# State Defense Forces **Status: stub — expand.** **32 U.S.C. § 109(c).** A State, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands "may, as provided by its laws, organize and maintain defense forces" for use within the jurisdiction as its chief executive considers necessary. The defining feature is in the next clause: a state defense force "**may not be called, ordered, or drafted into the armed forces**." It is therefore the one uniformed body a governor commands that the President cannot federalize. Section 109(d) supplies the trade-off — no federal pay, allowances, subsistence, transportation, or medical care — and § 109(e) bars reserve-component members from joining. Roughly twenty-odd states maintain an active force. Interest in them rises whenever [[National Guard]] federalization does, because they are structurally immune to it. ⚠️ Not to be confused with 32 U.S.C. § 328, "Active Guard and Reserve duty: Governor's authority," which is a Title 32 Guard provision and a different thing entirely. ## See also - [[National Guard Federalization Flow]] · [[National Guard]] · [[Posse Comitatus Act]] · [[Insurrection Act]]