District of Columbia National Guard


The District of Columbia National Guard is the branch of the National Guard of the United States based in the District of Columbia. It comprises both the D.C. Army National Guard and the D.C. Air National Guard components.
The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the District of Columbia National Guard. Command is exercised through the secretary of defense and the commanding general, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia National Guard. In 1949, President Truman issued Executive Order No. 10030, of January 26, 1949, providing authority for the Secretary of Defense to delegate his command authority over the D.C. National Guard to: the secretary of the Army for the D.C. Army National Guard, and the secretary of the Air Force for the D.C. Air National Guard. However, in 1969, President Nixon issued Executive Order 11485, revoking the previous authorities of EO 10030. The secretary of defense then delegated command authority to the Secretary of the Army, operating through the singular commanding general of the D.C. National Guard. In 2021, the secretary of defense amended the previous delegation of authority to the secretary of the Army, to explicitly specify a single point of contact, the DoD executive secretary, for all requests from or for assistance by the D.C. National Guard. Further, the secretary of defense retained sole authority over such requests when actions within 48 hours are required, or if the anticipated request will include support of civilian law enforcement, such as “crowd control, traffic control, search, seizure, arrest, or temporary detention.”
The D.C. National Guard is commanded by a major general with a brigadier general as the adjutant general. The mayor of the District of Columbia, the United States Marshal for the District of Columbia, or the National Capital Service director may request the commander-in-chief to aid them in suppressing insurrection and enforcement of the law; however, there is no chain of authority from the Mayor of the District of Columbia to the D.C. National Guard.

Units

  • District of Columbia Army National Guard
  • *Multi-Agency Augmentation Command, commanded by an O7
  • *74th Troop Command, commanded by an O6
  • **372nd Military Police Battalion
  • **547th Transportation Company
  • **104th Maintenance Company
  • **1946th Finance Company
  • *260th Regiment
  • *257th Army Band "The Band of the Nation's Capital"
  • *1-224th Aviation Security and Support Battalion
  • **D Company
  • **Detachment 1, A Company
  • *1-126th General Support Aviation Battalion
  • **Detachment 1, C Company
  • *District of Columbia Medical Command
  • *Detachment 4, Operational Support Airlift Command
  • *Recruiting and Retention Battalion
  • *National Guard Bureau Legal Support Office
  • District of Columbia Air National Guard
  • * 113th Wing
  • ** 113th Operations Group
  • *** 121st Fighter Squadron
  • *** 201st Airlift Squadron
  • ** 113th Maintenance Group
  • ** 113th Support Group
  • ** 113th Medical Group
  • ** 121st Weather Group
  • ** 231st Combat Communications Squadron
  • * The Naval militia of the District of Columbia remains an authorized force by Federal statute, but has been inactive for several decades with no current membership.

    History

Creating the District of Columbia

The Residence Act of 1790 established that the country would create a new capital city rather than selecting an existing city. In 1801, The Organic Act designed District of Columbia as the capital of the United States and put its governance under the control of Congress. Which militia would protect a city without a governor under the control of Congress?

Establishing the District of Columbia National Guard

The D.C. National Guard came about in part due to the efforts of President Thomas Jefferson, the first president to spend his term in District of Columbia. He came into office during a time when strife between two major political parties were threatening to divide a newly developed country. The commanding generals of the two closest militia units were members of President Jefferson's rival political party. At this point, there was only a very small regular army, and they were mostly patrolling the border. If a state's militia tried to force political will, there would be no way to keep them from marching on the Capitol and coercing, or overthrowing the government.
President Jefferson saw the vulnerability of United States' political system would be put in jeopardy if the will of a military leader could significantly influence the legislative body from enacting the political will as determined by elections envisaged by the Constitution. To prevent this, the Militia of the District of Columbia was established in the Assumption Act of May 3, 1802.
Due to the fact that the District of Columbia is not a state, the D.C. National Guard is the only local National Guard with a national mission to protect the Federal Government – a mission reflected in its motto "Capital Guardians."
On October 30, 1802, the D.C. Militia held its first muster. President Jefferson hand-selected his new officers and was known to enjoy attending drills. A year later, the Congress officially recognized the organization.

