Everyone:
For the straight story about the Arizona State Guard, you need only go to
www.arizonastateguard.com... and read up on it. It's only one page of
very easy words, so even liberals should be able to understand it.
Before you get your panties in a twist, be advised that SB 1495 does nothing more than to remove the conditions that currently limit the Governor of
Arizona from being able to sign an order activating the Arizona State Guard. That power has been in the hands of the Arizona Governor for decades,
but the conditions that limited it were vague and arbitrary.
SB 1495 removes those provisions so that the Governor of Arizona can activate the Arizona State Guard without any impediments. The purpose of the ASG
has always been as a supplemental force to the Arizona National Guard, so pulling down the roadblocks that would have slowed down that activation in a
time of emergency is a good idea. Hell, it is an idea whose time came about ten years ago.
"Private Army" is a mis-characterization of the Arizona State Guard, and of State Defense Forces in general. State Defense Forces, or "SDFs" have
been around since the early 1900s, and are completely lawful under Title 32 of the US Code. In fact, 23 other states already have activated their
SDFs, and some have been activated for over 50 years.
SDF soldiers are regulated and organized in exactly the same way as National Guard soldiers are. The only difference is that State Defense Force
soldiers do not complete an additional contract that places them under the control of the US Federal Army. SDF soldiers will remain within the
confines of their state, and cannot be forced to deploy anywhere outside of the state's boundaries. That is how the federal law is written, to give
the Governors of the individual states full command and control of those SDF soldiers.
The Arizona State Guard would be organized and directed under the provisions of USC Title 32, just like the Texas State Guard, the New Mexico State
Defense Force, and the California State Military Reserve.
As you might have guessed from the above list, Arizona is the only southern border state that does *not* have an active State Defense Force, so why
exactly has Arizona been behind this particular power curve for so long? It's not "madness" to activate the Arizona State Guard, it is madness
that it hasn't been done before now.
For more info, visit the website at
www.arizonastateguard.com... and prepare to be educated.
Jack