BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Texas National Guard engineers continued to add concertina wire along the border to help stop the flow of illegal migrant traffic crossing into the US near Brownsville, Texas in late May.  

The engineers have laid miles and miles of fencing along the border and their efficiency has been a key factor in the slowing of the migrant crossings. They have worked nearly nonstop, especially for the last three weeks after the ending of Title 42. 

Spc. Jarret Rhames has been in the Texas National Guard for nearly three years. His job is to build fortifications and slow down the migrants from breaching the fencing. He said he takes pride in being in the military, and being on this mission because of his family history. 

“My father and his father are prior service, and I am fifth generation in my family serving in the military,” Rhames said. “It was also a sense of purpose for me to serve something bigger than myself.” 

 

Rhames decided to go into combat engineering because he found it an interesting job.  

 

“They offered me a job as a combat engineer and I it sounded really interesting to me, cool, fun and something I can get enjoyment out of,” Rhames said. 

Rhames said he and his team of engineers are making a difference protecting the border.  

 “The work we put in everyday, personally makes a huge difference,” Rhames said. “When we aren’t putting fencing along the border, we are on private properties that we get contracted with to build fences along their property lines and that gives those people a peace of mind.” 

CAMP ROBINSON, Ark. – Four members of the Texas Army National Guard won the 52nd Annual Winston P. Wilson Championship, April 29- May 5, 2023, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The National Guard hosts the Winston P. Wilson Championship annually to promote marksmanship training. This competition offers National Guardsmen an opportunity to test marksmanship skills and weapon systems in a battle-focused environment.

“Marksmanship is the quintessential skill of a Soldier,” said U.S. Army Col. Kevin Crawford, 176th Engineer Brigade commander. “Having Soldiers of this caliber is a force multiplier to having trained, mission-ready forces. The outcome was fantastic, allowing their world-class performance to take the competition.”

These Soldiers are dedicated to excellence and spend countless hours of their own time mastering their individually assigned weapons, Crawford added.

The Texas Army National Guard team, known as the Texas Alpha Team, was comprised of Sgt. 1st Class Charles Stevener, Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Duron, both from 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Lt. Samuel Slichter of 386th Engineer Battalion, 176th Engineer Brigade, and Capt. Ross Buntyn of 111st Engineer Battalion, 136th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Buntyn served as team captain of the Texas Alpha Team.

Texas Alpha Team took home team awards from the competition including High Overall Team Aggregate and High Overall Rifle Team Aggregate, and numerous individual awards including 1st Place Overall Novice, 1st Place Rifle Novice, 3rd Place Rifle Novice, and 3rd Place Pistol Novice.

“The team was successful due to our consistency –this consistency--regardless of weather conditions, fatigue, time of day, or match format led to our success,” said Slichter. “As a team, we consistently placed around the top 10 and as individuals placed in the top quarter.”

Our consistency is rooted in a firm grasp of the fundamentals of marksmanship, added Slichter.

Established in September of 1971 by Major General Winston P. Wilson, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, the first rifle and pistol championships took place at Camp Robinson, Ark.
 
In 2007, the competition was revamped, and new courses of fire were implemented to enhance combat survivability and evaluate the capability of Service Members (SMs) to effectively employ their service weapons.

While basic marksmanship techniques are still an integral part of the competition, a particular emphasis has been put on combat realism, physical exertion and close individual and team coordination.

The Texas Alpha Team competed in 29 different marksmanship challenges during both the day and night, utilizing their M4A1 carbine and M17 service weapons.

The challenges included individual and team events, ranging from close-quarter battle scenarios to long-distance shooting.

The weeklong competition was grueling. The team navigated strong winds, harsh sunlight, exhaustion, and a variety of shooting formats.

“Each member was encouraging and did not allow any setbacks to negatively affect each other's performance,” said Buntyn. “As a team, we meshed very well and played off of each other’s strengths. We did our best to take learning points from each match, maintain a professional attitude, and remained emotionally detached from the outcome, which allowed us to perform consistently.”

This year, 57 four-SM teams representing 43 states and territories participated in the competition. In the end, the Texas Alpha Team was left standing at the top.

“I am very proud of the performance of the Texas Alpha team,” said Buntyn. “The competition at the 2023 WPW was very tough and overall scores were much higher when compared to previous years. It was clear that each state sent their best available competitors.”

The support for this team was instrumental to its success.

