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Return to First Friday Briefing State
Defense Force Plays Vital Role Story by 1st Lt. Joshua Preston
Almost 40 Georgians from all walks of life, including a career
firefighter and a real estate business owner, participated in the
Georgia National Guard’s security mission this summer at the Global
Eight Economic Summit. Like the state’s paid Citizen-Soldiers, these members of the Georgia
State Defense Force (GaSDF) left jobs and families to spend more than a
week helping the Guardsmen. There was, however, one important
difference…they were volunteers, participating at their own expense
and without pay. The
State Defense Force, is an all-volunteer organization of about 400
people statewide. Under the Georgia Department of Defense, the SDF
provides additional strength to the Guard during times of crisis and on
state missions. Many
of the SDF’s members also drill with their National Guard units, and
they maintain a state of readiness for any kind of mission. About 22
states have a standing State Defense Force. In
the case of the G8 mission, many of the Defense Force members worked
with Task Force 2-121 and 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry on “We
feel this is what we do best – serving the citizens of State
Defense Force Maj. Bill Garlen, a real estate business owner, left his
Jesup-based company to lead the 25 Defense Force volunteers who worked
TF 2-121. The group of 25 on the island was in charge of operating the
task force’s transportation center, manifesting buses used to get
Guardsmen back and forth between their duty posts each day. “Because
of the SDF, I knew where all my guys were, at all times, in the area of
operations,” said Maj. Jeff Dickerson, 2nd Battalion’s operations
officer. As
the days of the summit progressed, SDF personnel didn’t just assist
with transportation, they stood side by side with Guardsmen guarding
security checkpoints and helping with battalion communications at the
task force’s tactical operations center (TOC). This was important,
Garlen explained, because the TOC occupied space at the intersection of “Being
where we can do the most good with the skills and expertise that we have
among our members is important,” Garlen explained. “When that
happens, everyone benefits.” Like
the majority of Soldiers attached to the 121st, 108th Armor and 48th
Brigade Combat Team, the SDF volunteers lived, and sometimes worked out
of, Epworth by the Sea, a scenic Christian retreat and resort on Garlen’s
command center, for example, was in one of the many historic buildings
that face the inland waterway that runs along Saint Simons. The scenery
may have breathtaking, but Garlen said he had little time to enjoy the
view. “We
were there came here because we want to serve,” Garlen said. “There
were times when things slowed down, but operations never-ever came to a
point where we had the time to just walk and fully take in the
beauty.” |
