California Army National Guard

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Headquarters, State Area Command
California Army National Guard


caption= California STARC Shoulder Sleeve insignia
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country= United States
allegiance= California
branch= Army National Guard
type= ARNG Headquarters Command
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command_structure=California National Guard
current_commander= Major General Jeffrey L. Gidley
garrison=Sacramento, California
ceremonial_chief=
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march=
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The California Army National Guard is a component of the California National Guard, the United States Army and the United States National Guard. The California Army National Guard is composed of about 20,000 soldiers. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization. National coordination of various state National Guard units are maintained through the National Guard Bureau.

California Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same enlisted and officer ranks and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards. The California Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in or to the state of California.

Units

*40th Infantry Division (Mech)
*40th Combat Aviation Brigade
**126th Medical Company (Air Ambulance)
*115th Area Support Group
*118th Maintenance Company
*145th Engineer Company
*1-184th Infantry Battalion
*185th Quartermaster Battalion
*217th Ordnance Company (EOD)
*223rd Infantry Regiment (Combat Arms)
*223rd Military Intelligence Battalion
*240th Signal Battalion
*250th Military Intelligence Battalion
*2632nd Transportation Company
*315th Engineer Company
*340th Brigade Support Battalion
*49th Infantry Division
*49th Personnel Service Battalion
*40th Personnel Service Det
*49th Military Police Brigade
*79th Personnel Service Det
*40th Finance Battalion
*Bravo Company, 1-184th Infantry Regiment
*JFHQ, HHD, CA ARNG
*1072nd Transportation Company

Duties

National Guard units can be mobilized at any time by presidential order to supplement regular armed forces, and upon declaration of a state of emergency by the governor of the state in which they serve. Unlike Army Reserve members, National Guard members cannot be mobilized individually (except through voluntary transfers and Temporary Duty Assignments (TDY), but only as part of their respective units. However, there has been a significant amount of individual activations to support military operations (2001-?); the legality of this policy is a major issue within the National Guard.

Active Duty Callups

For much of the final decades of the twentieth century, National Guard personnel typically served "One weekend a month, two weeks a year", with a portion working for the Guard in a full-time capacity. The current forces formation plans of the US Army call for the typical National Guard unit (or National Guardsman) to serve one year of active duty for every three years of service. More specifically, current Department of Defense policy is that no Guardsman will be involuntarily activated for a total of more than 24 months (cumulative) in one six year enlistment period (this policy is due to change 1 August 2007, the new policy states that soldiers will be given 24 months between deployments of no more than 24 months, individual states have differing policies).

History

The California Army National Guard was originally established by the Constitution of California in 1849. The first unit, known as the First California Guard (officially Company A, First Regiment, Light Artillery), was formed from volunteers in San Francisco, California under Captain Henry Morris Naglee.cite web | url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/1st%20CA%20Guard.html | title=First California Guard | publisher=California State Military Museum | accessdate=2007-05-25 ] In 1850, the California Legislature in San Jose organized the state militia into four divisions, each commanded by a major general and consisting of two brigades, with a state-wide Adjunct General responsible to the Governor of California.cite web | url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/CreationNGC.html | title=Creation of the National Guard of California | publisher=California State Military Museum | accessdate=2007-05-25 ]

The Militia Act of 1903 organized the various state militias into the present National Guard system.

Units and members of the California Army National Guard have served in: World War I, World War II, Korean War, the Vietnam conflict, Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Sinai Peninsula, Qatar, Germany, Spain, Panama, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, on the US/Mexico Border mission, during Hurricane Katrina humanitarian efforts, in airports and seaports around California, in various military bases across the US in support of Homeland Security, and more.

California also maintains its own military force, the California State Military Reserve. The CSMR is federally recognized, but is separate from the National Guard and reports to the Governor of California as its Commander-in-Chief. It services the state exclusively, especially when the National Guard is deployed and unavailable.

See History of the United States National Guard for a more complete history of the guard at a national level.

California State Military Reserve

The California State Military Reserve is the state defense force of California. The military reserve was formed to provide California a trained and organized military force in the event of a state security emergency in the event the National Guard is deployed. Its current mission is to assist the National Guard especially in concern to homeland security.

ee also

*State Defense Forces
*Militia
*Home Guard
*25th Infantry Division (United States) - 1-184th Infantry Battalion reorg info
*Army National Guard Transformation -- links to source material on transformation of the CA ARNG.

References

*United States National Guard, accessed 4 Nov 2006
* [http://www.calguard.ca.gov/armydiv/] California Army National Guard
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/arng.htm] GlobalSecurity.org Army National Guard page

External links

* [http://www.ngb.army.mil/ The National Guard Bureau]
* [http://www.ngb.army.mil/gallery/heritage/index.asp/ The National Guard Bureau Heritage Collection]
* [http://www.1800goguard.com/ The Army National Guard Recruiting Site]