Lousiana had to ask Obama to activate National Guard?

I remember a few days ago reading about the oil spill that the Governor of Louisiana requested the National Guard. At first I skimmed over it. Then today as I'm reading I remembered, and I thought surely that couldn't be right, I misread... so I searched..

Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal sent the following letters to the Secretaries of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security requesting that the Louisiana National Guard be utilized to support the oil spill response efforts under federal Title 32 status.

I think I missed the point in time where to activate the Louisiana National Guard.. the Governor had to ask Federal Executive agencies?

I wanted to actual letter, which I couldn't find on CNN, Fox, MSNBC or the likes..

But I found it.

onorable Robert M. Gates Secretary of Defense U.S. Department of Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20310

Dear Secretary Gates:

I request that you approve funding for at least 90 days of military duty in Title 32 USC 502(f) status for up to 6,000 Soldiers and Airmen serving on active duty in support of our response to the threat of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to the State of Louisiana. Title 32 status will allow the members of the National Guard supporting the response to the oil spill to receive military retirement points, health insurance and disability protection.

I am requesting that you consider funding this mission by arranging for an Economy Act transaction pursuant to 31 USC, Chapter 1535, such that environmental disaster funds available to other Federal Agencies can be employed. Further, in accordance with the Oil Pollution Control Act of 1990, Title 33 USC, Chapter 40 Section 2702, the owners of the Deepwater Horizon facility responsible for this oil spill should be required to provide full reimbursement for all costs and damages associated with the oil spill as well as the recovery efforts in the State of Louisiana.

The President has designated the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill as an event of “National Significance.” Currently the oil spill is projected to reach the coast of Louisiana today, April 29, 2010. I am prepared to order the Louisiana National Guard to state active duty in order to respond to this threat to Louisiana’s fragile coast line. Louisiana is host to several federal wildlife refuges and management areas which are in the direct path of the oil spill. The Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area at the mouth of the Mississippi River is predicted to be the first wildlife refuge affected by the oil spill.

The National Guard will provide security, medical capabilities, engineers and communication support in response to this threat. Currently, our Soldiers and Airmen are staging for and are engaged in the planning of the effort to evacuate and provide security and clean up for the coastal communities expected to be impacted by the oil spill. They are engaged in the protection of vital infrastructure to include medical facilities, fuel distribution, interstate highways, water-ice distribution and power facilities which are all vital to the recovery of coastal Louisiana.

I believe these National Guard operations are necessary and appropriate to protect this region of our nation from a significant national event with potential catastrophic loss of natural resources. Louisiana is home to many federal and state military facilities including the NSA New Orleans, the operations of which could be effected.

Thank you for consideration of this request.

The letter was also sent to:

The Honorable Janet Napolitano Honorable Janet Napolitano Secretary of Homeland Security U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528

Why in the World would the Governor (who's a republican and supposed tea party supporter, what ever thats supposed to mean these days) have to ask Gates, and Napolitano to activate HIS army?

Source: www.eurasiareview.com...

What is the National Guard? It is the State Militia, organized under the National Guard as the blanket organization.. each states militia responds to the Governor, and the Army may call up the National Guard as reserves during times of war ... while not at war, the militia remains with the States. The Reserve it's self is the combination of all Militias.

The Militia Act of 1903 organized the various state militias into the present National Guard system. With the passage of the 1916 National Defense Act approximately one half of the United States Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organizations were National Guard units. The Air National Guard part of the United States Air Force was established in 1947.

en.wikipedia.org...

The only reason I could think of was that by ordering the National Guard from the Federal Government, the Federal Government would have to foot the bill, and not Louisiana.

Didnt you read the Executive Order establishing the Council of Governors?

reply to post by Goethe


Can't say that I have, enlighten me please.

Activating the Guard under Title 32 status would allow for Federal funds to be used to pay for duties, rather than State. Guessing that you are probably correct in that it was to establish funding.

ETA:
Forgot about the Council of Governors... That too, is of note...

[edit on 4/5/2010 by LadySkadi]

reply to post by LadySkadi


If the President issued a National Disaster for the site though, the Governor could not only activate the National Guard and have the costs covered, but the Feds would also cover ALL local expenses from fire departments, police, medical etc. So why the formal letter?

Notice.. he's not asking the Government to cover expenses, but to activate. He could have activated them anyways.

Info. on Council of Governors ... Jindal sent the letter as a formality?

The President today signed an Executive Order (attached) establishing a Council of Governors to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State Governments to protect our Nation against all types of hazards. When appointed, the Council will be reviewing such matters as involving the National Guard of the various States; homeland defense; civil support; synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.

Link

[edit on 4/5/2010 by LadySkadi]

reply to post by Goethe


I was just about to say the same thing. This does look like the council of governors.

If this is how it works in practice this could be a very dangerous thing. Why should a state in the USA need federal permission to deploy it's own national guard or declare an emergency?

I don't like this council one bit.

I don't know for sure but I think this could be the first national emergency initiated by a state since the order was signed. It's very interesting to see how this works in practice.

Maybe this has something to do with the poor response time too.

reply to post by Rockpuck


I get a different impression from reading the letter you quoted. From my understanding the Governor is requesting funding, not requesting permission to activate his Guard troops.

I request that you approve funding for at least 90 days of military duty in Title 32 USC 502(f) status for up to 6,000 Soldiers and Airmen serving on active duty in support of our response to the threat of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to the State of Louisiana. Title 32 status will allow the members of the National Guard supporting the response to the oil spill to receive military retirement points, health insurance and disability protection.

This right here covers the troops just like they would be if the Feds activated them and sent them overseas. I'm not sure if they would get the same by being funded by the state only... have to look into that.

I am prepared to order the Louisiana National Guard to state active duty in order to respond to this threat to Louisiana’s fragile coast line.

This right here is saying that he (the Governor) will activate the Guard, not the Feds.



So what I got from that letter was that he was requesting funding from the Federal Government to aid in a cleanup of the spill since the spill was declared of "National Significance," and that there are plenty of Federally protected lands in the area.

He probably didn't want another katrina.

You remember now.

reply to post by Shaker

I got the same impression that it
was strictly for funding.

I understand it to mean thus:

If the Feds activate the Guard, then the Guard is paid
by the Feds.

If the Governor activates the Guard, then it is paid
for by the State.

So I'm assuming the Governor got the ball rolling
on this emergency by making the request that the Feds
cover the bill since this event is gonna cover more
than one state in the end.

No, the real question should be:

What happens when the Guard has already been
activated by the state and the Feds call up for use
of the deployed Guardsmen???

Who has command authority ???

This is the exact reason our country is failing right now. So pay attention. States are supposed to be more powerful than the federal government. Our states sold out to our federal government by allowing them to impose an income tax so the wealth could be "spread around." You hear that everyone? We have been socialists for quite sometime now. The states could reverse course if they wanted to. They could in fact tell the feds, "f off! we will take care of ourselves, you need only provide the basic essentials as guaranteed by the Constitution." By doing this, they would be losing out on their piece of the pie. These states would rather sell your freedom out than be sovereign. They continually want the money from places like NY and CA so they can abuse it and support the failing social programs in their home states rather than fixing or reforming the system.

This Nov. if a politician just says no to Socialism, why don't you bring up this point to him/her? I know many believe the Constitution wouldn't work in today's world, but before you say that please note the fact that we haven't tried to make it work. No one living has seen that document in action, aside from carefully picking amendments to suit agendas.