The Bladensburg races

The fledgling D.C. Militia was tested during the War of 1812 and the Battle of Bladensburg. Maryland and Virginia, preoccupied with attacks on their own territory, were sluggish to send troops to D.C. The D.C. Militia, even when augmented by regular forces, was overwhelmed and ordered to withdraw and to concede the city to the British forces. After the battle, Congress too noticed and increased the size and equipment of the D.C. Militia.
Other than the Headquarters itself, which traces its lineage to 1776 as an elements of the Maryland Militia in Georgetown and Bladensburg, the oldest continuous unit of the D.C. National Guard is Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 372nd Military Police Battalion, which traces its lineage to the Washington Light Infantry organized in 1836 by John A. Blake.

Francis Scott Key and the national anthem

The war of 1812 would produce an American treasure and one of the most famous veterans of the D.C. National Guard, Francis Scott Key. Key was a lieutenant with the Georgetown Field Artillery of the D.C. Militia. During the British bombardment in Baltimore harbor, he was sent to Maryland to negotiate with the British for a prisoner exchange. After negotiations, the ship's commander felt Key had seen too much and needed to stay on the ship through the rest of the attack on Baltimore's Fort McHenry. The following morning, Key observed the flag still flying above the Fort and was inspired to write the poem that became the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner— the national anthem of the United States.

Inaugural heritage

The D.C. National Guard has played a pivotal role in presidential Inaugurations, a tradition starting in the earliest days of the nation. The D.C. Militia or National Guard has been at every presidential Inauguration beginning with an honor detail which rode with President Washington in recognition of his time as Virginia's militia commander.
The D.C. Guard's participation in inaugurations may be that old, but certainly takes form in 1860. The election of Abraham Lincoln triggered several southern states to eventually secede from the Union. At Lincoln's first inaugural, Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, General-in-Chief of the Army, ordered the D.C. Militia to protect the president-elect from harm. The D.C. Militia guarded the parade routes, sappers preceded the president-elect, and D.C. Cavalry rode alongside of him, bucking their horses to make it difficult for snipers to take a shot. Upon arriving at the White House the new president received his first military salute from volunteer members of the D.C. Militia and an unbroken tradition of inaugural service was born.
When necessary, members of the D.C. National Guard may be deputized as special police, a role the active Army and Air Force cannot perform. That makes the National Guard an important element in large-scale events such as an inauguration. In 2009, the D.C. National Guard led a group of over ten thousand National Guard soldiers and airmen in support of the largest inauguration in history.

American Civil War

As war approached, the D.C. Militia was commanded by Major General Roger C. Weightman, one of six District of Columbia mayors to serve as D.C. Militia colonels or generals. His subordinates included Major General Force; brigadier generals Bacon and Carrington; and Brigadier General Robert Ould, who would move to Virginia and later join the Confederate States Army.
Maryland and Virginia were both slave states at the beginning of the war, surrounding District of Columbia with potential enemy territory. Three days before the shots at Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called in the D.C. Militia to protect the capital, making it famous for providing "the first man…first company…first regiment" mobilized for the American Civil War.
The D.C. Militia saw an unfortunate first when Private Manual C. Causten became the first Union prisoner of war captured by the Confederacy during the Civil War.
D.C. Militia soldiers served on active duty for up to four years, engaging in combat during the Battle of Manassas and the Valley Campaign. They also maintained their historical role as protectors of the Capital, manning the forts which encircled Washington, D.C. At Fort Stevens, in District of Columbia soldiers included African-American quartermaster clerks who were originally not allowed to join combat regiments. As D.C. faced attack from the Confederate States Army, they were issued weapons and told to defend their city. President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Fort Stevens to view the fighting. It is said that he was brusquely ordered from harm's way by an officer, possibly Horatio Wright, although other probably apocryphal stories claim that it was Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., later Acting Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. It would be the only time in history that a serving president would face enemy fire.