In damning report, Texas Guard members call Gov. Greg Abbott's border deployment a disaster

A report published Tuesday by the Military Times and Texas Tribune provides what may the most scathing look yet into the hardships wrought by Gov. Greg Abbott's mobilization of up to 10,000 guard members to the border.

Based on interviews with 38 current and former Texas National Guard troops and bolstered with official documents, the story highlights the troops themselves calling out the Republican governor for the "deplorable conditions" and "unclear mission" they face in South Texas.

In a move widely decried as a political stunt, Abbott last year called up thousands of Texas Guard troops on days' notice and deployed them to the U.S.-Mexico border, claiming he'd done so because the Biden White House ignored a surge in illegal crossings.

Among the problems with the mobilization detailed in the Military Times-Tribune investigation:

• As many as 1 in 5 guard members sent to the border reported pay issues, including late paychecks, incorrect paychecks or no paychecks at all.
  
• Troops face key equipment shortages, including medical supplies, cold-weather gear and components for their ballistic vests.
  
• Personnel are living in cramped trailers, sometimes with dozens of colleagues.
  
• Some guard members say they feel the mission is pointless and that they rarely see immigrants while in their isolated posts.
  
• Some troops have lacked portable toilets for months at their observation posts.
  

At least four suicides among Texas Guard members have followed in the wake of Abbott's $2 billion mobilization, dubbed Operation Lone Star, according to Army Times reports. Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly asked for a federal investigation into the deployment.

The new Military Times-Texas Tribune story includes heartbreaking details about a Texas Guard NCO who was initially told he could likely sit out the deployment because of hardships it would cause his family and small business. Instead, the man was ordered to report within 72 hours and told he'd be arrested if he didn't.

“I had to cancel $60,000 worth of business contracts,” said the NCO, who talked to the news organizations on condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation.

During his deployment, all of the NCO's employees quit, and he's since had to sell his company van to pay his mortgage, car payments and business debts.

The Military Times-Tribune piece lays considerable blame on the speed with which Abbott ordered the unprecedented mobilization of the Texas Guard. Observers note that troop movements of this size normally take months to plan, yet many personnel only found out days before they were shipped out.

“There’s no conceivable way that could have gone smoothly. There’s no way,” a National Guard general from another state told the news organizations on condition of anonymity.

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