Florida Ranks 53rd Out of 54 States and Territories in Guardsmen Per Capita While Carrying One of the Nation’s Heaviest Operational Burdens
Letter Calls to Expand Florida National Guard Personnel to Match Growing Population and Mission
WASHINGTON — Congressman Vern Buchanan joined Senator Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) and 12 other members of the Florida congressional delegation on a letter to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth urging the Department of War to review the Florida National Guard’s authorized force structure and approve an increase in its total allocation of personnel.
The Florida National Guard has roughly 12,000 authorized personnel serving a state of approximately 23.5 million people. Measured per capita, Florida ranks 53rd out of 54 states and territories with a National Guard component, a smaller ratio than states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, while the Guard carries one of the heaviest operational burdens in the nation.
“Floridians have seen time and time again the importance of our National Guard in stepping up for our families and communities,” said Buchanan. “As an Air National Guard veteran, I have witnessed firsthand how our Guardsmen answer the call every time disaster strikes, but Florida’s Guard has not grown to keep pace with our growing population. They deserve the personnel and resources to match the mission, and I urge the Department of War to give Florida the force structure it needs to continue keeping our communities safe.”
The letter notes that Florida Guardsmen are currently called out 106 days a year, compared with the 39 duty days required by statute, which drives fatigue and strains retention as the same soldiers and airmen are deployed again and again for hurricane response, disaster relief and overseas missions.
The lawmakers also emphasize that Florida is ready to fill the ranks. The Florida National Guard has maintained an average of 103 percent assigned strength over the past five years, and state military leaders have said Florida draws from a recruitable population larger than that of 28 states. In 2025, the Florida Legislature adopted Senate Memorial 314 urging Congress and the National Guard Bureau to examine the Guard’s allocation and allow an increase in its force structure.
Joining Moody, Patronis and Buchanan in signing the letter are Reps. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Randy Fine (R-Fla.), Scott Franklin (R-Fla.), Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.), Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Cory Mills (R-Fla.), Jimmy Patronis (R-Fla.) and John Rutherford (R-Fla.).
Buchanan has long been a strong advocate for Florida’s service members and for strengthening the state’s disaster preparedness and response. Earlier this year, he secured 10 amendments in the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act.
Read the full letter HERE or below:
Dear Secretary Hegseth:
We write to respectfully urge you to conduct a review of the Florida National Guard’s authorized force structure and to approve an increase in its total allocation. The Florida National Guard carries one of the heaviest operational burdens in the nation with one of the smallest per-capita allocations.
Under 10 U.S.C. § 10503, the Secretary of War—in consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force—sets the end strength allocation for the National Guard Bureau. Governor DeSantis, the Florida Legislature, and the Florida National Guard have made clear that the Florida National Guard stands ready to grow.
The Florida National Guard has roughly 12,000 authorized personnel in total. Although the state population is approximately 23.5 million, there are roughly 53 Guardsmen per 10,000 citizens, which is smaller than states such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Measured per capita, Florida ranks 53rd out of 54 total states and territories that possess a National Guard component.
Reporting has noted that Florida’s total allocation has held at roughly 12,000 for decades even as the state’s population has multiplied several times over.
As Major General John Haas, The Adjutant General of Florida, testified before the State Senate in 2025, Florida is so under- resourced relative to its population that matching the national median ratio of service members to citizens would more than double the Guard’s current force structure.
Florida’s strategic value to the Department of War is unmatched. It plays a critical role in allowing the Joint Force to achieve the administration’s goals set forth in the National Defense Strategy. This is especially true when it comes to homeland defense and ensuring American dominance across the Western Hemisphere. As such, Florida’s impact on executing the objectives of the administration’s priorities is both real and tangible.
The Florida National Guard has one of the highest operational tempos in the country. Earlier this year, state leaders documented that the Florida Guard expended as many workdays in eighteen months as it had in the preceding twenty years.
This was largely driven through the COVID-19 response, hurricane and disaster relief, and overseas deployments. As such, the Florida National Guard has struggled with retention due to high deployment demands, especially since they are currently called out 106 days a year compared to the statutory required 39 duty days.
A force structure frozen in place while both population and mission demand climb steadily forces the repeated redeployment of the same soldiers and airmen, driving fatigue and placing strain on retention.
Florida also offers the Department something that cannot be found in many other states: a deep, willing recruiting base and a demonstrated propensity to serve. State military leadership has publicly stated that Florida draws from a recruitable population larger than that of twenty-eight states and can fill the ranks if given the authorization.
This is backed by sustained performance. The Florida National Guard has maintained an average of 103% assigned strength for the past five years. In short, the demand signal, the strategic rationale, and the manpower supply all point the same direction.
In 2025, the Florida Legislature formally adopted Senate Memorial 314, a memorial to the Congress of the United States urging that the National Guard Bureau examine the present allocations of the Florida National Guard and allow an increase in its force structure.
It cited the National Guard Bureau’s own April 2021 report to Congress, “Impact of U.S. Population Trends on National Guard Force Structure,” which acknowledged that the Guard “may need to evaluate re-allocating mission sets to other geographic areas to keep pace with changing demographics across the country.” Florida’s population trend is precisely the kind of demographic shift the Bureau anticipated.
We are grateful for your service and for your leadership of the Department of War. We kindly ask that the Department give Florida the force structure that is needed to adequately respond to the missions assigned to them. We welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you at your earliest convenience.
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