“The loss of any service member is a tragedy and mitigating loss through enforcing safety protocols and ensuring resources that promote the total health of the force is something the Texas Military Department takes seriously,” the unnamed spokesperson said. “Soldiers don’t have time to prepare being away from home” when they receive such little notice, Featherston said.įor most federal deployments, Guard troops receive several months’ notice, ample time to settle their affairs before having to leave their families and homes for extended periods.Ī spokesperson for the Texas Military Department told the Army Times that “some of these are still part of an open investigation” pending a final cause of death.īut the report said all four deaths occurred via self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Some units received fewer than two weeks’ notice to report to the border during the September and October activations, with one soldier telling the Army Times he only got the heads-up four days in advance. The soaring need for manpower has forced the department to involuntarily call up entire units from the Texas National Guard and mobilize members of the Texas State Guard. Getty ImagesĭHS to close unfinished gaps in border wall in Texas, Arizona and California Critics of Texas Governor Greg Abbott say the order is fueled by politics. West, a former Florida congressman who was also chair of the Texas Republican Party, has made securing the border a major focus of his campaign. Operation Lone Star is distinct from the federally ordered National Guard deployment to assist immigration officials at the southern border.Ĭritics of the operation say it is being fueled by politics and point out that Abbott faces a primary challenge from right-wing firebrand Allen West, a former Army officer who was forced to retire in 2003 after torturing an Iraqi detainee.
“Their inability to focus on the individual soldiers’ needs has cost several lives, and until they, more tragedies will continue to happen.” An investigation from The Army Times has shown that Texas has been involuntarily activating troops from across the state. “The ’s leadership has lost focus on what matters most, and that’s the soldier,” Featherston told the Army Times.
30, questioned the purpose of the mission and the effects the involuntary call-ups are having on soldiers. Jason Featherston, the Texas Army National Guard’s senior enlisted leader from May 2020 until his retirement Nov. The report cited interviews with family members, Guard troops and official documents. Greg Abbott’s order to guard the Lone Star State’s border with Mexico, according to a report.Īn investigation by the Army Times published Thursday found that to meet Abbott’s troop quotas as part of Operation Lone Star, the Guard has resorted to involuntarily activating soldiers from across Texas. Guards were ordered to keep migrants in locked cells during blaze that killed 39: lawyerįour Texas National Guard troops have died in suspected suicides since October as the force rapidly expands to carry out Gov. See Biden’s big border mess with your own eyes US Border Patrol waging war on cartels with migrant ‘stash house’ busts Migrants are loving their stay in NY - but it’s draining our finite resources
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