Alabama State Defense Force
| Alabama State Defense Force | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country |
 United States
|
| Allegiance |
 Alabama
|
| Branch | Army |
| Type |
 State defense force
|
| Size | 1,000 legally authorized |
| Part of | Alabama Military Department |
| Garrison/HQ | Fort Taylor Harden Armory, Montgomery, Alabama |
| Website | http://sdf.alabama.gov |
| Commanders | |
| Commander in Chief | Gov. Robert Bentley |
| Adjutant General | MG Perry G. Smith |
| Commander | BG(AL) Dale Webb |
The Alabama State Defense Force (ASDF) is the state provided guard of the State of Alabama allowed by the Constitution of Alabama, The Code of Alabama and Executive Order. It has an authorized strength of 1,000 members and is organized on the United States Army structural pattern. The ASDF is under the control of the Governor of Alabama, as the state's Commander in Chief, and comes under the authority of The Adjutant General (TAG) of Alabama. The ASDF is an adjunct, volunteer, augmenting force to the Alabama National Guard, and it is not federally recognized. Currently, the ASDF is inactive awaiting reorganization by the Alabama National Guard.
Prior to the modern National Guard, states would provide volunteer militia units to augment the federal army in times of war. In the Mexican–American War, Alabama provided the United States with multiple units of Alabama militia, with most serving for less than a year.
During the American Civil War, both Union units and Confederate units were raised in support of the war effort.
In the Spanish–American War, Alabama raised three volunteer infantry units.
After the declaration of World War II, the majority of the National Guard was mobilized, leaving governors without troops to guard against invasion, provide disaster relief, and protect against civil unrest. Therefore, many states, including Alabama, raised state defense forces to act as a replacement for the National Guard during the war. In 1940, Governor Frank M. Dixon created the Alabama State Guard, recruiting primarily from World War I veterans, mainly from the American Legion. Alabama took a unique approach in creating its state defense force. While other states actively recruited from veteran's organizations, Alabama went a step further and "gave the American Legion of Alabama the responsibility for creating and running its State Guard," and in return, Alabama "was able to achieve a functioning state guard sooner than most states." By using an existing private organization as the framework for their state defense force, Alabama was able to achieve full readiness far sooner than might be expected. At the war's end, the Alabama State Guard was deactivated.
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Wikipedia