Missouri Militia


The Missouri Militia is a private, non-profit civilian defense organization in the U.S. state of Missouri. The Missouri Militia is not a part of the Missouri State Defense Force. which is the state defense force for the state of Missouri. Its members have been active in disaster relief after the 2011 Joplin tornado.
The Missouri Militia is distinct from the state's National Guard in that they are not associated with or funded by the state or federal governments.

Organization

The state has been divided into nine units, each having its own commanding officer. The Missouri Militia is not funded by the federal or state government, and members are unpaid. Volunteers have to purchase their own uniforms and most, if not all, of their own equipment.
Because many members are veterans who have retained ranks received from service in the armed forces, the militia has an inflated grade structure.

Training

Training is a vital part of their operations and occurs continuously. The training atmosphere is professional and very skill focused with emphasis on learning and executing skills correctly, rather than on rigorous physical resistance type training. All training is conducted with safety in mind.
Training generally occurs one Saturday a month with a 2-day field exercise conducted quarterly, however not all training takes place in the field. Often they will have medical classes taught by doctors or nurses, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation training which is conducted by the American Heart Association. Their training standards are broken into three progressive skill levels which are guidelines for each individual.

Uniforms

The Missouri Militia wear standard U.S. military uniforms with insignia closely matching those of their federal counterpart. The militia used Woodland style Battle Dress Uniforms. They use name tapes that state "Missouri" rather than "U.S. Army." The taps are displayed on the opposite side to show a distinction from their federal counterpart. In all cases, the state adjutant general has final say on uniforms worn by Militia, though federal service regulations generally shape the policies of each state.