{"id":1517389,"date":"2022-06-15T14:04:10","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T18:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1517389"},"modified":"2022-06-15T14:04:19","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T18:04:19","slug":"desantis-unveils-florida-state-guard-announces-first-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-unveils-florida-state-guard-announces-first-director\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis Unveils Florida State Guard, Announces First Director"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdesantis-unveils-florida-state-guard-announces-first-director%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1517389&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled the Florida State Guard on Wednesday, along with announcing its first leader, a retired U.S. Marine colonel.<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis shared the information at the American Legion outpost in Madeira Beach alongside Major Generals James O. Eifert and James S. \u201cHammer\u201d Hartsell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the reasons we\u2019re here today actually goes back to other Biden policies,\u201d DeSantis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/news\/politics\/gov-desantis-maj-gens-to-speak-at-madeira-beach-american-legion\/https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/news\/politics\/gov-desantis-maj-gens-to-speak-at-madeira-beach-american-legion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> during the event.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Gov. Ron DeSantis unveils the Florida State Guard and introduces the FSG\u2019s first director. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QCMBytFzRM\">https:\/\/t.co\/QCMBytFzRM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GovRonDeSantis\/status\/1537086310191894528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen he came into office, he decided to impose a COVID vax mandate on the U.S. military. You had a situation where most people in our military are the lowest of the lowest risk for COVID, to begin with. Many of them had already had COVID and had recovered in 2020 into 2021, and yet imposed these mandates on them. And that has had the impact of actually kicking people out who had served honorably, who just decided this is not what they want to do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis also shared the purpose and actions of the state\u2019s new Florida State Guard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Florida State Guard will be comprised of Floridians, and it\u2019ll be designed to assist and help only Floridians, it will not be subject to be mobilized by the federal government, and the federal government cannot impose policies or penalties on the Florida State Guard,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFlorida will join over 20 other states and territories that currently have their own state guard, including states like New York,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The governor also announced the first director of the state\u2019s guard during the presentation. Retired Marine Corps. Lieutenant Colonel Chris Graham, a Florida native and recipient of a Purple Heart who has served multiple times overseas, including tours in Iraq, will lead the new initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Graham also previously worked in the Defense Intelligence Agency. The new director\u2019s background in counter-drug operations was also noted as an essential need to help stop the smuggling of fentanyl coming across the border.<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis also recently invited Florida residents in his state to join the state guard to assist with upcoming emergency response ahead of hurricane season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be a member of the FLSG, Florida is looking for individuals between the ages of 18 and 60, to volunteer and train to ensure that the Guard is ready to step in when emergency strikes,\u201d the governor\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/2022\/05\/31\/application-portal-open-for-director-of-the-new-florida-state-guard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>\u00a0read.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you love the state of Florida, have a desire to help your community, and have skills beneficial to protect the state from a disaster, we encourage you to apply to join the FLSG. Skilled Floridians with emergency response, law enforcement or military training are encouraged to apply,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his announcement regarding the Florida State Guard, DeSantis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flgov.com\/2022\/06\/09\/governor-ron-desantis-signs-six-bills-to-support-floridas-military-families\/\">signed<\/a> six bills last week to increase work and educational opportunities for service members, veterans, and military families across the state.<\/p>\n<p>One of the six new bills included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Session\/Bill\/2022\/45\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HB 45<\/a>, the \u201cEducational Opportunities for Disabled Veterans.\u201d The law will assist disabled veterans at a state university, Florida College System institution, or school district-operated career center, who do not qualify for the 100% eligibility tier to be eligible for a waiver for tuition and fees.<\/p>\n<p>Another bill, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Session\/Bill\/2022\/562\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SB 562<\/a>, called the \u201cMilitary Occupational Licensure,\u201d requires the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to expedite occupational license applications of all active-duty military spouses, streamlining the process to assist military families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled the Florida State Guard on Wednesday, along with announcing its first leader, a retired U.S. Marine colonel. DeSantis shared the information at the American Legion outpost in Madeira Beach alongside Major Generals James O. Eifert and James S. \u201cHammer\u201d Hartsell. \u201cOne of the reasons we\u2019re here today actually goes &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":325,"featured_media":1517477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1517389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1517389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1517477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1517389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1517389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1517389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}