About the Virginia Defense Force
The Virginia Defense Force is authorized by Section 44-54.4 of the Code of Virginia as the all-volunteer reserve of the Virginia National Guard, and the VDF serves as a force multiplier integrated into all VNG domestic operations.
Members of the VDF volunteer their time for training and community support and are only paid when called to state active duty by an authorization from the Governor of Virginia.
The VDF’s primary lines of effort are operations center augmentation, interoperable communications and cyber network defense as well as direct support to the VNG with logistics, medical, chaplain, legal and public information capabilities.
Current strength is approximately 200, and membership is a cross section of former or retired military, law enforcement, fire and emergency medial services professionals along with a younger generation of Virginians looking to serve the commonwealth in a state military organization in an emergency response environment.
Read the VDF 2024 Year in Review:
Brief history of the VDF:
In response to the 1917 federalization of the Virginia National Guard, the Commonwealth of Virginia created the Virginia State Volunteers to support civil authorities. They were renamed the Virginia Volunteers and guarded bridges, waterways, fuel storage areas and public buildings and facilities. The Virginia Volunteers were deactivated in 1921 when the Virginia National Guard returned home from World War I.
Following the 1940 Nazi defeat of the French army, Virginia Governor James Hubert Price ordered the establishment of the Virginia Protective Force, which assumed the in-state missions of the Virginia National Guard after it was called to federal service. In 1944, the Virginia General Assembly changed the name of the Virginia Protective Force to the Virginia State Guard, and it was deactivated when the Virginia National Guard returned from federal service in June 1947.
The Virginia General Assembly amended the Code of Virginia in 1981 to permit a Virginia State Guard to once again exist during peacetime, and organizational meetings continued for several years. The Virginia State Guard State Headquarters was formally established on April 18, 1984, which is considered the founding date of the modern Virginia Defense Force.
The Virginia General Assembly amended the Code of Virginia on March 1, 1986, to change the name of the Virginia State Guard to the Virginia Defense Force.
Read the latest news about the VDF on the Virginia National Guard news web site.