Texas Military Forces Museum

 

Texas Military Forces

MISSION
CAPACITY UTILIZATION
 OUTLOOK
 ASSESSMENT
 TRANSFORMATION

The Texas Military Forces (TXMF), which consists of the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG), the Texas Air National Guard (TXANG), and the Texas State Guard (TXSG), are directed and supported by the Adjutant General’s Department (AGD). Personnel include part-time citizen soldiers and airmen and full-time, active-duty soldiers and airmen, and state and federal civilian employees from across the length and breadth of Texas. They are commanded by MG Charles Rodriguez, Adjutant General of Texas, who responds to Governor Perry of Texas for state missions and the Department of Defense for federal missions.

The TXMF can trace their roots to the 1830s, when Stephen F. Austin formed local militia groups to defend against Indian attacks and Texas militia forces defeated Mexican regulars at Gonzales and Goliad. Since that time, the TXMF have continued to distinguish themselves in both war and peace and, while the missions and force structures have evolved over time, the tradition of the citizen soldier with close ties to local communities continues to this day.

MISSION

The mission of the TXMF is to “provide mission-ready forces, responsive to community, state, and nation.” The vision of the TXMF is to be a “continually-evolving, world class organization that accomplishes the mission and takes care of its people.”

Major subordinate commands within the TXMF (and their locations) include:

  • 36th Infantry Division (Statewide);
     

  • 71st Troop Command (Statewide), including units specialized in public affairs, transportation, communications, information operations, medical support, supply, finance, aviation, maintenance, area support, corps-level rear operations command & control, and countering the effects of weapons of mass destruction;
     

  • 136th Combat Arms Training Regiment (Austin);
     

  • 136th Airlift Wing (C-130 tactical airlift) (Ft. Worth);
     

  • 147th Fighter Wing (F-16 general purpose/air sovereignty) (Houston);
     

  • 149th Fighter Training Wing (F-16 training) (San Antonio); and
     

  • Six Military Police Brigades, an Air Support Wing, and a Medical Reserve Corps of the TXSG (unpaid volunteers) (Statewide).

Specific operational missions of the TXMF include:

  • Responding to natural and man-made disasters and other state emergencies (wild fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, rabies eradication, space shuttle Columbia, etc.) (statewide);
     

  • Homeland Security (airport & airbase security, border security augmentation) (statewide);
     

  • Counter Drug Program (specialized support to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies) (statewide);
     

  • Helicopter flight training for the Singapore Air Force (Dallas area);
     

  • F-16 Fighter pilot training for the US Air Force, both active and reserve components (San Antonio area);
     

  • Air sovereignty mission for protection of US airspace integrity (nationwide);
     

  • Rapid, specialized response to natural and man-made nuclear, chemical, biological, and other hazardous material incidents and threats (statewide);
     

  • Support to war fighting combatant commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands (worldwide); and
     

  • Partnership for Peace training relationships with the Czech Armed Forces (statewide, as well as in the Czech Republic).

Additional missions and activities of special interest to Texas citizens include:

  • Operation Lone Star: The TXMF annually participate in joint military medical and dental support to the south Texas border region.
     

  • Challenge Program: The TXMF provides a 17-month, quasi-military training and mentoring program for at-risk youth to develop the life skills, educational levels, and employment potential of sixteen to eighteen-year-old high school dropouts.
     

  • Starbase Academy: The TXMF sponsor five-week programs for at-risk grade school students at Ellington AFB, Houston.
     

  • Medical Reserve Corps: The TXSG, in partnership with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, includes an expanding volunteer force of health care professionals and assistance professionals to augment local authorities and enhance the state’s capability to respond to natural or man-made public health emergencies or disasters involving mass casualties.
     

  • Environmental Stewardship: The TXMF maintain a nationally recognized, award winning program to preserve, protect, restore, and improve the quality of the environment on TXMF facilities and lands.
     

  • Tuition Assistance: The TXMF, in coordination with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, provide a tuition assistance program that allows thousands of TXMF personnel to attend Texas colleges and universities.
     

  • Community Assistance: The TXMF provide statewide volunteer support for a variety of programs, such as state and community ceremonies, military funerals, Junior and Senior ROTC, Special Olympics, Operation Blue Santa, Coats for Kids, firearms certification and safety training, crowd control for special events, military history archival support to local schools and state universities, and other community and charitable endeavors.

CAPACITY UTILIZATION

The TXMF comprises a 21,600-person force (includes 2400 full-time) in 106 installations located in or near 86 cities and towns across Texas, including:

  • 97 armories/training centers;

  • 5 Army aviation support facilities;

  • 34 regional maintenance/rebuild centers;

  • 8 mobilization and/or training equipment sites;

  • 5,192,753 square feet of buildings;

  • 44, 225 acres of ranges and training areas; and

  • 253 miles of roads.

The primary purpose of TXMF installations and facilities is to serve as the operational, administrative, recruitment, training, and logistical bases necessary to “provide mission-ready forces, responsive to community, state, and nation.”

OUTLOOK

BRAC 2005 directed the funding ($375M) and construction of 17 new Armed Forces Reserve Centers (AFRCs). These AFRCs will accommodate both Reserve and National Guard units. The State of Texas is expected to close 43 Texas Army Guard Armories, 6 Army National Guard Field Maintenance facilities, and realign Camp Bullis as part of this program.

