BUFFALO, N.Y. — Centuries of time brings with it change. But in New York, there’s one group that survived through time that you might not have heard of: the New York Naval Militia.

"New York really is a maritime state, so there's a great history of that," said Captain Jay Dutcher, the operations officer for the New York Naval Militia.

Naval militias were started in the 1800s, after naval numbers started shrinking post-Civil War. At their height, there were 30. Now, there are only three, and New York's is one of them.

"We actually have more coastline than most other states. People don't think about that," said Dutcher. "But [you have] Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence Seaway Lake Champlain, the Hudson, and of course Long Island."

Dutcher joined a few years back, nearing the end of his service in the Naval Reserves.

"I discovered the naval militia and discovered that's a great way to still contribute to hometown folks right here in New York," he said. "New York is the oldest and the longest continuous naval militia in the country."

The militia has seen its fair share of action.

"It was its own independent force from the 1800s up through essentially World War II," he explained. "In fact, the New York Naval Militia mobilized for the Spanish American War, and sent several full ships down to Cuba for that war, completely staffed by New York Naval Militia members."

Nowadays, the militia falls under federal branches.

"Most people go about their civilian lives until they're called to duty," Dutcher said.

By law, no less than 95% of the militia must be made up of active reservists.

"The governor in New York can call upon Naval reservists, Marine Corps and Coast Guard reservists, who sign up separately to be part of the Naval Militia," he explained. "So there's about 3,200 members."

From protecting ship passengers during a cholera outbreak in 1892, to helping in recovery efforts during 9/11, to preventing flooding off Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in recent years, the militia has missions across the state.

"Now there's about 440 members — Navy, Coast Guard and Marine — who are on state duty for the asylum seeker mission. Most of those are in the New York City area," Dutcher said. "Most recently, not really a big event, but it was big here in Buffalo, was the eclipse and so the the Coast Guard requested that we have these [two crafts] available for safety and security out on the water."

Dutcher is looking forward to continuing and building on those 100-plus years of service.

"The governor increasingly is turning to the Naval Militia to augment the Army and Air National Guard for Homeland Security or natural disaster response," he said. "We welcome any interest that people may have. We'd be happy to have them."