MILITARY DEPARTMENT

ORIGIN & FUNCTIONS

Authorization for military force in Maryland began when the Maryland Charter of 1632 empowered Lord Baltimore to raise troops to put down insurrection or rebellion and subdue enemies of the province. It continued in the eighteenth century as Maryland militia units fought during the French and Indian War and distinguished themselves in the American Revolution.

Fifth Regiment Armory, 29th Division St., Baltimore, Maryland, January 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

The Military Department is responsible for the Maryland Air National Guard, the Maryland Army National Guard, and the Maryland Defense Force. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency also operates within the Department.

The Military Department builds and maintains the armories and other facilities used by the Maryland Army National Guard and Air National Guard. Units of the Guard have their own command structure. Operating expenses and equipment of the Maryland Army National Guard and Maryland Air National Guard are a federal responsibility provided for under the U.S. Department of Defense. Active members of the Guard units receive pay and allowances when they are in a drill status or are ordered to active duty for training. These expenses are the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Governor may call up the Maryland National Guard for state service in emergencies. During a call-up, salaries and expenses of these units are the responsibility of the State. When members of the organized military (National Guard) are ordered by the Governor to active duty for training or emergencies, they receive pay and allowances as prescribed (Code Public Safety Article, secs. 13-704, 13-705). No specific provision is provided in the State budget for these expenses. For State call-ups, the Board of Public Works makes mission-specific emergency allocation of funds.

All State forms and records required for militia use and the reports and returns required by the federal government are prepared by the Military Department. Service records of all officers and enlisted persons who have served or are serving in the Maryland National Guard are maintained by the Department as well.

The Military Department also operates programs for youth. To reduce violent behavior and substance abuse, the About Face! Program conducts after-school activities, weekend retreats, and summer camps for at-risk youth between the ages of 12 and 16. The Free State Challenge Program is a 22-week residential program for high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 18. Participants live on the main post of Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County while they prepare for the General Education Degree (G.E.D.) test and learn job skills.

OFFICE OF ADJUTANT GENERAL

Appointed by the Governor with Senate advice and consent, the Adjutant General serves on the Governor's Executive Council. The Assistant Adjutant General for Army and the Assistant Adjutant General for Air are both appointed by the Governor (Const., Art. IX, sec. 2). The Adjutant General and two Assistant Adjutants General are selected by the Governor from among the commissioned officers of the National Guard. Salaries of these personnel are a State reponsibility and included in the Military Department administrative budget. They are essentially on the Governor's staff, not on active duty in the usual military sense.

STATE OPERATIONS

MILITARY SUPPORT TO CIVIL AUTHORITIES
The Military Department provides aircraft, ground transportation, and engineering services to communities. It also allows equipment and armories to be used for community events. Federal and State law enforcement agencies are aided by the Department in drug-related seizures and arrests.

VETERANS AFFAIRS HONOR GUARD
Upon request, the Military Department organizes uniformed honor guards to attend burial services of deceased veterans (Chapter 421, Acts of 1998). Military funeral honors are available at all cemeteries in the State and are free of charge for Maryland veterans. Between October 1998 and September 2005, the Department performed over 17,000 such details.

MARYLAND AIR NATIONAL GUARD

Today, the Maryland Air National Guard provides air combat forces and airlift aircraft, as well as emergency support, to the U.S. Air Force and other unified commands. Operational units include the 175th Wing (comprised of the 104th Fighter Squadron and the 135th Airlift Squadron), the 104th Weather Flight, and the 235th Civil Engineer Flight.

MARYLAND ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

MARYLAND DEFENSE FORCE

The Maryland Defense Force originated in 1917 as the Maryland State Guard (Chapter 26, Acts of 1917). To make way in the armories for the return of the Maryland National Guard, the State Guard was disbanded in 1920. It reformed as the Maryland State Guard in 1941 (Chapter 33, Acts of 1941). As the Maryland Defense Force, it reorganized in 1990 (Chapter 239, Acts of 1990).

As commander-in-chief of the militia, the Governor has the power to organize and maintain additional military forces, known as the Maryland Defense Force. The Force is separate and distinct from the Maryland National Guard. The Force is composed of officers, commissioned or assigned, and all able-bodied citizens of the State who volunteer and are accepted for service. They may be ordered to active duty in the State by the Governor whenever the National Guard has been called into the military service of the United States. Members of the Force are uniformed as prescribed by the Governor, who also may reduce or disband such forces (Code Public Safety Article, secs. 13-101, 13-501 through 13-508).

MARYLAND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

The Maryland Emergency Management Agency provides for a civil defense system to protect life and property from attack and offer relief and assistance to people struck by natural disasters. Although it is organized within the Military Department, the Agency reports directly to the Governor (Chapter 24, Acts of 2010).

Functions of the Agency originated during World War I when the Preparedness and Survey Commission and the Maryland Council of Defense organized in 1917. They continued under the Council of Defense and Resources, formed by the Governor in August 1940. That council was followed by the Maryland Council of Defense created by statute in 1941, which operated during World War II (Chapter 567, Acts of 1941).

