§328a Active Guard and Reserve Duty: State Disaster Response Duty

Summary

A State governor who declares an emergency can, with the Secretary of Defense’s okay, order a member of the State National Guard who is on Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) duty to help with or prepare for the disaster. That duty is called State disaster response duty. It must not get in the way of the member’s main AGR jobs of organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, and training. Each member can do up to 14 days of this duty per calendar year. If the governor asks before the 14th day, the Secretary of Defense can extend it by up to 7 more days, or up to 46 more days when the work supports a “catastrophic incident” (as defined in section 501 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002). The State must pay the full daily manpower cost to the military department from state or other non‑Federal funds. Money received goes back to the accounts that paid the costs, as the Secretary of Defense decides. If a State is more than 90 days late paying, the duty normally cannot be done unless the Secretary of Defense approves and the State sets aside money to cover what it owes. While on this duty, Guard members are not acting as U.S. government agents, and the United States is not responsible for claims or judgments from their actions. Definitions: “Active Guard and Reserve duty” — meaning in 10 U.S.C. 101; “State” — meaning in section 901 of this title.