Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has requested $98M in funding for 2023, in order to boost the Florida State Guard.
One critic calls it DeSantis’s plan to build “a private army.”
The State Guard was originally created for home defense during World War II (then called the Florida Defense Force), and revived by DeSantis in 2022.
Now he wants to expand the ranks from 400 to 1,500. He says it’s needed to help with emergency response measures and to back up the Florida National Guard.
Some have called DeSantis’s planned force a “vigilante army” or “handpicked secret police,” with one political commentator saying, “Why does DeSantis need a private army?”
I think this is a good idea. Especially for hurricane season. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed creating a new state agency called the “Florida State Guard” that would serve as a reserve military force to support the state’s National Guard in the event of a hurricane or other emergency.