In 1950, duties of the Council devolved to the Maryland Civil Defense Agency (Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950; P.L. 920). In 1970, it reorganized as the Maryland Civil Defense and Emergency Planning Agency within the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (Chapter 401, Acts of 1970). The Agency was renamed the Maryland Civil Defense and Disaster Preparedness Agency in 1975, and became the State Emergency Management and Civil Defense Agency in 1981 (Chapter 666, Acts of 1975; Chapter 505, Acts of 1981). As the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, it transferred to the Military Department in 1989 (Chapter 674, Acts of 1989).

From 1950 to 1970, the Agency was concerned primarily with statewide nuclear attack preparedness (Chapter 563, Acts of 1949). Later, it addressed disaster relief and emergency resources management. Duties covered floodplain management, flood insurance initiatives, community preparedness for weather emergencies, earthquake hazard reduction, dam safety, emergency broadcast system, emergency warning, and terrorist incidents.

When the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency was established in the U.S. Department of Defense in 1972, the Population Protection Program (PPP) also was developed. The Program is adaptable to natural disasters, peacetime emergencies, and nuclear attack.

In 1979, the Three Mile Island Incident turned federal attention to radiological emergency planning. In 1980 and 1981, the Agency produced radiological emergency plans to cope with accidents at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland, and Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station near Maryland's northern border in Delta, Pennsylvania. These plans were tested in 1981 and 1982. Annually, the State Radiological Plan is tested with a full-scale operational exercise.

Since 1981, the Governor has been responsible for emergency management in Maryland. The Governor has emergency powers to suspend State statutes temporarily, direct evacuations, control access, clear debris, and use private property if necessary. When the Governor declares a state of emergency, the Agency Director coordinates the emergency acts of State government and those local governments included in the declaration. The Agency plans and executes the disaster and emergency preparedness response between State and local agencies. It coordinates emergency services with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), other state emergency management agencies, and public utility and other private agencies.

To aid another state in time of emergency, the Governor may authorize the use of State and local resources (Chapter 193, Acts of 1993). In the event of an emergency in Maryland, the Governor also may accept aid from another state.

The Comprehensive Emergency Management Program (CEMP) is the responsibility of the Agency. At all levels of government statewide, the Program outlines emergency preparedness, response and recovery responsibilities for all hazards (natural, technological, terrorist & attack-related emergencies & disasters). It also uses similarities that exist in planning and response functions for all hazards. The Program consists of four components: preparedness; response; mitigation; and recovery (Code Public Safety Article, secs. 14-101 through 14-1004).

To help local governments respond to an emergency, the Agency Director may form a Rapid Response Team (Executive Order 01.01.1991.02). The Team evaluates emergencies on site and provides State resources to assist local jurisdictions. To local emergency management agencies, the Agency distributes federal emergency management grants. The Agency also distributes federal emergency disaster assistance to State and local agencies for disaster relief and recovery services.

The Director of the Maryland Emergency Management Agency is appointed by the Governor (Chapter 24, Acts of 2010; Code Public Safety Article, sec. 14-104).

Under the Maryland Emergency Management Agency are the Emergency Management Advisory Council, the Maryland State Emergency Response Commission, and three directorates: Administration; Operations; and Planning.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Emergency Management Advisory Council started in 1950 as the Civil Defense Advisory Council (Chapter 563, Acts of 1949). In 1975, it was renamed the Civil Defense and Disaster Preparedness Advisory Council (Chapter 666, Acts of 1975). It became the Emergency Management Advisory Council in 1981 (Chapter 505, Acts of 1981). The Council advises the Governor on matters of State emergency management and civil defense (Chapter 505, Acts of 1981).

The Council is appointed by the Governor and includes representatives from State and local government, and volunteer organizations, such as firefighters and rescue squads (Code Public Safety Article, sec. 14-105).

MARYLAND STATE EMERGENCY RESPONSE COMMISSION
To protect people and the environment from hazardous chemical material, the Governor in 1987 designated the Emergency Management Advisory Council to serve as the Maryland State Emergency Response Commission (Executive Order 01.01.1987.11). The designation was made in accordance with Title III of the Federal Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-499).

Fulfilling its federal functions, the Maryland emergency response commission established emergency response planning districts and local emergency planning committees. The Commission receives and distributes certain material safety data sheets, hazardous chemical inventories, and toxic chemical release forms.

ADMINISTRATION

GRANTS MANAGEMENT
Grants Management oversees the distribution of federal Homeland Security Grants to local governments and first responders. Assistance is provided to build emergency response capabilities and is used to buy protective equipment for emergency personnel, improve critical infrastructure, and build interoperable communications systems.

TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT
In 2002, Technology Support was created as the Office of Technology. It reformed as the Technical Support Directorate in September 2004, and under its current name in 2008.

OPERATIONS

Operations oversees the Maryland Joint Operations Center, the State Emergency Operations Center, and four programs: Critical Infrastructure; Excercise and Training; Mitigation and Recovery; and Regional Administrators.

PLANNING

Maryland Constitutional Offices & Agencies
Maryland Departments
Maryland Independent Agencies
Maryland Executive Commissions, Committees, Task Forces, & Advisory Boards
Maryland Universities & Colleges
Maryland Counties
Maryland Municipalities
Maryland at a Glance

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