Operation Lone Star’s sudden and rapid expansion has left many Texas guardsmen struggling to balance their military and civilian lives, sometimes with tragic results.
Summary
- The string of suicides raises urgent questions about the mission’s conditions and purpose, as well as the way it’s organized and manned through indefinite involuntary call-ups, according to the Texas Army National Guard’s former top enlisted soldier.
- What’s going on out thereThe increased demand for troops on the border meant that the department had to resort to involuntarily activating entire units from the Texas National Guard and mobilizing members of the Texas State Guard.
- For most federal deployments, Guard troops receive several months’ notice and are carefully walked through a mobilization process that helps them settle their civilian affairs.
- (Texas National Guard)According to press releases from the TMD and Texas Public Department Safety, Guard troops have been helping to build border barriers, man lookout posts, and in some cases, even arrest migrants.
- Guard troops in a state active duty status there are considered state employees and cannot be ordered to not carry their own weapons.