Texas Guard, reservists and civilian partner at Operation Lone Star

Story by: Capt. Martha Nigrelle

Posted: July 28, 2016 

BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Texas Guardsmen and U.S. Army Reservists worked alongside civilian partner agencies to provide necessary medical care to underserved Texas residents during Operation Lone Star, July 25-29, 2016 in La Joya, Pharr, Brownsville, Rio Grande City and Laredo.

Operation Lone Star is a large-scale emergency preparedness exercise that unites local, state and federal medical service and disaster response agencies.

“The hands on training has been great,” said Capt. Edith Cardwell, 804th Medical Brigade, U.S. Army Reserves. “Most of our training is notional. Here we have real-live patients instead of mannequins.”

Medical sites were set up in local schools providing immunizations, hearing and vision examinations, sports physicals, diabetic screening, blood pressure screening, dental services and behavioral health services.

The exercise first began in 1998, following an outbreak of tuberculosis in the Rio Grande Valley. Over the years, it has grown into one of the largest disaster preparedness exercises of its kind, in the country. As well as, providing annual training to disaster response agencies, Operation Lone Star ensures that thousands of Texas residents receive medical services, they may not receive otherwise.

“We are creating a ring of public health safety,” said Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer for the Hidalgo County Department of Health and Human Services. “Because of this training, we are prepared for any future outbreaks. We know exactly how long it will take us to immunize a large number of people and what resources we will need to do that.”

For the first time, more than 100 soldiers from the 804th Medical Brigade joined experienced medical providers from the Texas Military Department, the Department of Public Safety, Department of State Health Services, Remote Area Medical, Cameron County Department of Health and Human Services, City of Laredo Health Department, Hidalgo County Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Public Health Services.

They weren’t the only ones new to the team. The inaugural class of the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley medical school volunteered their time to assist patients, physicians and administrative specialists with the operation.

On only their third day of medical school, the students arrived at Operation Lone Star, ready to learn.

“They teach us the ‘see one, do one, teach one’ model,” said Sonya Rivera, one of the students. “So that’s what we are doing here.”

This year the students are observing and helping wherever they can, said Rivera. Each year, as they learn more, they hope to be able to ‘do one’ and provide hands-on medical care. Eventually, their goal is to be able to teach others.

“If you can do that, then you have mastered it,” said Rivera.

Side by side, Guardsmen worked with Reservists, civilian medical experts and students, a seemingly well-oiled team, after only a few days.

In the past three years, there were 119,683 services given at Operation Lone Star providing approximately $12 million of support to Texas residents in the Rio Grande Valley said Maj. Gen. Jake Betty, commanding general of the Texas State Guard.

“If a disaster ever occurs, it’s great to meet our colleagues in this environment; we can learn a lot from each other.” said Col. Jonathan MacClements, a physician in the Texas State Guard. “We are all on the same team.”

Texas Army National Guard Capt. Jessica Jackson contributed to this article.

STARBASE Houston hosts inaugural camp for students

Story by: 1st Lt. Alicia Lacy

Posted: July 22, 2016

HOUSTON – They constructed birdhouses and tested its strength, they designed their own unmanned aerial vehicles, they sent rockets flying through a tube in the classroom, they discovered the properties of materials created with nanotechnology and assessed the solubility of different materials and learned how global positioning systems worked.

For one week, 20 Houston-area students took a hands-on approach to science, technology, engineering and mathematics during the STARBASE Houston’s inaugural STEM camp July 19-22, 2016, at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston.

“This is our first year doing this camp because we wanted to thank Ellington Field for all the support they provided to us for the 20 years we’ve been here,” said Loraine Guillen, STARBASE Houston program director, during the graduation July 22.

“Another reason is because I’ve bumped into people and they don’t know that STARBASE is here and that we exist.”

For five hours each day, the students engaged in various experiments to help them understand scientific principles, such as Newton’s Laws, Bernoulli’s principle, nanotechnology, navigation, aviation and mapping.

“This is a lot more hands on and it helped me learn better,” said Jaden Enloe, 12. “They told us how to do it and I learn best that way. I need to see it to visualize it, so it was cool to work with.

Enloe, who will enter the seventh grade this year, said the program also helped the students learn to work together.

During the graduation ceremony, former STARBASE student Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Alicea delivered a few words to the students and guests.

“I was always grateful to the STARBASE program because I felt that it was one of the first pillars in my life and development,” she said.

Alicea attended the STARBASE program in Puerto Rico, which is sponsored by the Puerto Rico National Guard.

“Take all your STARBASE experiences and take it to school and share them,” she said. “Don’t forget them.”

The Texas National Guard sponsors STARBASE Houston, a Department of Defense program. The program hosts more than 50 classes throughout the school year, to include public schools, home schools and parochial schools, Guillen said.

