1. Joint Staff
The Director of the Joint Staff is responsible for the management, leadership and direction of
the Ga. DoD Joint Staff related to defense support to civil authorities, homeland security and
homeland defense.
The Joint Staff is comprised of members of the Georgia Army National Guard, Air National
Guard, and State Defense Force, as well as Department of Defense civilians and contractors.
The purpose of the Joint Staff is to provide the Adjutant General with time-sensitive
intelligence and information relative to issues in Georgia, the United States and the world.
This information may come from NGB, Northern Command (located in Colorado Springs),
or other state or federal government agencies.
The Joint Staff provides a community-based response force that offers ready, rapid support in
defense of the homeland. It seeks to build the strength of the Georgia Department of Defense
through internal and external partnerships.
It does this by leveraging and maintaining liaisons with the Georgia Office of Homeland
Security, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, and other key emergency and law
enforcement officials across the state.
A critical part of the Joint Staff is the Joint Operations Center, currently located at the Clay
National Guard Center in Marietta. The JOC is manned 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, to
provide the critical information and communications node for all information with reference to
homeland security, homeland defense and defense support to civil authorities. It gathers,
synthesizes, and disseminates worldwide relevant and critical information throughout the Ga.
DoD.
The Director of the Joint Staff also has several other programs under his purview.
The Service Support Directorate is responsible for planning, developing, supervising and
directing family programs for Georgia National Guard and Reserve members and their families,
including any family or deployed military personnel – regardless of service or component – at all
levels of contingency and mobilization, with operations throughout the state.
This program also advises the Adjutant General on family readiness, quality of life, other
family program matters, and the development and implementation of work and life services and
activities for Georgia National Guard Family Programs.
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