Military 101: Orders 

By Morgan Thomas, CSG Policy Associate 

What are Military Orders? 

Military orders are the official documents that verify a service member’s past, current or future military service. In the United States Armed Forces, there are three classifications of orders: Title 10, Title 32 and State Active Duty (SAD). The type of order a service member operates under determines who’s in charge, who provides funding and what benefits they are entitled to receive.

How Orders are Applied Varies by Military Component

The U.S. military is made up of two components: active duty or reserves. The reserve component consists of the federal reserves and the National Guard. Only the Air Force and the Army have a National Guard component. Active duty and reservists fall under the federal government and can only serve under Title 10 orders of the U.S. Code. The National Guard, however, is the only U.S. military component that can operate on three types of orders: Active Duty (Title 10), Full-Time National Guard Duty (Title 32) and State Active Duty (SAD). Military orders are a critical element in determining eligibility for state or federal military benefits and entitlements and funding for active and retired service members.

	Title 10	Title 32	SAD
Command	President	Governor	Governor
Who Performs Duty	Active Duty, Reserves, and National Guard	National Guard	National Guard or State Militia
Location of Duty	Worldwide	Continental U.S.	Continental U.S.
Pay	Federal Pay & Allowances	Federal Pay & Allowances	Pay in Accordance with State Law

Order Classification Types: Title 10, Title 32, and SAD 

Title 10: Active Duty 

The term “active duty” means full-time active military service. This term is used to describe U.S. service members who fall under Title 10 of the U.S. Code. Active duty and the reserves always fall under federal authority and can only serve on Title 10 orders. However, National Guard members ordered to federal active duty can also serve on Title 10 orders, domestically and abroad. Title 10 orders require federal-level activation and are funded with federal dollars. Federal activation for guardsmen occurs when a member of the National Guard is directed by the president to report for federal active-duty military service.

Below are some examples of different variations of Title 10 orders according to the U.S. Code: 

• 10 U.S.C. §12301 — Reserve Components Generally: Under the consent of the governor, a member of the National Guard may volunteer to be ordered to active duty. 
• 10 U.S.C. §12302 — Ready Reserve: If the president declares a national emergency, the Secretary of Defense may order any unit under the jurisdiction of that Secretary to active duty for no more than 24 consecutive months.
• 10 U.S.C. §12304 — Selected Reserve and Certain Individual Ready Reserve Members; Order to Active Duty other than during a war or national emergency: The president may authorize the secretary of each branch to order any unit to active duty to augment active forces for operational mission support for no more than 365 days. 
• 10 U.S.C. §12406 — National Guard in Federal Service: The Air and Army National Guard may be called into federal service by the president in the case of invasion, rebellion or the inability to execute federal law with active-duty forces. 
• 10 U.S.C. §251— Federal Aid to State Governments: In the event of an insurrection against the government in any state, the president may authorize the militia of other states, at the request of a governor or its legislature, to utilize the armed forced to suppress the insurrection. This section is a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act. 
• 10 U.S.C. §253 — Interference with State and Federal Law: The president may authorize the use of the militia, armed forces, both or by any other means, to suppress insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination or conspiracy of it within a state.

Title 32: Inactive Duty Training and Full-Time National Guard Duty 

The National Guard is unique in that it can serve in both federal and state missions, unlike its reserve and active-duty counterparts. Reporting to the federal and state government allows the National Guard to be activated in response to different crises. Although the National Guard can be activated under Title 10 orders, Title 32 orders serve as the federal level active-duty service equivalent for members of the National Guard. Title 32 orders delineated in Title 32 of the U.S. code allow governors to activate the National Guard for homeland defense during emergencies and natural disasters with the approval of the president or secretary of defense. National Guardsmen also perform their drill training, annual training and temporary duty assignments (TDYs) on Title 32 orders. Although Title 32 orders are funded with federal dollars, they can only be applied to domestic state level missions.

Below are examples of different variations of Title 32 orders:

• 32 U.S.C. §502 — This statute allows members of a state’s National Guard to be ordered to perform full-time National Guard duty to perform operational activities such as assembling for drill and instruction, indoor target practice and participation in training exercises. 
• 32 U.S.C. §904 — Homeland Defense Duty: Members of the National Guard acting under this chapter are considered to be full-time National Guard duty under section 502(f). Members of the National Guard performing full-time National Guard duty in the Active Guard and Reserve Program may support or execute homeland defense activities under this chapter.

State Active Duty (SAD) 

State Active Duty orders, commonly referred to as SAD orders, are another type of order that only a member of the National Guard can serve under. A governor can activate the National Guard on SAD orders in response to natural disasters or Homeland Defense missions. When operating on SAD orders, guardsmen fall under the sole command and control of the governor. The Posse Comitatus Act does not apply to SAD orders; therefore, guardsmen may act in a law enforcement capacity when serving on these orders.

States directly fund SAD orders, and the orders are subject to state statutes. As a result, the pay scale for guardsmen on SAD orders is different from federal orders. Additionally, SAD orders do not count as qualifying active – duty service per the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs definition. In contrast to Title 10 and Title 32 orders, guardsmen serving on SAD orders do not have access to federal disability compensation, federal retirement benefits or active – duty healthcare benefits. Although active duty and the reserves can only operate on Title 10 orders, members of the National Guard can serve on Title 10, Title 32 and SAD orders. The ability to serve on all three order types can be attributed to the flexibility of the National Guard. The National Guard serves both the state and the federal government; thus, orders play a critical role in allowing guardsmen to respond to a wide variety of missions locally, nationally and internationally.