Title 58, Military Affairs, Emergencies and Civil Defense

(1) The governor shall be the commander-in-chief of the military forces, except when they shall have been called into the service of the United States, and is authorized and empowered:(1) To issue all such orders, rules and regulations as may be necessary to provide for the organ…

(a) The governor shall have the power, in case of invasion, disaster, insurrection, riot, attack, or combination to oppose the enforcement of the law by force and violence, or imminent danger thereof, or other grave emergency, to order into the active service of the state, for su…

When troops of the national guard are assigned to any state duty contemplated hereby, they shall act under the orders of the governor as commander in chief. Commanding officers of troops so employed are responsible only to their military superiors, and shall not act under, nor be…

The governor is authorized and empowered to call individual members of the national guard to active state duty with their consent, for the performance of any official duty in connection with national guard activities.

(a) Members of the national guard when assigned to state military duty by the commander in chief, or when ordered to active state service pursuant to § 58-1-106, shall be paid from the funds appropriated, or otherwise legally made available to the military department, at the same…

The military staff of the governor shall consist of the adjutant general, who shall be ex officio chief of staff, the national guard officers assigned to the state headquarters, and such aides-de-camp as the governor shall deem necessary, all of whom shall be federally recognized…

The honorary staff of the governor shall consist of the adjutant general, who shall be ex officio chief of staff, and such honorary aides-de-camp as the governor may deem desirable or proper. Honorary staff officers shall bear the honorary rank and title of colonel.

(a) Whenever any portion of the national guard is employed pursuant to § 58-1-106, the governor, if in the governor's judgment the maintenance of law and order will thereby be promoted, may, by proclamation, declare the county or city in which troops are serving, or any specified…

(a) The governor may order the national guard, or any part thereof, to serve outside the borders of this state or of the United States in order to perform military duty of every description and to participate in parades, reviews, cruises, conferences, encampments, maneuvers or ot…

That agency, division or department of the state government, comprising the headquarters of the military forces of the state as constituted and defined in § 58-1-104, shall be known and is hereby designated as the military department. The adjutant general shall be the executive h…

The adjutant general shall be appointed by the governor for a term concurrent with the term of the governor who appointed the adjutant general, and shall serve as such at the pleasure of the governor. The adjutant general shall have such rank as may be conferred by the governor, …

(a) The adjutant general shall be chief of staff to the governor and subordinate only to the governor in matters pertaining to the military department and the military and naval affairs of the state. (b) It shall be the duty of the adjutant general to direct the planning and empl…

The flag or banner of the Tennessee military department shall be of the following design, colors and proportions: an oblong flag or banner, the principal field of the flag or banner to be of the color blue, but the flag or banner ending at its free or outer end in a perpendicular…

(a) (1) It is an offense for a person to wear or display any decoration or medal authorized by congress for the armed forces of the United States, or any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of those forces, or the ribbon, button or rosette of any such badge, de…

(a) It is an offense for a person to falsely impersonate or represent to another, whether by conduct, dress, verbally or in writing, that such person or a third party is or was a member of the armed forces of the United States with the intent to deceive or cause another to believ…

(a) Subject to available appropriations, the military department may administer a critical skills retention bonus program to be used to award retention bonuses to enlisted service members in the Tennessee national guard in addition to any other retention bonus the service members…

(a) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Contingency operation” means a military operation that results in the call or order to active duty, or retention on active duty, of members of the uniformed services under 10 U.S.C. § 688; § 12301(a); § 12302…

The state headquarters of the national guard is hereby organized and divided into an army division and an air division, with an officer whose rank shall be designated by the governor as the head of each division; provided, that no such officer's rank shall be higher than major ge…

The national guard shall be organized, armed, disciplined, governed, administered, and trained as prescribed by parts 1, 2 and 4-6 of this chapter and the regulations issued thereunder; provided, however, that the governor shall conform the organization of the national guard to t…

The land force of the national guard shall be the army national guard and shall comprise the army units which are a part of the national guard on March 2, 1970, and such other army units as may be organized hereafter, including the personnel who are enlisted, appointed or commiss…

The air force of the national guard shall be the air national guard and shall comprise the air units which are a part of the national guard on March 2, 1970, and such other air units as may be organized hereafter, including the personnel who are enlisted, appointed or commissione…

(a) Members and units of the national guard shall assemble for such drill, or other equivalent training, instruction or duties during each year and shall participate in such field training, encampments, maneuvers, schools, conferences, or other similar duties each year as may be …

In the event adequate and satisfactory armory accommodations, bases, camps, target ranges and other facilities are not furnished by the United States, counties or municipal corporations, the same may be provided and maintained by the state.

