State orders are a con — federalizing the National Guard should be the go-to for most missions...

So the pay and benefits should be given out to the guardsmen, I won't deny that. However I don't fully agree with his article. I've only served a short stint in the guard, about 6 months in high school prior to going active soon as I completed OSUT, but if he wanted to fully federalize guard activations wouldn't that in essense make them USAR?

Again, as a now reservist and seeing how the pay is in the reserve component I see his point on pay, and even more the benefits, which as his accurately stated, is a key retention tool. However, the difference in the NG and Reserves is that individual states may need to individually activate troops on short notice or collectively in a region or nationwide emergency. As such I think SAD orders while maybe in need of some restructuring, is still valid in its purpose.

Steve has the right basic idea when he wrote the article, but he used the wrong verbiage. State active duty is under the complete control of the State, and under whatever pay system that the State has set up. Title 32 orders, what Steve mistakenly calls "federalized", is when the duty is under State control, but a majority of the funding is by the federal government. Normally this is a 75-25% split, with the State covering the lesser amount. This is also the preferable way to call personnel up for more than 30-day periods, and it has the advantage that the members are not subject to the Posse Comitatus Act and can assist law enforcement. To be federalized, the personnel would be on Title 10 orders and under the direction of the President. This is rarely used. Eisenhower used it to enforce integration at Little Rock, Arkansas where one day the National Guard was under the control of the Governor and preventing blacks from entering Central High School, and the next day they were under the control of President Eisenhower and guarding the students (along with the 101st Abn).

From the context, Steve doesn't actually mean federalized, as in Title 10, but under federal pay while under the control of the State.

Did 6 years in the Guard. Always thought of it as being a member of the State militia.