State volunteers.

• Author: Brady, Richard
• Position: Readers forum - Letter to the Editor

I recently read the December 2003 feature, "State Volunteers Eyed for Greater Security Role." I would like to make a comment or two. The Civil Air Patrol and the Coast Guard Auxiliary should not be compared to a state military defense force.

CAP and the Coast Guard Auxiliary are civilian organizations. The various state defense forces are military. The missions are totally different.

The CAP do not arm their members because CAP is not military. State militias are. CAP was congressionally chartered, but they are a private non-profit corporation. They are not federal, and their officers are not commissioned. State military defense forces are composed of commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

State military defense forces must train their members to use weapons. The reason why army and air defense forces exist is to augment, support and back fill for deployed National Guard and Air National Guard members. What sense does it make to have a state military defense force that cannot assume the responsibility of the National Guard when they deploy? Also, the general made the statement that the Coast Guard Auxiliary does...