The curriculum is based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, and is aligned with the state education standards.

The purpose of STARBASE to expose youth to the technological environments, while allowing them to engage with civilian and military role models on military bases and installations.

Texas Army National Guard welcomes first female combat engineer

Story By: 1st Lt. Jolene Hinojosa

Posted on: July 22, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas – Spc. Rachel Mayhew, 26, native of Fort Worth, became the first female in the Texas Army National Guard awarded the 12B combat engineer military occupational specialty (MOS). 

“It was an absolute honor to serve with the Engineers,” said Mayhew. “The guidance and mentoring I received helped prepare me for a change. 
I wanted a career path with progression, promotion and growth. That is exactly what I found in becoming a combat engineer.” 

Mayhew graduated on June 17, 2016, from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, during a rigorous two-week MOS transition course that included the High Physical Demands Tests (HPDT) and include a series of tasks geared toward combat engineers to ensure force capability and readiness. 

Prior to attending the reclassification course Mayhew served in the Texas National Guard for seven years as a 74D chemical biological radiological nuclear specialist. In 2011, she deployed to Afghanistan with the 236th Engineer Company.

Since the push to integrate the military into a gender neutral standard, the military has used HPDTs to collect data on newly-proposed MOS-specific standards.

“I've never been treated any differently for being a female in uniform or encountered a lower standard,” said Mayhew. The instructors worked very hard to keep things fair across the board. Every soldier was treated the same and we all knew what we had to do to accomplish the mission.” 

Mayhew successfully completed a 12-mile tactical foot march, prepared a fighting position, employed hand grenades and transported a casualty to immediate safety. All four tasks, plus eight others, are designed to paint a picture of the real-life conditions that could be encountered on the battlefield. 

“The timed road march is the most challenging task I've endured in my career. However, I've never been more proud of myself than when I reached that finish line,” said Mayhew.

Among the 25 students that attended the course, four fellow Texas Guardsmen attended the course alongside Mayhew. 

While Mayhew was the first female Texas Guardsmen to complete the course, she shared her journey with four other female soldiers from different states. 

“We had a strong group of female Soldiers in our class. They were able to pull their own weight and did everything alongside us,” said Fort Worth native Spc. Carlos Flores, 840 Mobility Augmentation Company, 111th Engineer Battalion, 176th Engineer Brigade. 

The two-week training was one of the first reserve component courses to integrate the HPDT standards into graduation requirements.

“We are among the first in gender-integration training. The instructors were very professional and did everything they could to make the training as realistic as possible and to minimize outside distractions,” said classmate and Brownwood native Sgt. 1st Class Stormy Barnum, readiness non-commissioned officer, 454th Engineer Company, 111th Engineer Battalion, 176th Engineer Brigade. 

Through HPDTs, gender integration and the mid-Missouri heat, Mayhew and her fellow classmates have proven they have what it takes to join the proud Corps of Engineers. 

“You really felt a sense of accomplishment after completing the HPDT tasks,” said Mayhew. Even though the work days were long and exhausting, morale and soldier care remained at an all-time high, which I think are the two crucial parts to any mission.” 

Mayhew is currently assigned as a combat engineer with the 840th Mobility Augmentation Company based in Weatherford, Texas. Company Commander Capt. Aaron McConnell of the 840th Mobility Augmentation Company, says he is happy to welcome Mayhew into his company. 

“Spc. Mayhew is a good soldier and I am glad to retain her,” said McConnell. To me, it is more about what you can do as a soldier than what your gender is. We treat everyone on our team the same.” 

“These are my brothers, my family,” said Mayhew. “All my battle buddies are very accepting and encouraging of my decision to become a Combat Engineer. The knowledge these soldiers have of their job is impressive and inspiring. I want to soak up as much of it as I can so that I can be proficient as a 12B and lead my future Soldiers and peers in the right direction as well.”

Texas Communications Team is ready to save lives 

Story by: Sgt. Elizabeth Pena

Posted on: July 22, 2016

HARLINGEN, Texas -- Having the immediate communication assets during emergency situations gives military and first responders the ability coordinate and save the lives of local citizens. Texas Air National Guardsmen put their quick response skills action using the Texas Interoperability Communications Package, during a Hurricane evacuation exercise in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, June 7 -10, 2016.

“We have 14 TICPs and they could be sent to any type of scenario,” said Brian Attaway, director of J6. “They can support our own command and control purposes, or the state requests them to go support another agency. They’ve done fires and hurricanes; they’ve supported police departments and supported Texas Task Force 1. In this case, our TICP was assigned to the Air Guard that they needed to use in Harlingen.”

Texas Guardsmen and active duty Air Force worked with state and local first responders at the Valley International Airfield to transport mock patients through military and civilian aircraft. Within one hour of arrival, the four-man team set up the TICP to give key leaders the ability to coordinate those operations. 

