Missouri National Guard


The Missouri National Guard, commonly known as the Missouri Guard, is a component of the Missouri Department of Public Safety and the National Guard of the United States. It is composed of Army and Air National Guard units. The state adjutant general's office is located in Jefferson City.

History

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 to serve one year of active duty for every three years of service. More specifically, current United States Department of Defense policy is that no Guardsman will be involuntarily activated for a total of more than 24 months in one six-year enlistment period.
In December 1989, a contingent of 22 Military Policemen from the 1138th Military Police Company was in Panama on a two-week annual training when "Operation Just Cause" commenced. The MPs, who specialized in enemy prisoner of war operations, augmented the active duty force at Fort Clayton, taking enemy mortar and artillery fire when the invasion began. While serving in combat, the unit set up and operated the Empire Range EPW camp. The Missouri National Guard was the first National Guard unit to be called into active service since the end of Vietnam.
The 1138th was called upon once again to serve after the Invasion of Kuwait the following year. It was one of the first Guard units placed on alert status in August, 1990 but did not deploy until December, 1990. The Missouri Guard was the first Enemy Prisoner of War unit to deploy as part of the 400th MP Battalion. Eventually it set up and operated the 301st EPW Camp, near the Saudi Arabian city of Hafar Al-Batin. It returned to West Plains, Missouri in May 1991 with a hero's welcome.
In 2012, Missouri organized the Missouri State Defense Force to serve as Missouri's official state defense force and to augment the Missouri National Guard during stateside missions.
On August 18, 2014, after violent clashes occurred during an imposed curfew in Ferguson, Missouri in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of a resident of Ferguson, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon issued an executive order calling in the National Guard to "help restore peace and order and to protect the citizens of Ferguson."

Organization

The Adjutant General's Office :
Direct reporting unitsComponentLocation of headquarters
35th Combat Aviation BrigadeArmy National GuardSedalia
35th Engineer BrigadeArmy National GuardFort Leonard Wood
70th Troop CommandArmy National GuardJefferson City
131st Bomb WingAir National GuardWhiteman Air Force Base
139th Airlift WingAir National GuardRosecrans Memorial Airport
157th Air Operations GroupAir National GuardJefferson Barracks

Source: MONG organization