Department Of Military Affairs

Department of Military Affairs, doing business as National Guard of New Mexico, is a state government entity operating as a federal grant recipient that manages operations, maintenance, security, training, and youth development programs for Army and Air National Guard installations and personnel in New Mexico under cooperative agreements with the Department of Defense. The organization holds no federal contracts as a prime, serves exclusively as a grant recipient (98% of its 232-award footprint), and operates as a subordinate child entity of the State of New Mexico.

The National Guard of New Mexico's federal funding concentrates entirely within the Department of Defense's National Guard structure. The Department of the Army National Guard and the Department of the Army New Mexico Army National Guard together account for 210 awards (approximately 91% of the total portfolio), while the Department of the Air Force Air National Guard holds 13 awards. Three Department of the Army awards and two Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service awards round out the customer base. All funding flows through cooperative agreements under congressionally directed, non-discretionary National Guard Military Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Projects programs (CFDA 12.401) and the National Guard ChalleNGe youth development initiative (CFDA 12.404).

The organization's operational footprint spans eleven recurring program categories executed in New Mexico: Army National Guard facilities operations and maintenance ($3.67 million as of October 2025), security guard activities ($1.34 million), command, control, communications, computers, and information management services ($357 thousand), training support systems ($145 thousand), electronic security systems ($100 thousand), environmental programs and resources management ($483 thousand), distributed learning programs ($479 thousand), antiterrorism program coordination, and Air National Guard facilities operations and maintenance ($286 thousand). Youth development work includes the National Guard ChalleNGe Program (CFDA 12.404), which received $5.8 million for fiscal year 2025–2026 and $3.0 million for the Job Challenge Program component, serving at-risk youth aged 16–18 with residential military-based training, work experience, mentoring, and high school credential completion support.

Cooperative agreements follow a standardized annual cycle: the National Guard of New Mexico submits program budgets to Department of Defense program managers, who either accept or negotiate the requests before the Grants Officer executes the agreement. Awards run on federal fiscal-year cycles (October 1 through September 30) with performance occurring solely in New Mexico. The organization maintains cost and expenditure records for three years following award closeout as required by award terms. Activity has remained stable over the past five years (12–14 awards annually from 2022 through 2025), with only two awards scheduled for completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal recompete exposure in the near term. The National Guard of New Mexico also receives sub-awards from the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for emergency protective measures and other disaster-response activities, as well as sub-awards from the New Mexico Public Education Department related to school nutrition programs.