DeSantis opposes plan to move Florida guard unit to Space Force
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TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday came out against a Department of Defense plan that would have a unit of the Florida Air National Guard join the Space Force.
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and various members of Congress, DeSantis wrote that the unusual proposal “would flout more than a century of precedent” and undermine state control of the National Guard.
On Monday, governors of 48 states and 5 territories came out against the proposal, with only DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott not signing on, Military.com reported.
Air Force officials want to consolidate about 1,000 part-time Air National Guardsmen across the country into the active-duty Space Force. The guardsmen are assigned to units with space missions, and Air Force officials have argued it would be easier to consolidate the units than create a Space National Guard, according to Military.com.
“Governors may have a different view, but I don’t see a reason why a state needs a Space Force militia,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told Military.com in April. “The reason these units exist in the states is kind of an artifact of history, somewhat.”
The plan would mean the 114th Electronic Warfare Squadron, a Florida Air National Guard unit based at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, would no longer be under DeSantis’ authority.
As DeSantis and other governors noted, federal statutes prohibit the reorganization of National Guard units in a state without the governor’s consent. The Air Force is asking Congress to bypass governors in seven states to move those units into the Space Force.
DeSantis’ letter states that the move would jeopardize the state’s response to hurricanes. He also writes that the federal government has “under-resourced” the Florida National Guard by not allowing it to expand.
In recent years, DeSantis has sent members of Florida’s National Guard to work in the state’s understaffed prisons, as well as to the Texas-Mexico border to assist with the border crisis and to the Florida Keys to intercept migrants from Haiti. An influx of migrants from Haiti never materialized.
In 2022, DeSantis resurrected the Florida State Guard, citing in part concerns that the Florida National Guard was stretched too thin.
