Justices rule unanimously for Air Guard members
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Seven federal civilian employees of the U.S. Air Force legally entitled to 15 days of paid military leave were denied that opportunity while serving on active duty with the South Dakota Air National Guard, according to the South Dakota Supreme Court.
In an opinion released Thursday, the state's high court ruled against the South Dakota Department of the Military and its head, Adjutant General Mark Morrell, commander of the South Dakota Air and Army National Guard.
The justices found that Adjutant General Morrell had denied the seven the opportunity of taking paid military leave while on active duty.
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Circuit Judge Douglas Hoffman had ruled against the group of Tyler Christiansen, Trevor Dietrich, Shaun Donelan, Matthew Hendrickson, Kelsey Lambert, Ethan May and Christopher Thacker.
The Supreme Court with its Thursday ruling concluded that the seven are entitled to military leave and sent back the case for further action.
The case has been described as the first of its kind in the nation.
The seven serve as dual-status technicians who work for the U.S. Air Force during the week and are also Air National Guard members who participate in monthly drills and annual training.
At issue was which federal title they were serving under during their active deployments.
The Supreme Court found that the Air National Guard didn't allow the seven to accrue the paid military leave and therefore weren't allowed to use it during their active duty.
Justice Mark Salter wrote the high court's unanimous opinion. 'Doing so would have allowed them to obtain 15 days of paid military leave from their civilian jobs in addition to their military pay,' he stated.
Here's how Justice Salter explained the situation: 'Members of the South Dakota National Guard are subject to state military law which, among other things, establishes the Governor as thecommander in chief…But a Guard member's status changes when called to federal service inan active-duty component of the armed forces. The President is their commander in chief, their chain of command is comprised of other federal service members, and they are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.'
Justice Salter wrote that as Guard members the seven were under the governor's command via Title 32 but, when they received Title 10 orders to active duty, they fell under the president's command. The justice summarized it this way: '(T)heir duties changed from organizing, administering, recruiting, instructing, or training the reserve components to supporting active-duty operations, missions, or exercises.'
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