History of the Maryland Defense Force
World War I 1917 – 1919
On April 6, 1917, Congress declared war on Imperial Germany and her
allies and entered the Great War raging on the European Continent and
around the globe. Before the war a series of legislation begun in 1903
was aimed at standardizing the various state militias and creating a
modern National Guard. After the various states had modernized their
respective National Guards, President Wilson called upon them for
service overseas in Europe. Federal mobilization was not new to units of
the Maryland National Guard who had just returned from a 1916 tour of
duty on the Mexican border.
When the Maryland National Guard was activated and inducted en masse
into federal service on July 25, 1917, the people of Maryland and the
Governor lost control of their primary organized and trained military
force. Maryland was essentially defenseless to acts of aggression,
terror, unrest, and natural disaster. Anticipating the need to fill the
void in the Maryland’s defenses, Governor Emerson C. Harrington called
for the Maryland General Assembly on May 25, 1917 to pass a law for the
“organization and maintenance” of a State Guard to protect “public
buildings, water supplies and other properties, and . .. public service
and industrial plants.” The “State Guard Bill” (S.B.12) was passed
unanimously in an unprecedented 10 days, and legally authorized the
Governor to: “recruit (through volunteering or draft), equip, train and
otherwise maintain a body of armed troops within this State, to be known
as the Maryland State Guard and, empowered the Governor to call the
State Guard into active State service when the public interest and
safety require.” On October 23, 1917, Maryland State Adjutant General
Henry M. Warfield appointed one of his predecessors, Major General
Clinton L. Riggs, as colonel of the newly designated Maryland State
Guard and organization and recruitment was begun in earnest.
Once again Maryland’s citizens responded to a call to service and in
the vacant armories in and around Baltimore, Hagerstown, Frederick,
Salisbury, and Annapolis volunteers began to enlist. Nine companies
totaling 34 officers and 518 men turned out twice-weekly to drill and
train. Many who volunteered were veterans of the Spanish-American War
and the newly formed State Guard benefited greatly from their previous
training and steady bearing, setting a precedent for the recruitment of
former military personnel, a tradition that continues today. The State
Guardsmen were activated twice, fulfilling their role during their time
of service, to keep the peace during controversial criminal trials in
Annapolis and Easton in 1919.
After the National Guard returned from Europe, the State Guard was
quickly supplanted and was officially stood down on March 1, 1920 making
way for the Maryland National Guard to return to their armories. The
1919 Adjutant General’s report to the Governor assessed the performance
of the Maryland State Guard during the Great War as follows:
“I wish to bring to your attention the splendid service which has been rendered by this
organization and to testify to the credit which is due the officers and men who responded
to the State’s call, and have since served in the State Guard. This service did not present
the glamour of service in the Army and as home service it perhaps was not fully
appreciated by the people generally, but the character of this service, stripped as it was
of all those attractive features of the Army in the field, entitles those who composed this
regiment to the thanks and appreciation of our State.”
World War II 1940-1947
Nineteen years later, Hitler’s 1939 rampage in Europe would open the
second chapter in the history of the Maryland State Guard. In response
to the growing threat and possibility of involvement in combat
operations against the aggressive forces of Germany and Japan, Congress
once again called the Maryland National Guard into federal service. The
federal government inducted the troops of the 48 states into Federal
service on February 3, 1941.
During September of 1940.The clear and consistent use of “fifth
column” forces to sabotage, undermine, and prepare a target country for
take over was demonstrated in the German invasions of Austria,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, and Denmark in Europe, and Japan’s
invasion of Manchuria, China, Korea, and French Indo-China in Asia.
These actions in Europe and Asia were properly noted by the War
Department, and made the threat of sabotage within the United States by
outside infiltrated forces or sympathetic indigenous parties once again
all too real.
Once again the need arose for an active, trained, and properly
equipped force capable of patrolling and providing a competent response
to emergencies in the absence of the National Guard. This assessment
paved the way for Congress to make an important change to the National
Defense Act of 1916, allowing states to form and deploy “such military
forces other than the National Guard as may be provided by the laws of
such State . . . while any part of the National Guard of the State
concerned is in active Federal service.” This change was important in
the role and formation of state defense forces nationwide because it
allowed the various state governments to return to the organization of
regulated militia forces even in peacetime for the internal well-being
of the state. The new legislation also authorized Federal training
assistance and to provide “to any State upon requisition of the Governor
thereof, such arms and equipment as can be spared by the War
Department.” The law also clarified that these forces could not be
called out of their home state by the Federal government for any reason
and did not exempt eligible individual members from the Selective
Service (draft) requirement.
Maryland responded with the unanimous passage of the State Guard Act
on February 14, 1941. The Act expanded and defined the role of the State
Guard with greater authority and responsibility in case of activation
and detailed a mission of service “…in case of insurrection, invasion,
tumult, riot, breach of peace or imminent danger thereof, or to enforce
the laws of this state with all the authority of sheriffs and deputy
sheriffs”.