The organizational partnership between the Texas Military Facilities Commission and the Adjutant General’s Department will facilitate the implementation of the BRAC 2005 program by continuing to optimize the resources and experience of both agencies, streamlining facilities-related processes and practices, and maximizing the use of available federal funds to meet National Guard needs in facilities. The TXMF Joint Installation Strategic Plan will continue an evolutionary restructuring plan, leading to a more diverse, joint, and urban-based force that enhances TXMF’s commitment to the changing requirements of domestic and global security environments and the structure of the Department of Defense. In addition, the TXMF will continue to maintain their availability to the recruitable population base in the Dallas/Ft. Worth-San Antonio-Houston triangle. Also, the move of Headquarters, US Army South to Fort Sam Houston presents an opportunity for significant TXMF involvement in promoting regional cooperative security and economic stability.

The future will require continued refinement of TXMF mobilization processes and locations, the enhancement of capabilities for information operations, defense against weapons of mass destruction, and other homeland security requirements. Since non-military police units are taking an increased role in homeland security, the future may also require an expansion of certain skill sets, such as force protection, physical security, military police, and military support to civilian authorities.

ASSESSMENT

Economic:  The TXMF have an annual combined (state & federal) operating budget of $530 million. For every dollar of general revenue provided by the state, the federal government provides 30 dollars to operate and maintain the Texas Military Forces. In addition to the capabilities provided by the TXMF, this represents a significant return of tax dollars to Texas citizens and their communities. The TXMF economic impact on Texas is $1.2 billion.

Operational:  Since September 11th, 2001, the operational tempo, both state and federal, of the TXMF has increased. The TXMF have mobilized more soldiers and airmen than any other state. These young men and women have been deployed throughout Texas and the western United States, as well as, South America, Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, and in numerous other operational areas – on land, at sea, and in the air. Given the growing demands of both homeland defense and international security commitments, it is the assessment of the TXMF that they will continue to be in demand, must be prepared to sustain a high level of activity in the coming months and years.

TRANSFORMATION

Their ability to meet the demands of these expanding roles, both Homeland Security and the Global War on Terrorism, is greatly facilitated by the drive for joint transformation by the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau. The basic aim is to work jointly to ensure they remain a reliable, ready, and accessible force in the 21st century. In short, they must continually change.

Texas already laid the groundwork when it began referring to the Texas Military Forces – not just Texas Army National Guard or the Texas Air National Guard or the Texas State Guard.

In Texas, the TXMF is pursuing transformation along five distinct, but closely related lines that directly and jointly support both the homeland security mission and the Global War on Terrorism:

Various headquarters have been transformed into a single, joint, state headquarters, to help fuse people and property across service lines into interdependent structures with consolidated functions and processes.

This will include: dual-hatting the Assistant Adjutants General as joint force component commander for army and air forces; creation of a joint staff with joint procedures; establishment of a Joint Emergency Operations Center (EOC), including liaison officers from the Army, Air, Marine, and Navy Reserves; and creation of a joint automation network to replace five separate and distinct networks, allowing for information sharing and electronic collaboration across the joint organization and at lower cost.

The Texas Army National Guard is being transformed into agile, versatile, deployable units of execution and units of action, including the reflagging of the 49th Armored Division as the 36th Infantry Division (unit of execution), and the restructuring of maneuver brigades into modular, deployable, independent units of action, and the addition of other structure such as a military police brigade. This will equip them for service throughout the spectrum of conflict and emergencies, war, post-war stability operations, peacekeeping, homeland security, and natural and man-made disasters.

The Texas Air National Guard is being transformed into a more ready and reliable force anchored in the three primary missions of precision strike, fighter pilot training, and worldwide tactical airlift, but with new emphasis on information operations and eventual transition to follow-on aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles.

The Texas State Guard is transforming into a well trained joint force of volunteer specialists focused on homeland security, including a Medical Reserve Corps to augment the medical infrastructure in Texas in response to public health emergencies and terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction.

Joint Operating Forces are being developed and expanded to fuse various elements together to meet the demands of both federal and state missions. Currently, these include the Counter Drug Task Force, the 6th Civil Support Team, the Texas State Guard, and our growing support to U.S. Army South, and its southern focus with the U.S. Southern Command. Activities of these joint forces have included the following:

  • Exercise UNIFIED DEFENSE 04, or UD04, a joint, NORTHCOM-sponsored homeland security exercise involving TXMF, local, state, and federal agencies;
     

  • Joint contingency units and emergency operations centers for the 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2004 Super Bowl, including coordination and collaboration with local, state, federal, U.S. Army, U.S. Air force, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard forces;
     

  • Integration of Texas Army and Air National Guard members in the 6th Civil Support Team, a unit focused on assisting first responders to a chemical, biological, nuclear, or other hazardous material incident. This unit has been conducting joint operations with the Coast Guard and local, state, and federal agencies for the past three years. It continues routine liaison to assure these agencies know how to both request 6th CST support and provide essential information about hazardous materials stored or transported in and around the Texas ports and long coastline;
     

  • Operation Lone Star, an annual, two-week medical exercise that focuses needed medical and dental support to the local populace in the Rio Grande Valley and includes medical specialists from the Navy Reserve, Marine Reserve, Texas Army National Guard, Texas Air National Guard, Texas State Guard, and state and federal agencies;
     

  • Establishment of a joint, Army & Air Guard, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear & Explosives (CBRNE) Emergency Response Force Package for reconnaissance and recovery, mass casualty decontamination, and emergency medical assistance in support of local and state responders in the wake of a WMD event;
     

  • Establishment of a joint operating base at Ellington ANG Base in Houston by collocating Texas Army and Air National Guard units with a Coast Guard unit; and
     

  • Integration of Texas Army and Air National personnel in a Counter Drug Task Force to augment local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.