaking that occurred in January 2011 when President Obama signed an executive order establishing the Council of Governors to “strengthen the partnership” between the federal and state governments. The order singles out matters involving the National Guard as a principle reason for establishing the council.

Response to State Emergencies (State Auditor) (pdf)

Where is the National Guard? (Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor)

Guard Planes Not Yet Equipped to Fight Wildfires (by Michael R. Blood, Associated Press)

Pentagon Memo: Bush Plans Two-Year Border Duty for National Guard (Associated Press)

California National Guard Deployment? (by Marianne Russ, Capital Public Radio)

Gov. Schwarzenegger Agrees to Send California National Guard to Border (Associated Press)

Army Mulls Future of National Guard, Reserve (by Michelle Tan, Army Times)

The Role of the National Guard in National Defense in Homeland Security (by (by Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, National Guard Association of the U.S.) (pdf)

Pentagon Control of Local Troops Would Create Chaos (Rapid City Journal)

Commander's Corner (The Grizzly) (pdf)

The History of the Insurrection Act (by Deirdre Griswold, Workers World) 

Where’s Our National Guard? Overseas (by Alan Caruba, blogger)

President Obama Signs Executive Order (The White House)

Maj. Gen. Mary J. Kight, 2010 – 2011. A Monterey native, Kight was the first woman and first African-American woman to head the Military Department as Adjutant General. Many held her responsible when scandal erupted over the possible misappropriation of more than $100 million before and during her tenure and as Governor Brown pondered her fate in April 2011, members of the Legislative Black Caucus and the California State NAACP came to her defense. They maintained that she was being attacked from inside the Guard for “shaking up the ‘old boys’ network”  and insisted she not be forced out. Kight, who had never been confirmed by the Senate, was replaced days later.

Maj. Gen. William H. Wade II, 2005 – 2010. The general reportedly boosted his salary by working hundreds of days on federal duty while being paid by both the federal and state governments. About $155,000 of his state income was allegedly beyond the statutory limits for dual pay. The Guard has referred the matter to federal military authorities for review. In August 2011, Adjutant General David S. Baldwin took the unprecedented step of removing Wade from active duty as a Guard member. 

Maj. Gen. Thomas Eres, 2004 – 2005. He resigned amid accusations that he failed to meet a Pentagon combat requirement and tried to arrange a flight on a military aircraft for members of a Republican group. Eres left after questions were raised by two newspapers about whether he passed a required shooting-skills test before visiting troops in Iraq. The general also attempted to provide a military flight for a partisan Republican organization, the Coachella Valley Lincoln Club, that wanted to travel to North American Aerospace Defense Command center in Colorado.

Maj. Gen. Paul Monroe, Jr., 1999 – 2004. The general was criticized for personnel moves, including placing his son, a Guard captain, in a headquarters job after he was investigated for having an affair with an officer under his command. Both were married and adultery is considered a felony under military law. In April 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that Guard troops protecting Bay Area bridges in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks had trucks that didn't run, weapons that often malfunctioned and that some on duty in crowded public areas had not met basic military qualifications with their rifles. Monroe made public assurances that the troops were competent with their weapons but an internal Guard report the Times later obtained reported that 29 of 60 soldiers on guard duty were not qualified with their M-16s.

Maj. Gen. Tandy K. Bozeman, 1993 – 1999. The Pentagon determined in 1998 that Bozeman engaged in an “inappropriate relationship” with a female officer in the California Guard, according to USA Today. The military prohibits relationships between commanders and their troops because it can create the impression of favoritism. He retired as head of the California Guard in a routine change of command in 1999.

Maj. Gen. Robert Thrasher, 1987 – 1992. Thrasher and the California National Guard came under heavy criticism for their performance during the Rodney King riots of 1992. After the riots, Governor Pete Wilson criticized the Guard's response and said “someone's head may very well roll.” In early June, he appointed Army Lt. Gen. William H. Harrison to head an investigation of the Guard's preparation, response, training, deployment and organization. The report recommended that the Guard overhaul its procedures and rethink its role in civil disturbances.