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By Paul Monies, Oklahoma Watch
January 16, 2025

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt wants to re-establish the Oklahoma State Guard and has directed the state’s Military Department to devise a plan for the civil defense force that would be under the governor’s sole authority. 

Unlike the Oklahoma National Guard, which shares authority and funding with the federal government, the Oklahoma State Guard would be deployable only within the state’s borders. Oklahoma has a state guard law on the books, but the effort hasn’t been funded or organized since the 1970s. 

The state’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Thomas Mancino, told senators this week it could take $2.4 million to re-establish the Oklahoma State Guard. Mancino said he is studying state guard structures in states such as Texas, Florida and California. If the Legislature agrees, the state appropriation would go toward equipment, training and personnel. 

“Governor Stitt came to me this year after looking at what he saw occurring on the border in Texas, where they routinely use their State Guard, and asked me to take a look at reinstituting that,” Mancino said in a budget hearing on Tuesday. 

In August 2023, Stitt answered a call from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for fellow Republican governors to send voluntary forces drawn from their state National Guard contingents to help police the Texas-Mexico border. About 50 volunteers from the Oklahoma National Guard spent a month in Texas on the deployment. The money came from state emergency response funds. 

Mancino said he envisioned pulling on the expertise of recently retired soldiers and airmen to build out the ranks of the Oklahoma State Guard. 

“Although we have it within the statute, I think the most important things are the administrative rules and policies that we put forward to actually implement a program that’s beneficial to the Guard,” Mancino said. “In a broad-scale (National Guard) mobilization, you would still have a state force to do tornadoes, fires and other civil defense actions that are required in the state.” 

Sen. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, the lone Democrat on the appropriations subcommittee on general government and transportation, said she had reservations about re-establishing the Oklahoma State Guard. She said there were standoffs in Texas between the Texas State Guard and the National Guard over immigration enforcement, a development she called despicable.  

Goodwin was referring to a standoff between the Texas National Guard and the federal government last year in Texas over barriers in the Rio Grande River to deter immigrants. The federal Border Patrol and the Biden administration maintained the state didn’t have that authority over an international border. 

“I would have more than great and grave reservations about talking about $2.4 million for an unregulated militia state guard because I do not see it being the best use of funds,” Goodwin said. “I am almost appalled that it’s even in this budget.” 

The subcommittee’s chairman, Sen. Tom Woods, R-Westville, said he supported such an effort. Woods, who joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard in June 2023, said he faces deployment later this year. 

“As a member of the enlisted force structure, this could be a very valuable tool in Oklahoma’s defense,” Woods said. “It could be a very valuable asset for Oklahoma security moving forward.”

Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, said he thought an Oklahoma State Guard could be a force multiplier to help out during emergencies in the state. 

Mancino said his initial estimates call for about 250 people for the Oklahoma State Guard.

“The real key here is the establishment of this entity,” Mancino said. “What do they do? How do they mesh with law enforcement in the state? How do they mesh with emergency management? How do they mesh with the National Guard? It behooves me to say we have not yet presented our complete plan to the governor or to the Legislature. This is just a mark on the wall to say, if I’m asked to execute this mission, I will need additional funds to do so.” 

Reviving the Oklahoma State Guard has been the focus of legislation in the past several years. Former Sen. Nathan Dahm introduced the Oklahoma State Guard and Militia Revitalization Act in 2023 and again in 2024, but the proposals didn’t get any committee hearings in the Senate. A fiscal analysis of Dahm’s 2024 bill said it could cost between $10 million and $96.6 million, depending on how many units were organized. 

It’s unclear if Stitt plans to use a re-establishment of the Oklahoma State Guard to assist the incoming Trump administration on immigration enforcement. The governor’s office did not address that question in a written statement to Oklahoma Watch. 

“Gov. Stitt and Gen. Mancino are constantly exchanging ideas on how the state can keep Oklahomans safe,” Stitt spokesman Meyer Siegfried said in an email. “While there's been no official budget request at this time, this is one option being explored to bolster our security posture.” 
The 2023 deployment of the Oklahoma National Guard to the Texas border was carried out under Stitt’s authority to activate the National Guard on state active-duty status. Texas did not reimburse Oklahoma for the costs, which were more than $500,000. Unlike federal deployments, whether domestic or international, National Guard members serving under state active duty are not eligible for federal Veterans Administration care if they sustain injuries.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.