Representative Dan Daley (D-Coral Springs) joined a majority of the Florida House of Representatives to send a letter to urge Congress and the United States National Guard Bureau to increase the force structure allocation of the Florida National Guard. Florida is the third most populous state, and yet it ranks 53rd out of the 54 states and territories in the Guardsmen-to-Citizen ratio. In just the past year and a half, due to COVID-19, the Florida National Guard has expended the same number of workdays as it has in the past 20 years.
The Florida National Guard has been meeting its mission goals with just over 12,000 troops. This has meant several activations for the same soldiers repeatedly, leading to excessive fatigue, retention, and readiness issues.
“The Florida National Guard needs proper troop numbers based on the size of our state and propensity for natural disasters. We must provide our citizen-soldiers the adequate relief and support they require to continue meeting their mission goals. Floridians have depended heavily on the brave volunteers of our National Guard over the years and we owe them a great debt of gratitude for being there when a disaster strikes,” said Representative Dan Daley.
