Texas National Guardsmen conduct night operations training. The Soldiers are part of the Site Security Team, Task Force Raptor, 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment deployed in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, whose mission is to promote regional stability, dissuade conflict, and protect U.S. and coalition interests

 Story by Staff Sgt. Phil Fountain and Laura Lopez

 Maj. Gen. John F. Nichols, the Adjutant General of Texas, and Maj. Gen. Joyce L. Stevens, the Assistant Adjutant General  for Army, have made fiscal responsibility and accountability a focal point for the Texas Army National Guard. 

 “Fiscal responsibility is a top priority,” Nichols said, the state’s senior military official appointed by the governor. “Our goal is  to always be mission-ready, and that includes accounting for our property.”

 Nichols said that the increased number of financial liability investigations in recent years reflects this leadership emphasis.

 “The Texas Army National Guard is the largest Army National Guard force in the nation,” Stevens said. Ninety percent of  our force is part-time, with only a little over ten percent working full-time to ensure deployment readiness.

 “We have more than 19,500 traditional Guard Soldiers that drill one weekend a month,” she said. “Since 9/11, Texas has  deployed Army Guard soldiers throughout the United States and to 40 countries around the world in response to federal  and state requirements,” Stevens said.

 Because of its size, the Texas Army National Guard is responsible for about $2.53 billion in property, which includes  installation property, such as office furniture and buildings, and equipment issued to individual Soldiers, including tents,  canteens and protective armor, said Lt. Col. Stanley E. Golaboff, Director of Logistics for the Texas Army National Guard.

This can be a daunting task in a state that spans 268,000 square miles and includes 96 armories and 17 joint reserve centers.

“We need to know where our property and equipment are so it’s ready when the time comes to respond to a call from our civilian leadership,” Nichols said.

Since 2008, the Texas Army National Guard has documented about $3.5 million in property losses.

“Of the $3.5 million, nearly $2 million occurred during the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade’s recent deployment to Iraq,” Golaboff said. “This includes damaged equipment that has to be documented as a loss, as well as gear that was reabsorbed by the active duty Army logistics system.”

For the last five years, the Texas Army National Guard has had to investigate annually the loss of less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the property entrusted to the organization by the U.S. Army to prepare units for deployment, Golaboff said.

While property can be lost as a result of damage or destruction during a dangerous mission, soldiers can be held liable if they lose or abuse their equipment.

“Our increased investigations have led to the recovery of $500,000 from soldiers,” Golaboff said. “We are determined to ensure that any loss of equipment is properly documented – immediately – and if a service member is found to be the cause, then he or she is held financially liable.”

The state’s military leaders want to ensure the military organization is responsive to Texas taxpayers.

“The Texas Army National Guard remains committed to transparency and accountability to the citizens of Texas while providing the governor and president with ready-trained forces,” Stevens said.

AUSTIN, Texas - As the Texas Army National Guard transitions from the high deployment operational tempo of the Global War on Terrorism, it continues to implement the Campaign on Property Accountability (COPA) with intensity usually reserved for mobilization operations.

ALARACT 210-2010 and EXORD 259-10 outline the Army’s Campaign on Property Accountability. The campaign intends to account for all Army property. Excess equipment or equipment not on record is reintegrated back into the Army supply system to make better use of materiel resources assigned to both units and individuals. Lost equipment is also accounted for, meaning both missing gear, and equipment lost due to damage or destruction during deployment or mobilization.

In the Army National Guard, this effort relies on synchronization between the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics (DCSLOG), G4 supply and the United States Property and Fiscal Office (USPFO).
A prime example of this synchronization has been the ongoing effort to bring the Central Issue Facility- Installation Support Module (CIF-ISM) records of the TXARNG in line with current policy. This effort has included not only the DCSLOG office and USPFO but also the commanders and logistics personnel assigned to TXARNG MTOE and TDA units. The Texas CIF-ISM warehouse contains the clothing records of just over 19,000 current TXARNG Soldiers and is valued at a little over $54 million.

When Soldiers are discharged and still show clothing signed for from the CIF-ISM warehouse, a report, known as the CIF-ISM Discharge Report, is generated, showing a mismatch in the system. Currently, Texas exceeds the COPA goal of less than 5% of mismatched records. 