The unseen professionals who supported the team made significant contributions in the form of initial planning, WARNO/OPORDs, administration, budgeting, meals, ammunition, range control, logisticians, range support personnel, weapons, and most importantly the support of commanders and families of the participants.

“I must thank Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Brown for his support as well as each unit of the members of the team,” said Buntyn. “Without their support, we would not have been able to prepare for and compete in the competition.”

The support the team received enabled the Texas Alpha Team to train without distraction or burden.

“Congratulations to Texas Alpha Team and thank you to the Adjutant General and Texas Military Department for your trust and support of the competitive marksmanship program,” said Brown, team organizer. “The state-level matches start again in January. Texas will need new marksmen that can ‘Come and Take It’.”

As champion marksmen and leaders, Texas Alpha Team will inevitably disperse back to the ranks in positions of increased responsibility and enhance proficiency and lethality of individually assigned weapons, Brown added.

“2023 Winston P. Wilson (WPW) Texas Alpha Team win is truly a Team Texas win,” said Crawford. “Texas Alpha Team is comprised of four carefully selected, high functioning marksmen whose shots inside the “X” ring at WPW will have lasting impacts on marksmanship within the Texas Army National Guard.”

LAREDO, Texas-- Texas National Guard Soldiers stopped illegal immigrants from wading across the Rio Grande River, and directed them back to Mexico, May 22, 2023. Soldiers worked with their law enforcement partners, the Department of Public Safety brush teams, and responded to a sensor that alerted them of illegal aliens trying to gain access to Texas.

Texas Soldiers were able to stop the illegal aliens before they entered the United States. After being stopped the would-be crossers were directed by helicopters back to Mexico.

Operation Lone Star has Texas National Guard soldiers working with DPS Troopers to prevent, deter, and interdict transnational illegal activity in their areas of operation.

El Paso, Texas —Florida sent nearly 500 Florida National Guard Soldiers to the Texas - Mexico border in support of Operation Lone Star, May 21, 2023.

The Guardsmen from the sunshine state arrived Sunday and spread out across the Texas border from Del Rio/Eagle Pass and El Paso to other points where they could make the most impact. The Soldiers will be assisting Troopers from The Texas Department of Public Safety and working with Texas Guardsmen on Operation Lone Star.

The arriving Soldiers will boost current operations, and focus on safeguarding our border. They will work alongside the Texas National Guard and Texas law enforcement partners to detect, deter and interdict transnational criminal activity between points of entry. The mission remains the same; to deny all illegal entry into Texas and the US.

by: Airman 1st Class Asiah Phillips, 147th Attack Wing, Texas Air National Guard

HONOLULU, Hawaii - Members of the 147th Air Support Operations Squadron sharpened their ability to operate in jungle-like terrain during a 10-day exercise in Hawaii. 

The overall objective of the training was to prepare the 147th Tactical Air Control Party Specialists and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers in the Texas Air National Guard for success in the Pacific Theater.

TACP is one of the two weapons systems supported by the 147th Attack Wing on Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston. In the past, they have served as a liaison between the Air Force and Army by supporting air strikes, maximizing firepower on the ground, and collecting data for the combatant commander. Recently, TACP has shifted its focus to be more Air Force-centric.

Lt. Col. Steven Kroll, 147th ASOS commander, and Master Sgt. Justin Tassin, 147th ASOS operations superintendent, chose to train in Honolulu in April due to its ability to mimic the tropical terrain found in Pacific regions. In previous conflicts, TACPs trained in desert-like environments. With the current geopolitical climate, it has become increasingly important to be able to operate in the Pacific.

“For the wing commander, the objective is to be ready to fight at any time. This is how we do it,” said Kroll. “This is testing our ability as a unit to mobilize, deploy and operate in an unfamiliar environment.”

Tassin partnered with Air Force, Marine Corps, Army and Navy squadrons in Hawaii to coordinate the exercises and logistics of the field training. 

Most of the ground training was led by survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists from the 15th Operations Support Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam with the 25th ASOS at Wheeler Army Air Field.

“It has been a true joint effort as far as the training aspect,” said Tassin. “It’s a training wonderland for all of the objectives that we can accomplish. You can come here and accomplish a full mission set with the environment and the Marines and Army here.”

The 147th ASOS is focused on succeeding in any theater, regardless of the location. They will continue to sharpen their skills through joint force partnerships to achieve their objectives.

