The joint staff is comprised of members of the Army and Air National Guard who occupy the primary joint staff positions to include personnel, operations, and logistics. Their mission is to ensure readiness to support state emergencies. The Joint Staff oversees two major programs: the State Partnership Program (SPP) and Domestic Operations.

South Dakota and Suriname established their security cooperation agreement in 2006 under National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program. The goal of this program is to partner a state’s national guard with another country to increase security cooperation between the two entities on the premise that can contribute to global stability and security. This is accomplished through key leader engagements, subject matter expert exchanges, leadership courses, and project engineering support.

Domestic Operations support South Dakota citizens and state civil authorities. This support is provided by Soldiers and Airmen across the state, usually in response to state emergencies as declared by the governor or other controlling authority. The Counterdrug program falls under the purview of domestic operations. The mission of the Counterdrug is support the detection, interdiction, disruption, and curtailment of drug trafficking activities through the application of unique military skills and resources. The SDNG supports multiple agencies to include local law enforcement and the FBI, DEA, and DCI.