I’m a member of the 3rd BN, 49th MP BDE, ASDF. I’m a veteran of the USAF Tactical Air Control Party and deployed to Iraq twice with the US Army providing Close Air Support on the battlefield. I can tell you that the ASDF and Civil Air Patrol do vastly more than you sneer at. ASDF is a police agency for the State of Alaska, every member trains to become a Constable or is a Constable (even if the mission seems like it might change). In effect, we are like many Reserve Police Officers in other states, trained to the same level as regular Police officers but only called up in emergencies. Civil Air Patrol does a lot up here in Alaska also, with the highest per capita of private pilot licensees, they the provide critical role in search and rescue… But then if you don’t live in Western State with wide open countryside to crash in, you’d never know….

As a combat veteran, I can tell you ASDF might not be the most highly trained unit I’ve worked with, but it is far from the least trained unit I’ve ever worked with. It is a professional military organization worthy of its ancestors the Minutemen and Alaska Territorial Guard (look up the Aleutian Campaign in World War II and Kiska Task Force).

Also, if you look up the relevant National Guard Regulations and applicable laws, the Governor is the Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard and along with State Legislature, has the same powers Congress does for the US military in approving and commissioning officers, setting policy, and the like unless the National Guard is ‘Federalized’ and actively serving a Federal tasking.

“While the 49th is an Alaska National Guard unit, Hildreth reports to Colonel Michael Yowell, commander of the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, based in Colorado.”

So apparently even if Palin WAS in charge of the Alaska National Guard, she would NOT be Commander in Chief when it came to this “special” unit. Funny that the original blogger who wrote this up never mentioned that. Note that this blogger never actually said that Palin commanded the 49th. He or she only said that the 49th was in Alaska. Hmm…

It’s scary how fast misinformation can travel. This particular misinformation already appears on dozens of websites (often plagiarized, I may add).