FORT FAIRFIELD JOURNAL

                                  Real.  Educational.  News.

 Fort Fairfield Journal     About Us     Contact Us    Advertising Rates      Subscribe       Distribution       Bible Reference     Our Library

By activating the Maine State Guard, the Governor could easily provide an opportunity to those citizen-soldiers who wish to serve their state in times of natural disaster or other military need, without the worry of being deployed to foreign wars.

Maine and other states have been experiencing a shortage of National Guard troops recently due to the over-deployment of those troops to Iraq and the Middle East. “The recurring mobilizations of National Guard and Reserve units indicate a troubling over-reliance on our nation’s citizen-soldiers in ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” General Peter Schoomaker, U.S. Army Chief of Staff told Senator Susan Collins recently. “The pace of operations today has already demanded a great deal from our National Guard and Reserve members, their families, and their employers, and I am deeply concerned about additional strain as a result of the President’s troop surge in Iraq. I believe the Administration is asking too much of our National Guard and Reserve units.”

A common misconception about the National Guard is that it is owned and operated by the respective state in which it resides. However, the operative word in the name is “National” which means ultimate ownership and control is at the national level - on loan to the States.

The State of Maine currently has the infrastructure in place to allow those who wish to serve as citizen soldiers to do so at the State level, with no possibility of ever being activated by the national government, be deployed anywhere outside the state, or sent to war overseas.

The Maine Revised Statutes, at Title 37-B sections 221-225, allows for the organization of a militia, naval militia and Maine State Guard under the direction of the Governor.

In Maine, the militia consists of all able bodied citizens between the ages of 18-45, with exemptions for National Guard, full-time military, customhouse workers, religious objectors, etc. When activated by the Governor, the militia becomes the Maine State Guard. The Maine State Guard must not be confused with the National Guard. Title 37-B makes it crystal clear at section 224, paragraph 7 that “nothing in this subsection may be construed as authorizing the Maine State Guard or any part thereof, to be called, ordered or in any manner drafted as a unit into the military service of the United States.” This preserves the original intent of the militia to be locally controlled for State purposes, not under national control. In addition to military service, the militia is also used to aid neighbors in the event of a natural disaster.

In the past, the local militias formed up in what were called General Training Days for a week or two a year, usually during the spring.

In Maine, Training days, on the first Tuesday in May and again in the autumn, were annual festival days. From 1783 until 1841, every able-bodied man and boy between the ages of eighteen and forty-five was required by law to meet for company drill.

By activating the Maine State Guard, the Governor could easily provide an opportunity to those citizen-soldiers who wish to serve their state in times of natural disaster or other military need, without the worry of being deployed to foreign wars.