Story by: Spc Jason Archer

Posted: 4-27-2019

Members of 71st Troop Command, Texas Army National Guard qualified on three different weapons May 3, 2019 at Camp Swift, near Bastrop, Texas. Soldiers from the 100th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, 71st Theater Information Operations Group and 71st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade, qualified on pistols, rifles and machineguns.

Weapons qualification is a requirement of all soldiers in the Army and Army National Guard. The 71st Troop Command uses the annual qualification to keep soldiers ready to answer the call for any mission, stateside or federal.

Sgt. Maj. Jason Morrow, operations sergeant major for the 71st Troop Command, places high importance on the readiness of all Troop Command Soldiers.

“Soldiers’ physical and mental fitness is the foundation for the readiness and lethality of our force,” Morrow said. “It is important for soldiers to be proficient in their advanced individual skills, but they also have to stay relevant by maintaining their soldiering skills.”

To prepare for the shooting range, the 71st used the Integrated Weapons Training Strategy, U.S. Army Training Circular 3-20.0. The publication is a step-by-step manual to prepare soldiers for the shooting range and ultimately make a ready and lethal force. Chapter 4 of the manual includes a six-step process leading up to the range.

Sgt. Matthew Wright, a public affairs specialist with the 100th MPAD, went through the entire process in the months leading up to the firing range. During the simulation portion of his training, his unit used a laser marksmanship training system.

“The laser pop-ups helped me raise my score significantly,” Wright said. “I was more prepared for the targets and controlled my weapon and breathing better.”

Wright qualified on the M-4 rifle and the M-249 machine gun. Going to the range is one of his favorite parts about being in the Texas Army National Guard.

“I really look forward to range day,” said Wright. “It is a break from my routine civilian job, and I get to fire expensive weapons for free. I find myself more excited to go to drill when I know I’m going to be shooting that weekend.”

Success on the range positively effects a soldier’s outlook on being a soldier. Good training is essential to achieve this success.

Soldiers from Troop Command were trained from Preliminary Marksmanship Instruction through the firing range with battle buddies in order to ensure their success.

Pfc. Gunnar Gransbury and Pfc. Clay Ayanna are paralegal assistants for the 71st TIOG’s HHC. Both were coaching each other while on the range. While they were shooting, the pair would help spot targets and check each other’s fundamentals.

“We are pretty new to the unit,” Gransbury said. “I thought it would be harder to qualify since it has been a while since I last shot, but I think I hit 34 out of 40 targets today.”

Morrow further explained the importance of following the training syllabus put out by the Regular Army.

“Any task in the National Guard has the added difficulty of time constraints,” Morrow said. “By following the doctrine and utilizing all the tools available to us, we can make sure our reserve-component soldiers are ready for weapon qualifications and fulfilling their missions.”

Story by Brandon Jones

AUSTIN, Texas- It is a well-known fact the National Guard’s core mission includes fighting America’s wars and securing the homeland, but perhaps a lesser-known mission is that of building enduring partnerships. 

From April 10-13, 2019, members of the Texas National Guard and Chilean Armed Forces converged in Austin, Texas to discuss and celebrate their partnership that started one decade ago. As part of the Annual State Partnership Program Planning Meeting, the parties met to discuss, plan and establish agreed upon activities, in both countries, for the year ahead. The events, held throughout the year, focus on disaster/emergency response; aviation operations, maintenance, and safety; military medical and engineer activities; as well as leadership, staff, officer and noncommissioned officer development. 

“Both our state and their nation have significant responsibilities with regards to disaster response, and experience is often one of the best teachers so what better way to support one another than helping to share and improve upon best practices,” said Maj. Mark White, State Partnership Program Director, Texas Military Department. “An experience our Soldiers and Airmen value, a great secondary benefit to SPP is the exchanging of our cultures and what makes Chile and Texas special places respectively. We create lifelong friendships through every event together.”

In addition to planning events for the fiscal year 2020, this trip included multiple activities commemorating the tenth anniversary of the partnership. On April 12, 2019, the Chilean delegation was presented with a proclamation from the Deputy Secretary of State of Texas, Jose A. Esparza, recognizing and honoring the important partnership between the Texas National Guard and the Republic of Chile. This same group was furthered honored on the House floor of the Texas Capitol prior to signing the formal agreement on the steps of the Texas Capitol. 

“Today’s events, in which representatives from Texas and Chile were standing side-by-side, exemplify the solidarity of our commitment to the program and one another,” said White. “In 2020 we will jointly execute over 40 SPP events in both of our countries as we start our second decade of partnership which strives to be the model for SPP in SOUTHCOM.”

In a Strategic Studies Quarterly article published in 2018 Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, stated SPP is future focused and adaptive to geopolitical changes. Lengyel says NGB has seen the program grow from assisting nations in developing more modern and professional militaries functioning under civilian control to partnerships that look to deepen interoperability with complementary capabilities and forces.

