page_title: Virginia Defense Force
section_title: Functionality
hierarchical_section_title: Virginia Defense Force / Functionality
caption_attribution_description: English: Soldiers from the Virginia National Guard's Fredericksburg-based Company D, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team conduct mounted reconnaissance patrols in the Fredericksburg area July 2 to assess the impact of recent severe weather in the region. After conducting a mission briefing and pre-operation maintenance checks on their Humvees, the soldiers set out into predetermined patrol areas to check route trafficability, assess damage and provide residents with information about local cooling shelters. When needed, the soldiers also were able to relay information to local emergency response organizations if citizens needed assistance. Members of the Virginia Defense Force also are on station in Fredericksburg with Incident Management Assistance Teams helping commanders with reporting, information tracking and maintaining situational awareness.
context_page_description: The Virginia Defense Force is the official state defense force of Virginia, one of the three components of Virginia's state military along with the Virginia National Guard which includes the Virginia Army National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard and the unorganized militia. As of 2019 the VDF has approximately 250 soldiers. The VDF is the descendant of the Virginia State Guard, the Virginia Regiment, and ultimately the Colonial Virginia militia of the Virginia Colony.
  The Virginia Defense Force Command is headquartered at the historic Old City Hall, but drills out of Waller Armory in Richmond, Virginia. State law allows the command to grow to as many as 7,800 troops to be activated in the VDF when necessary by a call out by the Governor. The VDF is all-volunteer unless activated to "Active Duty" status and augmented by unorganized militia draftees by the Governor of Virginia. The federal government authorizes purely state-level forces under 32 U.S.C. § 109 which provides that state forces as a whole may not be called, ordered, or drafted into the armed forces of the United States, thus preserving their separation from the National Guard.
context_section_description: The creation of a state defense force by a state is authorized by 32 USC 109 (c).
  Title 44-54 of the Virginia Code sets the targeted membership of the Virginia Defense Force at 1,200 members.  Activation is by an executive order of the Governor in the event of an emergency; or the President if there is a declaration of a disaster area.
  Title 44-54.12, although providing for the use of armories and other state lands for Defense Force purposes, specifically prohibits members of the Defense Force from training with firearms, without the specific instruction/authorization of the Governor.
  The Defense Force is evolving into a Civil Affairs command and will provide training in military related specialties such as communication, infrastructure restoration, public shelters, traffic control,  and unarmed security missions. VDF companies and battalions are self-training but conduct annual training as a division every year at Ft. Pickett, Virginia.  Many of the VDF members have conducted training with FEMA, NIMS, ICS, the United States Armed Forces, Virginia State Police, as well as meeting the requirements of SGAUS.
  
  During the Iraq War, the VDF was tasked with securing vacated armories, maintaining equipment, and providing support to families of deployed troops.
  The VDF maintains several Shelter Augmentation Liaison Teams (SALT), with each team consisting of three VDF members who serve as liaisons between the Virginia State Police and the Virginia National Guard in the event that the National Guard is deployed to take over shelter management from the police during a stateside emergency. During a deployment, the teams will deploy with the state police, note the practices and procedures put in place, and brief the National Guard on these procedures when the National Guard arrive so as to provide a smooth transition in the change of command.
  The Virginia Military Advisory Council is the Defense Force's link to a higher authority and the staff of the Adjutant General of Virginia.
  For 2011, the budget passed by the Virginia Legislature allocated to the Virginia Defense Force about $240,000.
caption: Virginia Defense Force member in 2012
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