The U.S. National Guard’s homeland defense efforts at the present time are comprised of Air National Guard combat air patrols, Army National Guard (ARNG) Civil Support Teams, other ARNG units mobilized for home defense, plus other efforts such as the deployment of Task Force Santa Fe to guard U.S. military bases in Germany.  

Responsibility for the air defense of the continental United States was transferred in it entirety to the Air National Guard in 1997.  The First Air Force, headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., runs the air defense effort with 10 fighter squadrons of F-16 Falcon and F-15 Eagle aircraft.  Operationally, First Air Force reports to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), though it has an Air Force administrative superior as well.  All 10 units have been mobilized, either partially or fully, as well as other Air National Guard fighter units.  At the present, intermittent patrols are being flown over potential terrorist targets, including New York and Washington.  

In addition, Air National Guard flying units are contributing to Operation Enduring Freedom. 

NORAD is one of the two commands that has been confirmed will be reassigned to the new Homeland Defense ‘Northern Command’ (the other is the Defense Department’s civil attack relief unit, Joint Task Force Civil Support.)  This will make necessary some tricky re-adjustment; NORAD is a combined US/Canadian command.  Details of the new Northern Command are not clear as yet.  However, even initial discussion between Canadian and U.S. authorities on reorganization of the commands responsible for North America has drawn criticism from Canadian politicians due to lack of Parliamentary discussion.  

The Army National Guard’s premier home defense units are the Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CSTs).  The New York 2nd Civil Support Team was called in on Sept. 11 to test the air around the World Trade Center site for any traces of nuclear, biological, or chemical contamination.  Unfortunately, key officials were killed in the attack, and as a result it took 12 hours for the CST to arrive in New York from its base in Albany.  The CSTs have also been criticized for their duplication of existing governmental resources, and their number.  There were originally scheduled to be 10 teams – which would have provided an adequate response to the whole continental United States – but Congress raised the number to 32.  Not content with adding 22 unnecessary teams, some congressional delegations want even more – a representative from Wisconsin, for example, wants a team stationed in his state.  

A bewildering number and variety of other National Guard units have been mobilized for the home defense role.  A New York battalion, the 1st Squadron, 101st Cavalry, was mobilized during November, December, and January to augment security in New York City.  The 101st Cavalry had its first soldiers deployed in New York City by the end of the day on Sept. 11.  Medical, military police, and transportation units were part of the rescue and recovery efforts during September and October at the Pentagon and World Trade Center.  Following the initial efforts, airport security across the country has been bolstered by the presence of National Guard units such as Virginia’s 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry, assigned to Dulles International Airport.  President George W. Bush announced on Sept. 27 that the National Guard would reinforce security forces at 422 major airports for the next four to six months.  In addition, Guard Special Forces, linguistic intelligence, infantry, and headquarters augmentation units have been mobilized both for homeland defense and to contribute to the on-going operations in Afghanistan. 

The final part of the National Guard’s home defense efforts is the specialized security missions.  National Guard infantry have been sent both to Europe, where Task Force Santa Fe will ‘backfill’ a regular army unit that is required elsewhere, and to the Sinai Desert, where an Arkansas infantry battalion will free a regular unit from the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) mission.  

Illinois’ 66th Infantry Brigade will supply the backbone of Task Force Santa Fe.  The brigade will provide the headquarters, several subordinate battalion headquarters; numerous maneuver companies; and other specialized support personnel.  At least four Illinois infantry companies have been assigned to the Task Force, along with soldiers from Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Nebraska.  The Task Force will number between 1,500 and 1,700 personnel.  The deployment of the Arkansas unit represents the first time a pure Reserve Component force has deployed to fill the U.S. MFO mission.  

The National Guard, along with other reserve components, has performed extremely well since Sept. 11.  Military newspapers recount several stories of individual Guardsmen reacting without orders or a call-up to assist in the New York recovery operations.  The Guard will continue to play a vital role in the home defense effort.  However, to maintain the Guard’s credibility the reported cases of misconduct amongst many Guard State Adjutants General – involving inflation of troop numbers, sexual harassment, and misuse of Guard aircraft and equipment – will have to be properly addressed.  The formation of the new Northern Command also will need to be carefully managed in order for the Guard’s resources to be best integrated into the overall joint interagency home defense role.

Colin Robinson CDI Research Assistant crobinson@cdi.org

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