Naval militias in the United States
They are distinguishable from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary which is a federally chartered civilian volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard and falls under the command of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Chief Director of the Auxiliary, and the United States Maritime Service and United States Merchant Marine, both of which are federal maritime services.
[1] Naval militias, though they are state armed forces, may receive federal supplies and use Navy or Marine Corps facilities available to Naval Reserve or Marine Corps Reserve units subject to certain restrictions.
[3] Seamen and state marines belonging to naval militias who do not hold federal status may be enlisted or commissioned into the federal sea services at the rank they are qualified for, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy.
[5] However, the movement to create a naval reserve force became popular at the state and local level.
The first naval militia which was first organized and drilling was the Massachusetts Battalion, which first met on 28 February 1890.
[6] The United States Navy began loaning older veteran ships from the American Civil War, such as USS Minnesota and USS Wabash, to state naval militias for use as armories and headquarters.
[8] Members of the Connecticut Naval Militia served aboard USS Minnesota.
[5] Naval militias have been deployed multiple times in recent years to assist in national security or disaster recovery operations.
In 1989, the Alaska Naval Militia was deployed to assist in recovery operations after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