By Major Phoebe Sisk, Texas State Guard

The Art and Science of Becoming a Leader  

Austin - You'll need to be at the top of your class with straight A's if you're applying to USMA (better known as West Point), but even so, most who aspire to attend will fall into the 90% of applicants who are not accepted.  

Not so for Texas State Guard Chief of Staff Colonel Darren Fitz Gerald, who will tell you that he chose to attend West Point because it was the only college that did accept him out of the handful of highly competitive, nationally ranked institutions to which he applied. “I was wait-listed by Duke, Dartmouth, John Hopkins, and other service academies,” he said.   

As a world premier leader-development institution and the most prestigious military academy in the world, West Point is consistently ranked among the top colleges in the country, admitting 1000-1400 new “plebes” each year who fall in to join the total ranks of 4400 cadets for the Acceptance Day parade. According to Fitz Gerald, not all plebes who start will finish. “Of the 1310 in my class, only 929 actually graduated,” he said.   

As West Point seeks candidates with academic prowess, physical fitness, leadership potential, and a congressional or service-related nomination, Fitz Gerald, is presented as the ideal profile. Raised by hardworking parents, Fitz Gerald assimilated their good example of discipline and ethics to become a well-rounded, high school high achiever.   

Earning exemplary grades as an honor student, Fitz Gerald was also an accomplished athlete, playing soccer and serving as the varsity captain of the track team. Additionally, he demonstrated maturity and self-governance by mentoring and caring for his two younger siblings; holding an after-school job; writing for the school paper; and keeping the company of other high achievers.   

With just the right variables of nature and nurture in his Massachusetts upbringing, Fitz Gerald was a self-avowed “born conformist” who benefited from the influence of his parents' German and Irish heritage in developing their same sensibilities of grit and extreme order in the household.   

Raised in a home built in 1720, the house, and especially the kitchen, was immaculately maintained without exception. And sleeping in sub-freezing temperatures, with only a wood-burning stove for warmth, was never viewed as a hardship but rather as a practicality of daily life.   

Fitz Gerald describes the dedication of his parents in sharing the responsibilities of bringing in income for the family, with his father working as an x-ray department administrator during the day and his mother working as a hospital lab tech at night. “My parents just did what needed to be done,” he said. “It wasn’t until I was a parent myself that I realized the degree of their sacrifice to provide for us. We weren’t wealthy but I was raised in a home in which all my needs were provided for, and I never once wondered whether I was loved,” said FitzGerald.   

Fitz Gerald describes a surprisingly easy integration into life at West Point, based on his ability to respond instinctively to the training environment. The philosophical approach of no excuses and no wasted words or actions had become second nature due to his own parents’ unspoken code of ethics. “I realized in the first few weeks that I was good at being a cadet,” he said, “and at 18 months, I really understood and embraced the commitment I was making to the military.”  

Fitz Gerald’s natural fit in the West Point environment led to career experiences beyond his four years of schooling, including obtaining a master’s degree in leadership and counseling in 2002-2003 and joining the staff, originally as a TAC officer. Later, FitzGerald would become a Professor of Military Science and Commandant of Cadets for Wentworth Military Academy & College.   

To date, mentoring young persons and assisting in their professional and personal development remains the most significant accomplishment of his career. “I am most fulfilled in helping people reach their potential,” says Fitz Gerald.   

Piotr Drwal, currently training to be a pilot in the Army, benefitted from the mentoring of Fitz Gerald as a cadet under his tutelage at Wentworth Military Academy and College in Lexington, Missouri, where Fitz Gerald served as Dean of Students and Commandant of Cadets through 2017.  

According to Drwal, Fitz Gerald used every opportunity to ensure his growth as a cadet, treating him as family and taking time to give detailed input to ensure success. “We believed as cadets that he did not make mistakes- he appeared to be everywhere, ready to give feedback on what ‘right’ looks like and to hypothesize scenarios to share lessons learned,” he said.   

This input early on, according to Drwal, has enormously impacted the military leader that he is today. “COL Fitz Gerald is someone that I wanted to emulate within my military career- I knew it would be hard, but I like to aim high. He set a notable example and is an inspirational person who has positively affected thousands of people,” said Drwal.   

Leading with Intent 

As someone who has mastered the art of instruction, Fitz Gerald appreciates West Point as the optimal training environment due to students being a captive audience- with zero distractions- who will have no choice but to embrace the challenges before them.   

