ORLANDO, Fla. – As the next class of recruits prepares for boot camp, the head of the Florida State Guard said he is ready to ramp up recruitment efforts.

Mark Thieme took over as director of the Guard last October.

Nearly five months later, he told News 6 he’s ready to quickly expand the Guard’s numbers.

“What makes the Florida State Guard so important is — by statute — we’re the only agency that has a statutory responsibility and obligation to provide crisis and emergency management responsibilities across the entire portfolio of what those other agencies do,” he told News 6. “So, we are able to provide ground, air, and maritime crisis and emergency response capabilities to boost the abilities of the Florida National Guard when they need it, to boost the capabilities of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Fish and Wildlife.”

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Reviving the Florida State Guard

Gov. Ron DeSantis resurrected the Florida State Guard in 2022 after a nearly 70-year hiatus.

A News 6 investigation revealed the Florida National Guard’s own records show they have capped the number of troops at 12,000 since 1958, which resulted in Florida ranking 53 out of 54 states and territories when it comes to the number of troops per capita.

That was one reason DeSantis said the Florida State Guard was needed.

Since the governor’s announcement in 2022, Thieme said the Guard has recruited approximately 170 troops, and he hopes to accelerate recruitment over the next year.

His efforts begin this weekend.

“We had over 4,000 applicants,” he said. “We had so much interesting demand that we needed to suspend the application process temporarily, so that we could work to go through all of those great candidates and pick the best of the best of our Florida citizens for this additional entry training camp that goes this week.”

He said he hopes to have a total of 400 troops by the end of this boot camp, with 350 additional recruits attending another camp in August.

He said his goal is to recruit 1,100 troops by this time next year, with a force of 1,500 soon afterward.

“We’re looking for those who have backgrounds in emergency management and law enforcement and firefighting, and the types of skills in distributed logistics as an example,” he said. “We’re looking for folks that maybe are in community colleges, and that have technical expertise that can help us with engineering-type of support, small engine mechanics, with aviation, with boating — those types of technical skills are very highly desired for us, including drone operations.”

New training complex

In December, Flagler County commissioners approved a 30-year deal that will result in the Florida State Guard’s new training complex being built on county land.

The $10 million price tag was approved by the state legislature in 2022.

Right now, the Guard is training at Camp Blanding in North Florida.

Watch News 6′s coverage of the Florida State Guard’s new training facility in Flagler County

“We’ve been in detailed discussions with the staff at Camp Blanding, and we will outstrip the availability of their resources and training,” Thieme said. “That’s why Flagler County is a natural fit. It’s a natural growth spurt opportunity for us. It’s more than just soldiering skills, although we will certainly do that. It’s really about an opportunity to develop a relationship with the first responder community there in Flagler, the emergency management professionals, where we can improve our own skills and expertise, and then along the way, build confidence in the public perception about how skilled, how competent the Florida State Guard is.”

He said he hopes to break ground on the new complex later this year.

State Militia

New legislation introduced in Tallahassee in January would allow Florida’s governor to activate the Guard at any time “deemed necessary,” and it would allow the Guard to serve missions outside of Florida.

Last week, DeSantis announced he would send the Florida State Guard and Florida National Guard to patrol the Texas border to help stop what he called an invasion out of Mexico.

Both prompted some concern on social media, where some called the Guard the “governor’s militia.”

“The governor is trying to ensure that he has a full layered set of agencies with capability and capacity to protect and preserve the life and property of all Floridians against all hazards,” Thieme said. “I think those who take this narrow view that it’s a militia are really missing what the governor is trying to do for the state. We’re one of the four pillars of crisis and emergency response for this state, and I think we have a critical role to play. We’re a critical component of what the state needs, and so, that would be my response to those critics.”

HB 1551 has already passed three committees and is currently awaiting action in the House State Affairs Committee.

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