FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Members, It is that time of year again for our participation with our National Level partners, the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS) and the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS). These are organizations where the independent state associations consolidate in order to push our initiatives at the federal/ national level. Just as we encourage and value your participation in Texas, we really need your participation in the national level discussions as well. In a normal year, the Texas Guard receives a vast majority of its funding from the federal level. Now this has not been a normal year, and with all the potential changes at the national level, we must not lose focus. Rather, we should do all we can to make sure that the needs of the Guard are in the national-level conversations. Looking beyond that, we will soon be approaching the next Texas Legislative session. As stated previously, there has been an unprecedented requirement for our Guardsmen and women within our state to participate in state-funded missions. That requirement highlights the need for our legislature to create parity between the Citizen-Soldiers and other state-level employees participating in state emergency management, first responder roles, and law enforcement agencies that support the same, or similar, missions as our service members. The board, and the full time NGAT staff, are working hard to find ways for the organization to increase our communication effectiveness before the start of the legislative session, so we can keep you, our members, better informed and energized to engage with our Texas lawmakers throughout the session. Our service members will need you involved!
Respectfully,
Christopher McKeag President National Guard Association of Texas president@ngat.org
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N a t i o n a l G u a r d A s s o c i a t i o n o f Te x a s H S u m m e r 2 0 2 2
THE NATIONAL GUARD ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS wishes SFC Mireya Cruz good luck as she runs for reelection to serve as the EANGUS National Secretary. Elections will be held during the EANGUS Annual Conference, August 6-10 in Little Rock, AR.
THE NGAT BOARD OF DIRECTORS welcome COL (Ret) Oliver “Ollie” Mintz to the Board of Directors. Mintz will serve as the Retired Representative for Region III.