“Cadets are given progressive increases in responsibility with room to fail,” said Fitz Gerald.  “Additionally, participation is mandatory- cadets can’t escape, they can’t hide, they can’t opt out... they must face the task at hand head-on and grow from it. Inevitably, in every situation, they will learn to succeed because there is no other choice...it's the immersive environment at a military school that sets it apart from other environments.”  

In his twenty-year career in the active-duty military, Fitz Gerald learned one of his most difficult leadership lessons during deployment to Afghanistan. After two company commanders were killed in action, Fitz Gerald came to understand well the criticality of having trained and ready personnel. “It’s important that you have other leaders who are mentally prepared and equipped to step in as immediately as necessary,” he said.  

Also born of extreme circumstances during his tour of Afghanistan was the honing of his instincts to know and trust subordinate officers. “One of the most significant decisions I had to make while deployed was to go against the intent of a senior commander in order to support a junior commander’s decision to put the safety of his team above a recovery mission,” said Fitz Gerald. “I was well familiar with his extensive background in special operations and understood why he was making the call- it was the right choice,” he said.   

Whether in war or garrison, Fitz Gerald maintains that integrity is the most important leadership trait in that it informs all other principles of leadership- and because, without it, trust is not possible within an organization.   

By all indications, Fitz Gerald has excelled in winning the trust of other senior leaders on the Texas State Guard staff, including those tried and tested combat veterans who do not necessarily give it freely.   

Texas State Guard Sergeant Major and retired Army veteran Juli Blenis has worked with COL Fitz Gerald since 2017 and acknowledges his willingness to execute tough decisions. “He is one of those leaders who has the integrity to do the right thing, even if it means he stands alone,” she said. “He’s an intelligent man and has demonstrated, over and over again through his actions, that integrity equals honor.”    

Texas State Guard T-1 Master Sgt. Gerald Steward has worked with the Chief of Staff for the past 3 years and speaks plainly when it comes to his opinion of COL FitzGerald. “He’s the best leader I’ve worked for in 21 ½ years of federal service and two combat tours, hands down,” he said. “He’s very smart, fair, impartial, and a good listener- and even when he doesn’t agree with you, which he will readily do, he explains his reasons so that you leave the conversation feeling respected,” said Steward. “I also appreciate that he is a critical thinker, and he challenges us, as his staff, to read and be critical thinkers as well.”  

Other staff members agree that Fitz Gerald is the best choice for the position he holds.   

According to Lieutenant Colonel Daniel McCarroll, Deputy T-3 for Operations, “COL FitzGerald is level-headed with a calming presence, and is unquestionably the right face for the TXSG because of his military bearing and experience.”    

McCarroll considers one of Fitz Gerald’s most valuable traits to be his readiness to engage in dynamic discussions about leadership, which includes sharing relevant experiences from Fitz Gerald’s days as an elite soccer coach. “Coaching and leadership go hand in hand in that the best leaders make coaching a part of their job,” said   
McCarroll. “It’s amazing what you can learn about leadership from a good coach.”  

Moreover, McCarroll appreciates Fitz Gerald’s forward-thinking posture in terms of growth for the organization. “He’s a steward of the profession of leadership. We’ve had great conversations in acknowledging that leaders grow leaders within an organization... to the extent of asking ourselves ‘How do we do that?’ We’ve recognized that our goal as TXSG HQ is to make ourselves obsolete by empowering and developing true leaders within the ranks,” said McCarroll.  

Leadership: Not a Choice   

Industry experts affirm that while we may choose to adopt certain styles or strategies as leaders, the dynamic of our continual influence over others is a fixed variable, according to behavioral psychology, and is represented as much by what we choose to do and say as what we choose not to.   

It holds, therefore, that leadership is not a choice or an act that begins or ends. It follows us to the dinner table and, if you are COL Darren Fitz Gerald, to the sidelines of the soccer field.   

And if you are COL Darren Fitz Gerald’s parents because your leadership followed you to the dinner table, your son’s his very first lessons of leadership were learned there, setting the stage for a later seamless and successful transition into first the United States Military Academy, or West Point, and then into the US Army and TXSG.   

“I had no idea what I was getting into initially,” said Fitz Gerald, “but I believe my parents' example of hard work and ethical behavior set the foundation for what has become a rewarding military career."  

The Texas State Guard is one of three branches of the Texas Military Department, along with the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard. Other benefits of service in the Texas State Guard include state tuition assistance, a daily stipend for state active duty, and much more.  A full list of benefits can be found online at tmd.texas.gov under the State Guard tab.