However, great strides have been and are continuing to be made on the CIF-ISM front of the Campaign on Property Accountability. Over the last six months Texas has seen an 18 percent decrease in the number of records and the overall dollar value of Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) on the monthly CIF Discharge Report.

Texas conducted four regional CIF turns this past year in Midland, Corpus Christi, Houston and Fort Worth. During these week-long turn-ins unit supply sergeants were able to work directly with CIF warehouse personnel to turn in on-hand OCIE from discharged Soldiers and correct errors to numerous individual clothing records. These efforts lead directly to the recovery and reintegration of just under $700,000 of previously report unaccounted gear. 

In addition, unit commanders have spent the last year contacting previous TXARNG soldiers whose records do not show them as clearing the CIF warehouse properly; either by not turning in gear or failing to post turn-in documents if the soldier cleared supply prior to their discharge. These efforts have enabled unit supply sergeants to gather an additional $800,000 worth of gear scheduled for turn-in this fiscal year.

Commanders are also using the Financial Liability Investigation (FLI) process to resolve the accountability of many of these records. There are 700 open FLIs with a value of $1.3 million in OCIE being investigated at this time to determine what if any liability exists for this property being unaccounted for. 

Of course the real aim is to avoid having to resort to these reactive-type measures to ensure property accountability and as such the TXARNG has instituted several proactive steps. Among them is a change in turn-in policy, a more proactive monitoring methodology and a revised storage policy.

IAW with TXARNG policy 12-22 ETS management, soldiers are now informed during their 90-day exit interview with their company commander that if they are still undecided about re-enlisting or have decided to ETS, that they are required to clear supply and turn in all OCIE on their clothing by the end of the following drill weekend. The intent is to ensure all gear is recovered 60 days prior to the soldier’s exiting the service.

A new monthly metric tracked at all levels is the number of unconfirmed OCIE records. An unconfirmed report is generated every time a change is made to an individual’s clothing record. All changes to a soldier’s clothing record are required to be confirmed by the soldier. The soldier can either confirm his clothing record in person or online via the My Clothing tab on AKO. All confirmations are done using the Soldier’s Common Access Card (CAC).

Finally, all commanders are highly encouraged to allow Soldiers to store their OCIE in a secure portion of the armory. Many of the newer facilities come equipped with either individual storage lockers or rooms where soldiers can store locked duffle bags containing their OCIE.

These steps are no by no means an all-inclusive listing of the numerous efforts that commanders and supply personnel are using to maintain property accountability but are just a few highlights of the multiple actions on numerous fronts that occur on a daily basis in the Army’s efforts to implement the Campaign on Property Accountability.

The Texas Army National Guard remains committed to working with soldiers at all levels to increase transparency and property accountability to the citizen of Texas while proving the Governor and President with ready and trained forces.

Aircraft Accident Exercise Tests TXSG
CW2 Janet Schmelzer, PAO, TXSG
2012/10/02
DFW Airport, Texas – A commercial aircraft accident simulation was conducted Saturday, September 29, by a component of the Texas State Guard, with soldiers working alongside the Search One K-9 Unit. The exercise was intended to prepare TXSG soldiers for working with local authorities during a natural or manmade emergency anywhere in Texas.

The TXSG’s 3rd Battalion 4th Regiment’s executive officer, CPT Gary Sherman, said the exercise was a great opportunity for his solders.

“It’s a real privilege to work with the premier K-9 Search team,” said Sherman. “We were training on 350 acres of one of the largest airports in the United States.”

The scenario was that a commercial aircraft had crashed with passengers aboard. The first phase of the exercise included a "Search and Rescue" exercise with the Texas State Guard and Search One K-9 Unit. The second phase of the exercise was a Wide Area Disaster Assessment, relaying the GPS coordinates of critical areas to a Tactical Operations Center.

“Creative training exercises like this keep the Texas State Guard at the forefront of disaster preparedness for the State of Texas,” COL Howard Palmer, commander of the 4th Regiment, commented. “Time in the field is time well spent. We greatly appreciate the good relationship with DFW Airport and Search One K-9. These are great partners serving Texas.”