When the Guard Goes to War, What's Left At Home?

With the military poised to get more involved in the Wuhan Flu response, the top National Guard general urged the federal government to leave the Guard alone so governors can mobilize them--which would allow them to have law enforcement roles, unlike under federal control:

The top general of the National Guard has recommended that the president not federalize control of Guard troops so that they can continue to be available to assist state and local governments with law enforcement duties amid the widespread coronavirus outbreak.

Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel said that if the federal government assumes control of the Guard, those troops, like active duty U.S. military members, would be forbidden from engaging in domestic law enforcement by the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act.

The dual nature of the National Guard as the primary reserve combat force for the Army and Air Force and the state-level military force is highlighted here. Anything in the Guard mobilized for war leaves little for internal defense under control of the states.

The Reserves are federal-only forces.

In theory, the often elderly, mostly ill-trained, and fairly uniformly ill-funded state defense forces (which includes territories)--where they exist--can fill in when the Guard is in federal service and sent elsewhere.



The key is blurry. Red Green means states with active forces. Green Red means states with forces on paper. Gray is unknown or non-existent. Although I imagine that for a lot of the interior states, a simple call for armed volunteers would do the trick in the short run. [Sorry for the key flub. Doh!]

I've mentioned this force before.

Will this crisis lead to more state interest in building up (or in some cases setting up) the capacity of the state defense forces?