The inactive national guard shall consist of the persons commissioned, appointed or enlisted therein on March 2, 1970, such officers and enlisted personnel as may be hereafter transferred thereto from the army national guard and the air national guard and such persons as lawfully…

All unit funds, known as company, battalion, and regimental funds, however derived, in the hands of national guard organizations including the “station commander's upkeep and maintenance fund,” shall be accounted for in accordance with regulations promulgated by the adjutant gene…

All commissioned officers of the national guard shall be considered for appointment and promotion by the governor upon the recommendation of appropriate commanders and under regulations promulgated pursuant to parts 1, 2 and 4-6 of this chapter.

(a) No person shall be appointed or promoted as a commissioned officer of the national guard unless such person shall have passed such examination as to the person's physical, moral and professional qualifications as may be prescribed by the laws of the United States and by parts…

Every commissioned officer shall take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed for officers of the national guard by the applicable laws of the United States and regulations issued pursuant thereto, and to parts 1, 2 and 4-6 of this chapter. Such oath shall be taken and sub…

(1) Precedence or relative rank among officers of the same grade in the Tennessee national guard will be determined as follows:(1) The date of rank is the date of federal recognition in the national guard; provided, that the officer has had no prior active federal or reserve comp…

Officers will be assigned, transferred and promoted under regulations prescribed and published pursuant to parts 1, 2 and 4-6 of this chapter.

Every commissioned officer shall personally provide such uniforms and articles of equipment as may be prescribed by regulations issued pursuant to parts 1, 2, and 4-6 of this chapter.

(a) The efficiency, moral character and general fitness for retention of any commissioned officer may be investigated and determined by an examining board. The members of an examining board shall be senior in rank to the officer under investigation unless unavailable. (b) The phy…

(a) Efficiency and medical examining boards appointed by the governor shall follow the practice and procedure prescribed by applicable laws of the United States and this state, and the regulations issued thereunder, including the right to subpoena witnesses. Any officer ordered t…

(a) A commissioned officer of the national guard may tender resignation at any time to the governor. If the governor shall accept the resignation, the officer shall receive an honorable discharge; if the officer tendering the resignation shall be under arrest or if charges have b…

(1) The appointment of a national guard officer will be terminated and the officer's state recognition withdrawn for the following causes and reasons, and none other:(1) Death;(2) Attainment of maximum ages as prescribed in federal law. Nothing in parts 1, 2 and 4-6 of this chapt…

When the appointment of any officer is terminated and federal recognition withdrawn pursuant to § 58-1-218(2), the officer's name shall be placed upon the national guard retired list. Those terminated under § 58-1-218(3), (4), (5) and (7), may also be placed upon such list if the…

No general officer of the line and no air guard general officer, unless the officer be the adjutant general, deputy adjutant general, or an assistant adjutant general army and an assistant adjutant general air, shall serve more than three (3) years as a federally recognized gener…

(a) The qualifications for enlistment and reenlistment, the period of enlistment, reenlistment and voluntary extension of enlistment, the period of service, the form of oath to be taken, and the manner and form of transfer and discharge of enlisted personnel of the national guard…

Every person who enlists or reenlists in the national guard shall sign an enlistment contract and shall take and subscribe to such oath or affirmation of enlistment as may be prescribed by the applicable laws of the United States and by regulations issued pursuant to parts 1, 2 a…

Enlisted personnel of the national guard shall be promoted and reduced in grade or rank as prescribed by regulations issued pursuant to parts 1, 2 and 4-6 of this chapter.

(a) An enlisted person may be discharged from the national guard prior to the expiration of that person’s term of enlistment under such conditions as may be prescribed by applicable laws and regulations of the United States and by parts 1, 2 and 4-6 of this chapter and regulation…

When an enlisted person of the national guard is absent without leave or misses all scheduled drills without proper authority for five (5) drills, within any twelve-month period and there is reason to believe that the enlisted person does not intend to return, the enlisted person…

(1) Except for the commission of treason, a felony or a breach of the peace, the officers and enlisted personnel of the national guard shall be exempt from service of civil process and from arrest while actually engaged in the following activities:(1) Drill;(2) Instruction;(3) Vo…

(a) Members of the national guard ordered into the active service of the state, pursuant to § 58-1-106, shall receive the same immunity afforded by law to state employees for acts done in the performance of their duty while at their post of duty. When an action or proceeding of a…

(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “National Guard Force Protection Act of 2016.” (b) The department of military may implement the following force protection enhancements at national guard facilities:(1) Aiphones;(2) Shatter resistant films;(3) Cameras;(4) Ma…

(a) No officer or enlisted personnel of the national guard, except in compliance with orders of the governor, shall be required to perform military duty on a day designated for the holding of any primary or general election in any city or civil district in the state; nor shall an…