{"id":144546,"date":"2023-07-16T08:15:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T12:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=144546"},"modified":"2023-07-15T18:54:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T22:54:54","slug":"some-veterans-quit-florida-state-guard-the-program-had-changed-from-what-was-advertised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=144546","title":{"rendered":"Some Veterans quit Florida State Guard, the program had changed from what was advertised"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida government set up the Florida State Guard, they initially billed it as an outfit to help the community. They envisioned an organization that would help out during state emergencies. However, the folks that volunteered noticed that things changed. They saw more military like training as if they were in the military instead of being in an organization that augments emergency response.<\/p>\n

From the Tampa Bay Times:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When DeSantis announced in 2021 that he wanted to revive the long-dormant State Guard, he vowed it would help Floridians during emergencies. But in the year since its launch, key personnel and a defined mission remain elusive. The state is looking for the program’s third leader in eight months. According to records reviewed by the Times\/Herald and interviews with program volunteers, a number of recruits quit after the first training class last month because they feared it was becoming too militaristic.<\/p>\n

Weeks into that inaugural June training, one volunteer, a disabled retired Marine Corps captain, called the local sheriff’s office to report he was battered by Florida National Guard instructors when they forcibly shoved him into a van after he questioned the program and its leadership.<\/p>\n

DeSantis’ office referred questions to Maj. Gen. John D. Haas, Florida’s adjutant general overseeing the Florida National Guard.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Haas said the State Guard was a “military organization” that will be used not just for emergencies but for “aiding law enforcement with riots and illegal immigration.”<\/p>\n

“We are aware that some trainees who were removed are dissatisfied,” Haas said. “This is to be expected with any course that demands rigor and discipline.”<\/p>\n

Three former members told the Times\/Herald the program veered from its original mission.<\/p>\n

“The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from: a militia,” said Brian Newhouse, a retired 20-year Navy veteran who was chosen to lead one of the State Guard’s three divisions.<\/p>\n

The original leadership team envisioned a disaster response team of veterans and civilians with a variety of practical skills, according to Newhouse. Two other former military veterans, who asked not to be named for fear of potential consequences and later quit, expressed similar concerns over a change in the State Guard’s mission.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Tampa Bay Times has additional information to this story<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida government set up the Florida State Guard, they initially … Some Veterans quit Florida State Guard, the program had changed from what was advertised<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":661,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-veterans-in-the-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}