We should all be aware of Governor Greg Abbott's politically-motivated "Operation Lone Star," involving a securing of the U.S.–Mexico border as he reignites his gubernatorial race. It has already had severe consequences for members of the Texas National Guard and Texas State Guard. Note: Suicide is mentioned below. If you need help, please do not hesitate to call: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and someone at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will pick up.
This is separate from the federally-controlled National Guard that is already present along the U.S.-Mexico border, raising the obvious question regarding the necessity for Operation Lone Star. Read this January 7, 2022 piece in the Texas Standard titled, "Gov. Greg Abbott faces criticism over handling of Texas National Guard troops at the southern border," that cites cuts the legislature made to tuition assistance and low morale. And all in the middle of a pandemic.
Who are they "fighting" anyway other than desperate families and children seeking asylum? These are sad times for our state.
One can only imagine how disruptive this has been to these young people for whom the governor's decisions have upended their lives. This differs from federal deployments that give troops several months' time to get their personal affairs in order before getting deployed. As indicated by the Army Times, not giving soldiers ample time wreaks havoc on their lives. This does need to get fully investigated so that their deaths will not have been in vain.
-Angela Valenzuela
Wave of suicides hits Texas National Guard’s border mission
Four soldiers have taken their own lives in two months have taken their own lives in two months
December 23, 2021
Pfc. Joshua R. Cortez was preparing to accept a “lifetime job” with one of the nation’s biggest health insurance companies in late October. But the Texas National Guard had other ideas. The state’s mission to guard its border with Mexico, known as Operation Lone Star, was rapidly expanding and that meant involuntary activations were necessary to meet Gov. Greg Abbott’s troop quotas.
Cortez was one of the soldiers tapped to go on state active duty orders — with no idea how long the mission would last.
“I’ve been waiting for this job and I’m on my way to getting hired,” the 21-year-old mechanic wrote in his request for a hardship release from the mission. “I missed my first opportunity in September when I had to go on the flood mission in Louisiana. … I can not miss this opportunity because it is my last opportunity for this lifetime job.”
Cortez’s company commander recommended approval. But his battalion commander and brigade commander, Col. Robert Crockem of the 176th Engineer Brigade, disapproved, writing, “Soldier can deploy. If offered a job, then Soldier can be given time for training.”
Crockem signed the form at 8:19 p.m. on Nov. 4.
Sometime in the next 36 hours, Cortez drove to a parking lot in northwest San Antonio and shot himself in the head. First responders found him at 7:40 a.m. on Nov. 6.
Cortez and three other soldiers tied to Operation Lone Star have died by suspected suicide in the past two months, according to family members, Guard troops currently on the mission and official documents obtained by Army Times.
- Sgt. Jose L. De Hoyos was found dead in Laredo, Texas, on Oct. 26. He was a member of the 949th Brigade Support Battalion’s headquarters company.
- Cortez died overnight Nov. 6.
- 1st Sgt. John “Kenny” Crutcher died Nov. 12, as time ran out on his temporary hardship waiver. He was the top NCO for B Company, 3rd Battalion, 144th Infantry.
- 1st Lt. Charles Williams, a platoon leader in Crutcher’s company, died at home overnight Dec. 17 while on pass.
The string of suicides raises urgent questions about the mission’s conditions and purpose, as well as the way it’s organized and manned through indefinite involuntary call-ups, according to the Texas Army National Guard’s former top enlisted soldier. Operation Lone Star is a separate mission from the federally controlled National Guard task force on the U.S.-Mexico border, which was the subject of a previous Army Times investigation.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Featherston, who was the Texas Army National Guard’s senior enlisted leader from May 2020 until retiring Nov. 30, detailed many of the issues plaguing the units, including Guardsmen’s complaints about a seeming lack of purpose in the mission, in a series of interviews.
“The [Texas Military Department]’s leadership has lost focus on what matters most, and that’s the soldier,” he said. “Their inability to focus on the individual soldiers’ needs has cost several lives, and until they [focus], more tragedies will continue to happen.”
Army Times reached an unnamed Texas Military Department spokesperson via email. The department’s public affairs staff typically does not speak on the record, unlike other elements across the National Guard, and obscures their identities via a group email address.
The spokesperson cautioned, “some of these [deaths] are still part of an open investigation” pending a final cause of death. But all four deaths reportedly occurred via self-inflicted gunshot wounds, according to official documents and sources familiar with the deaths.
“The loss of any service member is a tragedy and mitigating loss through enforcing safety protocols and ensuring resources that promote the total health of the force is something the Texas Military Department takes seriously,” the spokesperson added. They pointed to the organization’s 24-hour confidential counseling lines for soldiers and commanders, in addition to their “large team of independently licensed therapists” that offer services free of charge to all department personnel.
“In addition to the aforementioned resources, there is a behavioral health team assigned to Operation Lone Star with members in each region our task force supports,” the spokesperson said. “The OLS behavioral health team practices proactive, face-to-face outreach through education on self-care, crisis mitigation, and resources available.”
Critics of the mission have claimed that its rapid expansion has been motivated by politics. Abbott, the state’s governor, faces a stiff primary challenge in March from conservative firebrand Allen West, a former Army officer who was forced to retire after torturing an Iraqi detainee in 2003.
West, a former Florida congressman who was elected chairman of the Texas Republican Party in July 2020, made securing the U.S.–Mexico border a primary element of his platform. He resigned from the post in June 2021, announcing his candidacy for governor a month later.
Featherston described the mission’s political motives as “common knowledge around the office.” He said the morale of guardsmen sent to Texas’ border began deteriorating when the mission expanded from a small, volunteer-driven effort during the spring and summer — when only 1,000 soldiers were on mission — to an involuntary assignment.
On Sept. 20, Abbott ordered another 1,500 troops activated, according to planning documents. Soon after, on Oct. 7, Abbott activated an additional 2,500 Guard members for the operation, raising the total to 5,000.
As of the most recent manpower adjustments, there are now around 10,000 Texas Military Department personnel supporting Operation Lone Star, according to a November operations order. Of that number, 6,500 are along the border and 3,500 are supporting the mission from other areas of the state.
What’s going on out there
The increased demand for troops on the border meant that the department had to resort to involuntarily activating entire units from the Texas National Guard and mobilizing members of the Texas State Guard.
Pfc. Joshua Cortez, in an undated photo published with his online obituary. (Porter-Loring Mortuaries)
With the September and October activations, units received less than two weeks’ notice to report to the border. One soldier, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Army Times that his unit had only four days’ official notice.
“Soldiers don’t have time to prepare [for] being away from home” when they receive such little notice, said Featherston. For most federal deployments, Guard troops receive several months’ notice and are carefully walked through a mobilization process that helps them settle their civilian affairs.
For Operation Lone Star, the process was rushed and left many soldiers still trying to resolve issues at home while at the border.
Meanwhile, after the Texas legislature demanded a budget cut, the Texas Guard massively slashed its tuition assistance benefit to balance its books, leaving many troops stranded without the reimbursement payments they’d been counting on for the fall semester, which was already underway.
