2nd Infantry Brigade, Washington State Guard

The Washington State Guard (WSG) is the third element of the military forces in the Washington Military Department: the Army Guard, the Air Guard and State Guard. While the Army and Air Guard can be mobilized to federal service, the WSG is only utilized within Washington and is not deployed out of state. About half of the states in the U.S. currently maintain such state military forces, as authorized under federal and state laws.

Since territorial times our state military forces have been an integral part of the citizen-solider defense of our great state. State troops from Washington fought in various Indian battles, replaced federal troops during the civil war and volunteered to fight in the Philippines during the Spanish American War. State troops were called out to help squelch race riots in Seattle in 1886. In 1909 the Washington Legislature established a Naval Militia. In 1916, Everett’s Sixth Division of the Washington Naval Militia assisted the City of Everett and Seattle to curb labor unrest in the two cities. The Naval Militia was disbanded after World War One.

On 11 July 1917, Governor Ernest Lister authorized the organization of the Washington State Guard, to consist of 16 infantry companies in the principal cities. First organized as a provisional regiment, the force was mustered into state service as the Third Infantry Regiment with four companies. The Third Infantry Regiment was augmented by a machine gun company in Seattle and a medical detachment in Tacoma at Camp Murray. Among many state security duties, WSG troops patrolled the vast Washington forests, important for aircraft production during World War One. After WW I, the Third Infantry Regiment became part of the Washington Army National Guard and the Washington State Guard was deactivated in 1920.

As war clouds were brewing in the Pacific, the Washington State Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Walter Delong, re-activated the WSG in December 1940 – a full year before Pearl Harbor – and the only state to do so. Thus the Fourth Washington Volunteer Infantry Regiment was born. In 1942 the First Provisional Infantry Battalion was added to the WSG, increasing its strength to over 4,000 men. The U.S. Army supplied the WSG with 2,200 old WWI area Enfield rifles to oppose the anticipated Japanese invasion of Washington. The WSG again took over the state security mission, as the National Guard left for war overseas. A special WSG unit was formed and attached to the U.S. Army Aircraft Warning Service, manning nine observation posts on the Olympic Peninsula. A WSG Reserve was also organized, consisting of over 12,000 volunteer members who provided their own uniforms and arms. In the event of a Japanese occupation, this WSG Reserve was to fight guerilla warfare against the enemy. After the end of World War Two the WSG was cut to skeleton cadre strength.

The State of Washington was on the forefront of starting new State Guard units across the country during the Cold War. On 19 May 1960, Governor Albert Rossellini signed an executive order officially reactivating the WSG to a full internal security force and tasked the Adjutant General, MG George M. Haskett, to form the new state military force. The “new” WSG consisted of a headquarters detachment, two Internal Security

Groups, plus five security (Military Police) battalions. The mission of the fully reactivated WSG was to work with Civil Defense in civil disturbances, security of public installations, safeguarding emergency food and medical supplies and providing medical assistance when required.

In the 1970s an Air Section was established at Boeing Field in Seattle. From 1991 to 2001 the WSG also operated the award winning “Camp Minuteman” summer camp for children of Washington National Guard members. After the end of the Cold War the focus of the WSG changed towards emergency management and military assistance to civil disturbances (MACDIS). In the late 1990s the WSG was instrumental in creating a national Military Emergency Management Specialist (MEMS) Academy for the State Guard Association of the United States.

Today, the WSG consists of a highly professional cadre of enlisted members, warrant officers and officers. Most WSG soldiers are prior-Service, but many come straight from civilian life. Current WSG missions include providing Liaison Officers to state, county and city Emergency Operations Centers during natural and man-made disasters, providing major operational and planning support for state emergency management exercises and supporting other critical state homeland security missions. The proud motto of the modern WSG is “Pro Civitas et Patria” – For State and Country.