From the office of Del. J.B. Jennings:
House bill 1037 has been introduced to the State Legislature that would give the Governor the power and ability over the Federal Government as well as the President of the United States to request the return of National Guard Troops to the control of the State if the use of military force has expired or the Federal Control is no longer valid.
Delegate Jennings is staunchly opposed to this bill. Citing problems with the context of the bill, particularly in paragraph 3 in the preamble stating “Whereas, The maintenance of Maryland National Guard members in Iraq and Afghanistan, a mission for which they were not trained”. Delegate Jennings, serving in the Air National Guard as an E3 Airman first class, takes offense at the language over the assumed lack of training the members of the National Guard have had in preparing them for the battle fronts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The training that the men and women serving in the National Guard receive is the same as any other instruction given in any branch of military service.
The question of bill’s constitutionality arises since in certain aspects it gives the Governor potential power and ability to transcend the power of the Federal Government as well as the President of the United States. For these reasons as well as those aforementioned, Delegates Jennings opposes House Bill 1037.
Wow! While I agree the wording for the training is very poor, Del Jennings needs to reread the Constitution.
United States Constitution
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
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As the duly elected rep of the people of Md, the Governor has this right. If the people request the Governor to pull the Md. National Guard back to Maryland, he should be able to do it. The Framers wanted power to flow “up”, not down!
I’m with you Churchville Joe.
Maybe the language is meant to be read as “were not trained for the purpose of going abroad, but to protect and serve in Maryland as last line of defense” and not read as “were not trained adequately to serve overseas.”
The Governor should certainly have authority over the Maryland National Guard.
What about Article 2 of the Constitution? I do remember it saying something about Commander in Chief. When National Guard troops are federalized, they are no longer National Guard, but considered Active Duty Military.
How about historical precident? World War I & II, Korea, Desegrigation, Desert Shield/Storm…
This seems like political posturing against what for some segments of our society has become an unpopular conflict, and politicos pandering to those people. Frankly, it is revolting. The National Huard has a two fold mission to serve the citizens of Maryland and an augmentation to a reduced active duty military. That is why in the 1990’s reserve combat units were transferee to the state National Guards and the NG support units were moved to the reserves.
Another example of the elected officials of MD wasting time and money on bills that can’t pass the sniff test.
As for not being trained, then what is a light infantry division (the 29th ID) doing? What are the A-10’s (A for Attack) out at Martan’s doing? (You know the ones that have been highlighted in multiple documentaries) Are these troops going to Active Duty stations for Basic Training going for a 9 week vacation?