“If you’re out in the middle of nowhere and a tornado touches down and you’ve got no cell phone, no power, no light, no anything we can roll up with our generator power and establish mobile satellite communications, and that’s pretty significant,” said Texas Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Lonnie Dunkin, a cyber transport specialist with the 149th Mission Support Group, out of Lackland Air Base, San Antonio.

For the exercise, the TICP provided satellite, Internet and phone services. Airmen also set up a mobile satellite dish to the portable network control center and extended services via cable router, said Dunkin. These services supported the tactical air control Party.

The tactical air control party is made up of Air Force personnel, who work alongside the Army on ground to provide airspace deconfliction and terminal control of close air support.

The TICP trailer comes equipped with many different assets.

“It has more than just phones and Internet,” said Attaway. “It has computers on board, WI-FI, a printer a fax, and it’s got an antenna tower, and radios, which are connected, to our network. All the radios are for our purposes and for interoperability with other agencies. We can also stream video.”

Additionally, the TICP can provide communication means for local citizens stuck in disaster situations.

“We can set up five or six terminals and that would allow for any user to come up and check their bank accounts or email, and send out a message to friends and family letting them know they’re okay,” said Dunkin. 

The TICP was first implemented during the 2008 hurricanes Ike and Gustav. Since then, the package has deployed to hurricanes, fires and various other support missions across the state,” said Attaway.

“During Hurricane Ike we got tasked by the state to go help the Pasadena Police Department, as it was completely down,” said Attaway. “They had no phones they had no radios, the hurricane had completely wiped them out. So we sent a TICP down and to PPD and the people had to call the TICP to reach the police. They were announcing on the radio ‘you cant call 911 you have to call this phone number.”

The command and control center, based out of Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas, currently maintains the TICPs for the state. 

“We hand receipt them out to Army Guard, Air Guard and even State Guard who have them throughout the year and then when we have a big exercise or state emergency we send the nearest one that’s available,” said Attaway.

Disaster response exercises like these give Texas Guardsmen and local and state authorities the experience to handle situations should a real-world emergency occur. 

“In my opinion, communications is the bread and butter of successful operations,” said Air Force Tech Sgt. Christopher Dorriott, noncommissioned officer in charge of the exercise training for the 149th Fighter Wing, based out of Lackland. “If they need to go on search-and-rescue missions, if they need to go medevac somebody out, or work with local law enforcement, there has to be somebody who can branch those organizations together so they can properly coordinate and get people where they need to go.”

This is four of the four Texas Hurricane Preparedness series.

TMD EXIT INTERVIEW WITH Major General Kenneth W. Wisian

Mike Cornitius 

Initiate financial planning and budgetary programs to troops earlier in their career.  Most financial discussions do not occur until the troops is already having issues or a couple of years before retirement. Starting the process early would help alleviate later financial problems.

Produced by Texas Military Department Public Affairs Office

Texas Guardsmen contribute medical relief effort

Story by: Staff Sgt. Kristina Overton

Posted: July 20, 2016

In an effort to provide medical relief, nine members from the 136th Airlift Wing, Texas Air National Guard, at the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, deployed to Chenango County, New York, to support The Greater Chenango Cares Innovative Readiness Training mission July 20, 2016. The mission began July 15.

The 10-day real-world joint training exercise, ending July 24, allows for military service members to practice their skills in preparation for wartime operations while also providing a needed service to underserved communities.

“This is my first humanitarian mission and it has been such a great experience so far,” said Lt. Col. Harry Moore, 136th Medical Group public health preventative medicine officer. “Essentially, there aren't enough medical providers in the area and the population is greatly underserved. The services we provide are at no cost to the community and the patients have shown so much appreciation. We can really see the benefit that these services are having on the civilian population.”

Services are comprised of quality dental, optometry, veterinary, and medical services. In Chenango County, there is approximately one dentist to every 3,000 patients. With a population of more than 50,000, the understaffed medical field and lack of medical insurance have increased the overall need for assistance and is extremely beneficial to the community.

“We also provide health and nutrition education, as well as have a pharmacy to provide up to two weeks worth of medicine for patients in our care,” Moore said. “Our physicians can also give patients referrals for follow-up care and additional medication once their prescriptions run out. This ensures that they have the ability to maintain their health long-term.”

In 2015, the mission was able to help more than 4,000 residents in Chenango County. To better serve the community this year, the facilities have expanded to two locations, one in Norwich and one in Cortland. The separation will allow for an easier and more efficient method of dispersing medical services to individuals within the region. The goal for 2016 is to maintain or expand their patient outreach from 2015, continuing to offer necessary services. A huge contributor to the effort is the Chenango County United Way.

