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Military and Naval Affairs, Division of

Records in the State Archives: New York (State). Division of Military and Naval Affairs

Functions

The Division of Military and Naval Affairs administers the State's military forces and facilities and coordinates the State's emergency preparedness plans and response to disasters. The Division of Military and Naval Affairs consists of the New York Army National Guard, the New York Air National Guard, and the New York Naval Militia, which serve as reserve components to the United States Army, Air Force, and Navy. They can be activated by the federal government or the governor in times of emergency. The New York Guard is organized in cadre form and provides a State reserve force if the Army National Guard is ordered into federal service; the Guard cannot be federalized or deployed outside New York State without consent of the governor. (The New York Guard also provides aid to civil authorities and humanitarian aid to state/local governments during domestic emergencies, as well as administrative and logistical support to the Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and Naval Military Forces.) The division also administers the State Reserve and Retired Lists of military personnel. 

The division operates Joint Task Force Empire Shield, a force of Army and Air National Guard, New York Naval Militia and New York Guard personnel all on state active duty to conduct land and waterborne Homeland Security Operations in the New York City metropolitan area in order to deter and prevent terrorist acts. The force is prepared to conduct domestic operations in order to save lives and reduce human suffering with an operational headquarters that maintains routine interagency coordination. The division also provides trainers who work with the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to implement the Citizen Preparedness Corps through which residents across the state are provided instruction in how to prepare for emergencies, survive them and recover.

History

The first State constitution of 1777 and all subsequent constitutions designated the governor as the commander-in-chief of the State's armed forces. In 1786 the governor appointed an adjutant general to supervise the militia and all military establishments in the State. The governor was authorized to appoint an adjutant general by the constitutions of 1821 and 1846 in response to the passage of a federal statute of 1792 requiring each state to appoint such an officer. During the nineteenth century various staff officers, including inspector general, commissary general, judge advocate, quartermaster general, paymaster general, and engineer-in-chief, were established by statute or by the constitution to assist the adjutant general. In 1862 (Chapter 477) the organized militia was officially designated as the National Guard of New York State. The State Naval Militia was established by law in 1889 (Chapter 492).

The 1894 constitution authorized the governor to appoint a military secretary in addition to the adjutant general. From 1894 until 1926 the military secretary and the adjutant general shared responsibility for supervising the State's defense. A consolidated military law enacted in 1909 (Chapter 41) provided that the adjutant general assume the duties of all existing staff offices.

In 1926 (Chapter 546), a year after ratification of the constitutional reorganization of State government, the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, headed by an adjutant general appointed by the governor, was established within the Executive Department. In addition to assuming responsibility for the State's military and naval staff departments, the Division took over supervision of the State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Bath (renamed the State Camp for Veterans), the New York State Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg, Chattanooga and Antietam, the Bureau for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Veterans, and the New York State Bonus Commission.

The Bath facility was incorporated in 1876 (Chapter 270) as the Grand Army of the Republic Soldiers' Home of the State of New York under the direction of a board of trustees to house honorably discharged veterans of the Civil War. Two years later (Chapter 48) it was taken over by the State and renamed the New York State Soldiers' and Saliors' Home. The Monuments Commission, consisting of three veterans appointed by the Adjutant General, was created in 1913 (Chapter 550) to continue the work of erecting memorials to New York State's participation in the Civil War battles at Gettysburg, Chattanooga, and Antietam. Several earlier commissions were charged with memorializing these battlefields individually. The New York Veterans Relief Commission, consisting of the adjutant general, comptroller, and attorney general, was established in 1922 (Chapter 589) to administer State financial aid to disabled World War I veterans. The following year (Chapter 326) the commission was replaced by the Bureau for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Veterans under the adjutant general. The Bonus Commission, consisting of the adjutant general, comptroller, attorney general, and treasurer, was established in 1924 (Chapter 19) following a 1923 constitutional amendment allowing the State to provide direct bonus payments to honorably discharged veterans of World War I.

When the Division of Veterans Affairs was created in 1945 (Chapter 763) to provide services to returning World War II Veterans, the adjutant general was designated chairman of its Veterans Affairs Commission, an advisory body. In 1949 (Chapter 498) the adjutant general was replaced with the newly created position of chief of staff to the governor as head of the Division of Military and Naval Affairs. The State Civil Defense Commission was established in 1951 (Chapter 784) as an independent unit in the Executive Department to prepare for the state's defense in the event of attack. The commission was transferred to the Department of Transportation in 1971 (Chapter 73), and some of its functions were dispersed to other agencies. In 1973 (Chapter 931) the commission was transferred to the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, with its former functions reinstated and with the additional responsibility for coordinating statewide disaster planning.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness was created within the Division by the Chief of Staff to the Governor in 1973 to provide staff services to the State Civil Defense Commission. In 1978 (Chapters 640 and 641), the legislature created the Disaster Preparedness Commission within the Executive Department and directed the adjutant general to serve as its secretariat. The Office of Disaster Preparedness, renamed the State Emergency Management Office by executive order in 1983 (No. 32), provided staff and support services to both commissions. 

Legislation enacted in 1988 (Chapter 141) amended the Executive Law, stipulating that the adjutant general, to be appointed by the governor, serve as head of the Division of Miilitary and Naval Affairs. In 2010 (Chapter 50), responsibility for disaster preparedness and emergency management was transferred to the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Servcices.