Haste and planning failures doomed Operation Lone Star's troops to suffer
In October, amid a historic surge of Texas National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, one soldiers leader told him not to worry about getting sent there. He could sit this one out.
The part-time senior noncommissioned officer said he still feared an unanticipated call-up he owns a small business and he has a son with a disability.
Usually, long-term Guard deployments come from the federal government, with nearly a years notice the NCO had several months to settle his affairs before two previous deployments. But Operation Lone Star is different.
Faced with a humanitarian crisis along the Rio Grande, pressured by conservative rivals and chided by right-wing cable pundits, Gov. Greg Abbott decided last fall to move thousands of troops to the border as quickly as possible. And the Texas Military Department, which oversees the states National and State Guard branches, did all it could to comply with haste.
Never before has Texas or any other state involuntarily activated so many troops under state active duty authority for such a long-term mission. Nor has it been done so quickly.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2022/02/01/haste-and-planning-failures-doomed-operation-lone-stars-troops-to-suffer/