“I’ve been at the United Way for 17 years, and we’ve never done anything that’s as impactful as this project,” said Elizabeth Monaco, Chenango United Way executive director. “As chaotic as the process is to get to this point, I’m already sad about when it’s going to end. It’s life changing—for me too—as much as it is for the people we are serving. It does so much for the community.”

The United Way is the lead agency for the IRT and raised more than $40,000 to contribute to this effort. The organization’s mission is to assist with national income, education and health deficits, which tie in well with the overall project. Along with their executive committee, they recruited and trained more than 500 volunteers.

“There is something broken,” Monaco said. “There is a need that is not being fulfilled. Even with Obamacare and other programs that are set up, there are people who are unserved and it’s just not ok. If people don't have basic healthcare then they cannot accomplish other things. We have to do something to address it, and this effort is a step in that direction.”

Texas ChalleNGe Academy welcomes new candidates

Story by: 1st Lt. Alicia Lacy

Posted: July 18, 2016

EAGLE LAKE, Texas -- Lakesha Peterson can only describe the moment as bittersweet as tears streamed down her face while she watched her daughter board a bus to the Texas ChalleNGe Academy-East campus in Eagle Lake, Texas, July 17, 2016.

Peterson, like many other parents and family members said their goodbyes to their teens before the 16-18 year olds begin their 22-week journey in the military-style, education program at one of the two TCA campuses in either Eagle Lake or Sheffield.

For this iteration, collectively, the TCA campuses at Eagle Lake and Sheffield have an enrollment nearing 200 candidates, who, after completing the acclimation process, will become cadets and eventually graduates of the program.

Peterson, of Frisco, said she brought her daughter to the program to help her get her life back on tracks.

“She’s a good kid,” Peterson said. “She’s just bad.”

Peterson said she hopes her daughter is able to recover credits and earn enough credits to qualify to be a senior so she can finish her diploma.

Like Peterson, Kaylon Cole, from Fort Drum, New York, dropped his 18-year-old daughter to the program in hopes of her earning her high school diploma.
Cole said he looked up the program online and thought it would be a good fit for Asia Baker.

“(There’s a lot of stuff) that brings her here,” Cole said. “She was not making the grades in school and making poor choices. It’s only up from here.”

Cole said he hopes to see a change in his daughter when he sees her in 22 weeks and that she joins the Air Force.

“I hope to see a completely different person,” he said, “somebody who is respectful, obedient and follows instructions.”

While at the academy, cadets get exposure to the military training lifestyle, while engaging with Texas National Guard airmen and soldiers.

Texas Joint Counterdrug Taskforce airmen and soldiers work with the candidates during the process, mentoring them and assisting the cadre.

TCA is a Texas National Guard-sponsored educational program to help at-risk youth between 16 and 18 years old get their lives back on track. The program is completely voluntary and requires a 17 and a half-month commitment.

All cadets must not have any felony convictions and be drug free at the time of entry.

The academy is broken down into the 22-week residential phase and a 12-month, post-residential phase.

TCA focuses on eight core components – academic excellence, health and hygiene, job skills, leadership and followership, life-coping skills, physical fitness, responsible citizenship and service to the community.

In addition to their schoolwork, cadets have the opportunity to participate in other programs like archery, student council, student leadership positions and the Commandant’s Challenge. Students also perform community service every Saturday and have the option to attend church and participate in intramural sports on Sundays.

TCA is a Department of Defense-funded program and receives 25 percent funding from the state. The program is free to Texas residents.

Commentary by Sgt. Elizabeth Pena

Texas Military Department Public Affairs

Texas Guardsmen gathered to honor retired Sgt. Maj. Elwood Imken’s service to the Texas National Guard, June 30, 2016, during a ceremony held at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas.

“We’ve all been saying for the last 20 years, what are we going to do when Imken leaves, and today that day is here,” said Maj. Gen. William L. Smith, Deputy Adjutant General for Army. “We are going to have to figure that out and we have some pretty big shoes to fill to make all the things that 49 years of institutional knowledge has “

During the ceremony, retired Sgt. Maj. Imken thanked friends for attending the ceremony and gave five principles to live by.

• Listen to people and listen to what they say.
• Learn from others.
• Teach the five W’s.
• Use common sense and keep it simple.
• Take care of your Soldiers

Imken began his military career in 1967, in the Texas Army National Guard. His career spanned every echelon from Platoon through Division and every level of leadership.

After honorably serving alongside Soldiers for 38 years, Imken immediately began working for the Texas Military Department as the Chief Training Specialist.

It was his plans and integration of many key organizations that led to success for Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Ike and dozens of other droughts, fires and floods that have affected Texas in the last 15 years.

Imken’s tireless efforts and devotion to the Texas Army National Guard and the state of Texas for the last 49 years made a significant impact that will undoubtedly last far into the future.