KEY LEADERSHIP Update

GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT MET WITH TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS currently serving on the Texas-Mexico border in late December. The governor was briefed on current operations in the area. Operation Lone Star continues to impede and deter illegal immigration into the United States. (PhotocourtesyoftheTexasMilitaryDepartment)

MEMBERS OF THE 36TH COMBAT AVIATION BRIGADE serve Thanksgiving Dinner to Soldiers and fellow service members at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Pictured L-R: CPT Quince Easter, MAJ Brian Burgi and MSG Michael Wick. (Photocourtesyofthe36thCombatAviationBrigade)

Fort Hood

SSG ELIZABETH COX, an armored crewman with the Texas Army National Guard’s 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, poses for a photo on her M1 Abrams Tank at Fort Hood, Texas. Cox recently became the first female in the ARNG to graduate from the Abrams Master Gunner school, an advanced gunnery and maintenance school that earns graduates the designation of Abrams Master Gunner. (PhotocourtesyoftheNationalGuardBureau)

SOLDIERS OF THE 36TH SUSTAINMENT BRIGADE, arrive at Robert Gray Army Airfield, Fort Hood, Texas, November 7, 2022, and are greeted by the 36th Infantry Division staff. While deployed the 36th Sust Bde worked in support of CENTCOM, handling logistic needs all over the Southwest Asia region.

FROM BROWNSVILLE TO EL PASO, members of the 836th Sappers Company are dispersed throughout the Texas border. They are placing hundreds of miles of engineering obstacles between points of entry to prevent, deter and interdict illegal immigration and transnational criminal activities along the border. (Photocourtesyofthe 836thSapperCompany)

MSGT (RET) GREGORY RIPPS displays the award he received in the 2022 Texas Veterans Commission Excellence in Media competition. Ripps was selected as runner-up in the print category for his article about a U.S. Marine veteran with various serious injuries who obtained a new lease on life with a recumbent bike. MSgt (Ret) Ripps is a reporter for the Wilson County News in Floresville, Texas. (PhotobyKristenWeaver,WilsonCountyNews)

TEXAS ARMY NATIONAL GUARD SSG David Lee (center right) and SSG Brittany Petersen (center left) were selected as the first recipients of the Texas Joint Counterdrug Task Force “Bullseye” coin Dec 6, 2022, at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. The Texas Counterdrug Coordinator, Lt Col James F. Cobb (far left), and Senior Enlisted Advisor, CSM Jesse L. Kennis II (far right), personally selected each recipient based on their individual performances that have “hit the mark” and made a significant, positive impact to the program. Cut from the 20mm gun barrel of an M61-A1 Vulcan Gatling gun from a Texas F-16 Fighting Falcon, this unique coin represents the recognition of a task force member’s “on target” demonstration of excellence in performance. (PhotobySGTChristinaClardy)

TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD Joint Counterdrug Task Force selected SSG Isaac Espinosa as the 2021 “Bil Enney” Award task force member of the year Dec 8, 2022, at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas. Espinosa’s dedication to duty and performance with the Texas Counterdrug’s Drug Demand Reduction Outreach program helped grow the reach and reputation of the DDRO program to provide further support, training, education, and resources to law enforcement agencies, community outreach organizations, and communities.

SOLDIERS FROM TASK FORCE ROUGH RIDER, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, participated in amphibious operations and deck landing qualification on the expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B Puller – Blue, in the Arabian Gulf. UH-60 Black Hawk and UH-64 Apache flight crews from TF-Rough Rider took part in the training with their joint partners in the U.S. Navy. (PhotobySFCChristopherOposnow)

ARABIAN GULF

AS PART OF THE YOUNG HEROES OF THE GUARD TOY DRIVE during the month of December, members of the Texas State Guard’s 3rd Brigade collaborated with the Army Survivors Outreach Program in their first annal toy distribution on the west side of Laredo where they distributed over 600 toys in goodie bags packed with cookies and children’s books.

(PhotocourtesyoftheTexasStateGuard)