PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Chris Graham has been appointed as the director of the reestablished Florida State Guard (FSG), Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a June 15 press conference at Madeira Beach.
Florida has joined 22 other states in bringing back a state-level emergency-focused civilian volunteer force. The Guard will have about 400 members; DeSantis says 1,200 people have already applied.
DeSantis said Florida has “one of the most understaffed National Guards in the United States.”
“Out of 54 states [and territories], Florida National Guard has the second-worst resident-to-guardsman ratios,” DeSantis told a room of mostly veterans.
The governor said that since 1958, the Florida National Guard has had 12,000 troops, but Florida had fewer than 5 million people at that time and the civilian-to-guard ratio was 375 residents for every guardsman.
“Today, Florida’s population is nearly 22 million people, and the resident-to-guardsman ratio has climbed to approximately 1,750 Floridians to every one guardsman,” a statement from the governor’s office said.
“In a natural disaster-prone state such as Florida with a potentially active hurricane season on the horizon, there is a clear and present need for a larger civilian emergency response force.”
Graham retired from the military two months ago after serving for 20 years, but said he found that he wasn’t ready for retirement.
“I saw the opening to become the Director of the State Guard—I decided that two months of retirement was all I needed,” he said.
“This is an unbelievable privilege to reestablish and build from the ground up a modern state defense force. But we have an opportunity to break new ground and deliver a 10-fold investment for Floridians.”
Graham is a native Floridian, having grown up in Miami. He joined the Marine Corps at the age of 17.
After enlisting, he graduated from Auburn University and was commissioned in the Marines. He attended and graduated from flight school in Pensacola and served as a helicopter pilot for two years, then completed three tours during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2005, he was awarded a Purple Heart, Air Medal, and The Commanding General Marine Expeditionary Force’s (MCA) Leadership Award. In 2006, he earned a Navy Commendation Medal and in 2007, the Navy Achievement Medal.
DeSantis said that Washington bureaucrats “who control our National Guard have also refused to increase the number of guardsmen despite our increasing population.”
“By reestablishing the Florida State Guard—we have a great opportunity to expand our capability to help people in times of need or disaster,” he said.
Funding for the Guard to cover training and administrative personnel was originally slated to be $3.5 million, but the state legislature decided to boost the budget to $10 million, effective July 1.
The governor said the limited number of slots and large number of applicants shouldn’t deter anyone from applying.
“I think $10 million is going to be just the beginning,” he said. “I think the legislature is going to be looking to expand these slots next legislative session—there’s not enough slots now; that could change very quickly, so stay with it. We want to be able to find a spot for you.”
