Over the next two weeks, some 1200 members of the Texas State Guard (TXSG) will deploy from across the State of Texas to Camp Bowie to complete their annual training. Annual Training 2011 will focus on the ability of the Texas State Guard to accomplish Defense Support to Civilian Authority (DSCA) missions through multiple training events and command and control exercises.
“The principle focus of our annual training this year is the execution of our mission essential tasks in support of civilian authorities and in response to a civil disaster,” said Maj. Gen. Ray Peters, commanding general of the TXSG. “As we enter the hurricane season it is important for the leaders and citizens of Texas to know with confidence that the Texas State Guard is trained and ready to respond as we have many times in recent years.”
Training activities planned for TXSG personnel include the Texas Emergency Tracking Network (TETN), the National Incident Management System, mass care operations, wide area damage assessment, global positioning system operations, first aid, land navigation, radio communications and command post operations among other activities. Additionally, several professional military education courses will be conducted to include the Primary Leadership Development Course and the Basic Noncommissioned Officer ( NCO) Course.
One of the most important activities planned for this year’s training is a command, control and communications (C3) exercise which will train and test leaders’ abilities to employ and manage TETN, mass care and shelter operations, points-of-delivery, and wide area damage assessment mission sets in response to a hurricane scenario. The C3 exercise will be conducted in a table top environment with simulated communications traffic.
Annual training also serves as the venue for TXSG’s annual Quick Reaction Team (QRT) competition. Each civil affairs regiment with TXSG is assigned a QRT consisting of personnel trained and equipped for rapid deployment anywhere within the state of Texas, to respond to emergencies involving disaster assessment, search, rescue and recovery, and infrastructure protection. The QRT competition will test the readiness and skills of each QRT in four areas; land navigation, leadership reaction course, physical fitness, and pistol marksmanship.
“We’ve been preparing for several months now to ensure this annual training event provides quality training that is both challenging and rewarding for our soldiers,” said Peters. “At the same time this annual training will help ensure the force as a whole is at its maximum level of readiness to respond to potential civil emergencies we may face this hurricane season.”
Camp Bowie is a Texas Military Forces training center located in west central Texas near the cities of Brownwood and Early.
“We appreciate the continued partnership of the City of Brownwood which is once again playing an important role in supporting our training,” said Peters. “The citizens of Brownwood have always been hospitable towards the Guard, and the City actively engages in our training scenarios to enhance realism and to practice real-world inter-agency coordination.”
In recent years the TXSG has been called to active duty for nine hurricanes (Katrina, Rita, Dean, Humberto, Dolly, Edouard, Gustav, Ike, and Alex), the Eagle Pass tornado in 2007, and severe flooding in Marble Falls in 2007. The TXSG is also the lead military component for Operation Lone Star in the Rio Grande Valley – the state’s largest annual medical emergency preparedness mission.
The Texas State Guard is one of three branches of the Texas Military Forces (TXMF), operating under the command of the Adjutant General of Texas and the Governor as Commander-in-Chief of all state military forces. The TXMF includes the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard.
The mission of the Texas State Guard (TXSG) is to provide mission-ready military forces to assist state and local authorities in times of state emergencies; to conduct homeland security and community service activities under the umbrella of Defense Support to Civil Authorities; and to augment the Texas Army National Guard and Texas Air National Guard as required.
Headquartered at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas, the TXSG functions as an organized state militia under the authority of Title 32 of the U.S. Code and Chapter 431 of the Texas Government Code.
