![]() ![]() Stephens said he gave them hundreds of names from an “interest list” he had put together.Įstablishing a State Guard, Eifert argued at the time, would come with some challenges. The Guard was looking for volunteers for the newly established State Guard, he said. In 2021, the Florida National Guard approached Stephens. As of Thursday, the group has almost 850 members. Jim Stephens, a 63-year-old Marine veteran from the Panhandle who has been pushing to reestablish the State Guard in Florida since 2018, has been administering a Facebook group that has become a hub for those who support the idea. Among them, how the State Guard plans to use its specialized law enforcement unit, whether trained members will be ready to be deployed during this year’s hurricane season, when members will have their next drill, how many volunteers have been recruited for the next training in January or who is overseeing the State Guard in the absence of a director and other administrative officials who recently left the organization. The unknowns are becoming more pronounced as the force’s mission remains broadly undefined, a detail that even those who support it - including a former top Florida military official - say is important to solidify to ensure the entity’s success.īut officials have not answered other questions. ![]() And the 120-member force of volunteers remains leaderless. Others who joined the force this summer have yet to hear back from leadership on future assignments. ![]() Some people who are interested in joining the volunteer force are not hearing back from recruiters. Ron DeSantis’ nascent State Guard is beset by questions about its direction and leadership as it prepares to train a second round of volunteers for a force seen by some early recruits as more militarized than originally envisioned. Ron DeSantis said the group, billed as a natural disaster relief organization, had become too militarized. ![]() Some who volunteered for the force commissioned by Gov. Florida State Guard members bow their heads in prayer during the Florida State Guard graduation ceremony at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Starke, Fla., June 30, 2023. ![]()
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