SOUTH TEXAS— Recently, Texas National Guard Soldiers from Kilo Company assisted Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers apprehend a driver and three illegal aliens after a high-speed chase in a Laredo neighborhood that ended when the vehicle broke down, June 19, 2023.

The chase began when DPS brush team received a call about a group seen getting into, and speeding off in, what is known as a “load-up vehicle.”

The next day State Troopers and Soldiers apprehended one female migrant and witnessed four males swim back to Mexico after another vehicle crash. The high-speed pursuit occurred ended with the pursued vehicle crashing into the Rio Grande River as a last-ditch effort to evade capture.

Spc. Crumby, a Texas Guardsmen has seen the different ways illegal immigrants try to get across.

“We had a few that we turned back in raft early,” Crumby said. “Late, in the shift there was another group nearer to the bank and we were able to turn them back, too.”

Service members have also trained to use small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), or drones to gain the upper hand in border-town neighborhoods. The drones provide a birds-eye view of the area, as well as adding the ability to see in the dark.

Guardsmen across the southern border have worked with the law enforcement partners to detect, deter, and interdict all criminals from coming across and either poisoning our neighborhoods with illicit drugs or trafficking people. The Texas National Guard remains dedicated to protecting our border and improving the safety of our neighborhoods.

A medical unit from the Texas National Guard participated in the Joint Medical Exercise-23 June 5-9, 2023 at Fort Cavazos, an annual event that aims to train Soldiers and civilians in life saving procedures from the point of injury all the way to major trauma centers.

The medical platoon from the 3/278 Armored Cavalry Regiment, a Tennessee National Guard unit that is commanded by the Texas National Guard’s 36th Infantry division, brought 23 Soldiers to the exercise that drew over 2000 medical professionals and helicopter pilots from around the world.

JMEX-23 was designed to take a patient from the point of injury on the battle field, through all four roles of medical care. Newly minted doctors in residency and new 68W combat medics rotate through each role, working patients in each level of care.

The Soldiers from the 3/278 were responsible for Role 1 battalion aid station.

“Our job here is to stabilize them so we can get them to definitive care, or surgery,” said Staff Sgt. Colin Keenan, the medical platoon sergeant for the unit. “We are here to stabilize them so we can get them to a Role 2, and eventually to a role 3 and 4 if needed.”

While the army has trained each of the Guard soldiers as combat medics or physicians assistants, many of them have medical careers external to the Guard. Keenan said that some of his platoon are on an ambulance nearly every day. That kind of experience is something you only find in the National Guard, according to Keenan, a former active duty Soldier.

“Out of our platoon, we have five or six paramedics and another four or five EMTs or people that work in hospitals or labs,” Keenan said. “An active duty soldier might not touch a real patient for a long time, where my guys are going on calls all the time and using those skill sets.”

The group of medics from Texas also has a physician’s assistant with them, who supervises the advanced care the Soldiers can give in the field. He said that the unit brings a unique set of skills.

“We have the ability to stabilize the patient for 24 hours in the field,” said Maj. Tomas Palacios. “We also have the ability to do a walking blood bank. It’s like taking them to the emergency room, without the hospital.”

The walking blood bank allows the medics with the 3/278 to get blood, on the spot, from other soldiers, to give it to patients who critically need the blood as a life-saving measure at the battalion aid station.

As part of the event, Navy Lt. Victoria Kay, an emergency medicine resident at Navy Medical Center San Diego, treated a notional trauma patient with the Texas Guardsmen.

“This is arguably the best setup out here,” Kay said. “We have run several training lanes and it has been impressive to work with the individual Guardsmen. They are very well trained and very motivated.”

SOUTH TEXAS— National Guardsmen from both Florida and Tennessee are now working side by side with Texas Guardsmen and the Department of Public Safety along the border from Brownsville to El Paso. Several hundred Soldiers arrived by C-130 and by bus, and took positions on the line in early June.

Florida National Guard engineer, Staff Sgt. Miguel Cabrera, non-commissioned officer in charge of the engineers in Eagle Pass said missions like this help Soldiers in many ways.

“This mission lets us do what we are called for as National Guardsmen, helping our state of Florida but also helping Texas,” Cabrera said. “The experience here on the ground is helping our Soldiers with their careers. The gained experience of doing engineer work improves their engineering skills and doing a mission like this helps their Soldiering and leadership skills.”

The Florida and Texas engineers have laid a quarter of a mile of triple strand concertina wire each day in the Eagle Pass area of operation.

Throughout the border region the number of illegal immigrants attempting to come across has dropped drastically. The efforts of the Guardsmen standing the line, engineers clearing the land and laying down c-wire and the additional troopers from law enforcement partners from the Department of Public Safety have made an impact.

The additional eyes and ears of Tennessee and Florida Guardsmen have helped make a difference already in detection and deterrence.