"Beyond the military benefits, we have witnessed the fruits of these relationships as they help the United States maintain and grow its alliances across the globe through enduring and personal relationships," said Lengyel. "What began as a program of 10 partnerships in Eastern Europe has spread across five continents and currently encompasses approximately one-third of the nations in the world."

As part of the program and in addition to Chile, the Texas and Nebraska National Guards share a partnership with the Czech Republic. In 2018, the Czech Armed Forces and its state partners commemorated the 25th anniversary of the union. Under the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program there are currently 76 partnerships in place and support to 83 nations around the globe.

My name is Tracy Keating Ward.  I am one of the therapists with the Texas Military Department.  I have been asked to write a “blog” on forgiveness. Looking back on my career of 22 years as a therapist I have worked in many places:  prisons, probation offices, parole offices, pain clinics and here at Camp Mabry.  What I have learned in the area of “forgiveness” is that FORGIVENESS IS THE BEST MEDICINE.  

    As I see it, Forgiveness comes in many forms.  There is offering forgiveness to those who have hurt you.  There is requesting forgiveness from those you have hurt.  There is requesting forgiveness from your Higher Power.  And last, but not least, there is forgiveness for yourself. One thing I do know is that we all make mistakes.  These mistakes hurt others.  These mistakes also can be the agent to bring about change and healing.

    Years ago, when I worked in the criminal justice arena, all my clients were convicted felons.  One day I heard a young chaplain speaking to a group of my clients.  He started his talk by saying, “Hello Brothers.”  This was such a compassionate kind and totally unexpected greeting.  These men looked at themselves as the worse of the worse.  For a chaplain to refer to them with the sincere greeting of “Brothers” made a huge difference.  As the chaplain talked he referred to self responsibility and said something I have never forgotten.  He said, “When you offended, you offended against your own self.”  HUH?  For a moment I thought he meant to say… “When you offended, you offended against your victim, your family, and your community.”  Hurt themselves?  How?  How is this true?  I had never had this thought or spent anytime in therapy sessions looking at how their actions had impacted their own self.  I had completely left my client’s healing out of the equation.  The chaplain continued by saying that each time we hurt someone we hurt our own soul.  What an interesting concept.  We have to be held responsible for how we treat ourselves, not just others.  WE EACH MATTER.

    My next place of employment was a Pain Clinic.  I saw 6-8 clients a day who suffered from various degrees of chronic pain.  Research states that 70 to 80 percent of all people who suffer from chronic pain have an unresolved traumatic event in their past.  I witness each day how people’s anger, sadness, fear, and resentment all impeded their desire to forgive and their bodies just did not heal.  I also witness people choosing to forgive those that hurt them (many times these were family members who were suppose to love and protect them) and then close the door on the past.  They did not deny that the trauma occurred or that they were not hurt.  Just the opposite.  They chose to accept that they were hurt (abused), that it happened in the past, that they no longer wanted to spend anymore of the present time concentrating on the trauma and that they forgave the person by “wishing them well and wishing them no harm” (a version of agape love or the love you give to your neighbor).  Many were people of faith and they made the decision to let their Higher Power be the True Judge of the situation.  As for themselves, they chose to give up their desire for vengeance and with it the anger and resentment that accompanied it. I saw these client’s pain reduce, their bodies heal, and their mind’s become still and peaceful.  Sometimes we don’t even realize how much of TODAY we lose by reliving the ugly events of yesterday.  

    Now working with soldiers I experience another type of struggle with forgiveness.  Forgiving yourself.  Soldiers tend to forgive others much easier than they forgive themselves.  That may be due to the fact that they have a higher level of standard for themselves than they do for others.  By the time a soldier comes to a therapy session with me he/she has usually struggled with their own guilt and shame for a while, even to the point of suicide.  I love to share with the soldiers the following quote:

    We think that we feel regret about a mistake then ask for forgiveness, when actually the forgiveness has already been sent, that is why we feel the regret. 
Sufi Saint 

    I love this quote because it brings so much relief and so much grace.  Within minutes many of the soldier’s eyes tear up.  There is mercy in the quote because for many they had thought they had committed the “unforgivable sin.”  That thought leads to depression, separation, and hopelessness.  Forgiveness of yourself leads to healing. 

    So in conclusion, here is what I have learned about Forgiveness from my best teachers...my clients.

•    Forgiveness is the best medicine… and it is free, no prescription needed.
•    All of us have made mistakes and need to request forgiveness sometime in our lives.
•    We have a responsibility to care for ourselves and when we offend against others we offend against ourselves and need to forgive ourselves too. 
•    You cannot fool the body.  It won’t heal when it is angry, resentful, fearful or sad. 
•    Forgiveness brings tremendous healing for our body, mind and soul.
•    If all possible, forgive then shut the door to the past.  Doing so will make room to enjoy the present.

If you want to discuss more about the Healing Aspects of Forgiveness talk to a therapist, chaplain, or your spiritual leader.  What do you have to lose, except a lot of pain.

Peace.

Tracy K. Ward, LPC-S