Local Texas State Guard to Perform Community Service Project

"Texans Defending Texas"

MEDIA ADVISORY
Members of the media wishing to cover the community service project are invited to do so from Friday July 24 to Sunday July 26, 2015, but must coordinate with the 19th Civil Affairs Regiment Public Affairs representative for parking and a media escort.

Members of the media are required to RSVP no later than Thursday, July 24, 2015 with Capt. Esperanza Meza at 817-733-6269 and/or email at esperanza.meza@txsg.state.tx.us

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLIC RELEASE:

Local Texas State Guard to Perform Community Service Project

AUSTIN, Texas (July 22, 2015) – Members of 19th Regiment, Texas State Guard, will take part in a community service project in support of the Great Texas Balloon Race, July 24-26, 2015, in Gregg County, Texas.

The three-day event will involve approximately 100 soldiers from Dallas, Greenville and Kilgore in support of local law enforcement, civil authorities and show organizers as part of a community service project and training exercise. Personnel will be providing logistical support, to include traffic management operations.

“Opportunities like this help ensure our members are trained and ready to respond to the needs of the citizens of Texas,” said Col. Robert Hastings, commanding officer of the 19th Regiment, Texas State Guard.

For the traffic management mission, the regiment will work in support of local law enforcement to manage the arrival and departure of thousands of vehicles entering the airport from a number of different routes in a period of a few short hours.

“Large-scale and multi-faceted events afford us the opportunity to practice a number of different techniques to quickly and efficiently move traffic along,” said Hastings. “In fact, this is not very different from what TXSG units have encountered at mass care shelters and supply distribution sites during hurricanes and other disasters. History has shown that several thousand cars can converge on a supply distribution site within minutes once announced to the public.”

The Texas State Guard is the state's volunteer military agency; trained, organized and ready to respond when a disaster strikes and Texans need help. The Texas State Guard is comprised of more than 2,000 volunteers organized into four components – Army, Air, Medical and Maritime – with individual units assigned throughout the state.

In recent years, the Texas State Guard has been called to state active duty for hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and wildfires. TXSG is the lead military component for Operation Lone Star in the Rio Grande Valley – the state’s annual humanitarian medical mission – and provides support to the state’s annual Oral Rabies Vaccination Program and the previous East Texas Medical Outreach in Van.

Texas State Guard personnel train one weekend each month and attend a four-day annual training exercise every year. For more information about the Texas State Guard visit www.txmf.us.

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The mission of the Texas Military Forces (TXMF) is to provide the Governor and the President with ready and trained forces in support of the citizens of Texas and State and Federal civil/military authorities at home and abroad.

The Texas Military Forces are commanded by the Adjutant General of Texas, the state's senior military official appointed by the governor, and is comprised of the Texas Military Department (formerly the Adjutant General's Department), the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG), the Texas Air National Guard (TXANG), the Texas State Guard (TXSG) and the Domestic Operations Command (DOMOPS).

For more information about the Texas Military Forces visit our Website at www.txmf.us.