Following the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
Governor O’Conor ordered the entire Maryland State Guard to active duty
status. With the close proximity to Washington DC, the guardsmen were
acutely aware of their responsibilities. A Federal bulletin was issued
warning of a possible Axis powers attack on one or more American
seaports set for Christmas Eve 1941. The State Guard was detailed to
look after “Air bases, air fields, golf courses, and level open spaces
which offer opportunities for potential landing fields, or for landing
parachute troops.” By early 1942, Army intelligence reassessed an
invasion threat as “highly improbable”, but emergency reaction and point
security or force protection of sensitive and potentially sensitive
installations remained a priority in light of real landings of German
agents from submarines on the East Coast during the 1942-1944 period.
Because the civilian workers that made up the State Guard could not
be placed on patrol duty for the duration of the war, a Special Military
Police unit was established on January 9, 1942 and consisted of 324
officers and men. In 1942, under the command of Brigadier General Dwight
H. Mohr, the State Guard consisted of: A brigade headquarters company,
with radio section and chemical warfare section, eight infantry
battalions, one engineer battalion, one medical battalion, one special
military police unit and an African-American battalion commanded by Maj.
William Creigler. Nationwide enlistment in state guards peaked in June
of 1943 with 170,403 members enrolled in 37 states that had activated
state defense forces. Muster rolls in Maryland place membership at a
high of 2,731 officers and enlisted men in 1944.
Along with the constant patrol activities of the Special Military
Police unit, the Maryland State Guard was called out on 11 separate
occasions around the state from Elkton to Cumberland from Oct 2, 1941,
to August 15, 1945. Missions included: Critical facilities patrols,
disaster relief following a flood and tornado, security following two
explosions, a large train wreck, and fire-fighting assistance totaling
129 days on active duty. State Guardsmen were compensated with pay as
their National Guard counterparts when on active duty.
By 1947, the last of the Maryland State Guard formations of WWII were
stood down and once again the role of state defense was returned to the
established National Guard units. During the Cold War a variety of
Federal and state legislative efforts tried to grapple with the need for
additional state troops and to define their role and purpose. At the
same time, the regular Army, Reserve Components, and National Guard were
undergoing organizational changes that would establish a clear need for
states to have authority to raise and maintain additional forces.
Expanded Role of the National Guard 1970 – 2001
The “Total Force” doctrine adopted by the Army in 1970 drastically
expanded the role that National Guard troops would play in future Army
deployment plans. If rapid expansion and deployment of forces was
necessary, Reserve and National Guard units would be called upon first
before the Department of Defense turned to a draft to supplement its
strength. National Guard units were called upon to change their mission
to adopt key logistical and security support roles such as vehicle
maintenance and military police functions. This plan was clearly
demonstrated in the rapid activation of many National Guard support
units in the First Gulf War and worked well. The states that contributed
these units clearly recognized that a rapid call up of their National
Guard forces left a defense deficit at home, a void that needed to be
supplemented in its own right.
Considering the implications for the safety of the state during the
spring legislative session of 1983, Maryland took advantage of Federal
changes made in 1958 to the language of the National Defense Act of
1916, allowing states to voluntarily maintain forces of their own in
times of peace. The Maryland Legislature passed a reactivation of the
State code reestablishing the Maryland Defense Force on July 1, 1983. By
1995, twenty-five states had revitalized and organized their state
defense units to fill the state defense void. As these various
organizations were re-established, the interpretation of roles and
missions varied from state to state. In 1994, the Maryland Defense Force
was tasked with armory staffing, possible suppression of terrorism,
search and rescue, and disaster relief along with community support and
youth outreach.
Post September 11, 2001 – Present
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the subsequent War on
Terror crystallized a need for layered state defenses and support
organizations. With Reserve and National Guard operational activities at
a high not seen since World War II, the Maryland Defense Force has been
tasked with a new mission: “To provide competent supplemental
professional and technical support to the Maryland Military Department
as required.” In September 2005, as a result of Hurricane Katrina
flooding New Orleans, the Maryland Defense Force supported the disaster
relief effort as the National Guard was not equipped to engage in such a
mission. The MDDF quickly assembled a medical detachment which was
flown to New Orleans, LA. Over 300 personnel consisting of doctors,
nurses, physician’s assistants and support personnel served for 3 weeks,
operating 7 clinics for 21 days and treating over 7000 patients.
The MDDF conducted a second out of state mission in 2006 to
Bosnia-Herzegovina providing medical care to people in remote mountain
villages. More recently, the MDDF has been called to serve during
hurricanes and severe storms that have left Maryland citizens without
food, water and power. Moreover, as the National Guard has been deployed
overseas, the MDDF has conducted some regular National Guard functions
involving medical, legal, chaplain, cyber security, engineering,
financial and operating assistance at various unit headquarters .
To this end the Maryland Defense Force continues to actively recruit
professionals with experience in cyber security, engineering and
construction, clerical (multi-denominational), medicine, and healthcare
fields. With a century of service to its credit, the Maryland Defense
Force continues to provide support and service to the State of Maryland,
its military forces and its people.