Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has changed the highest officer of the Texas Nationwide Guard amid the state’s troubled border safety mission that has seen troops face pay points and switch to alcohol abuse and self hurt, in addition to prompting some to attempt to unionize.
In a information launch Monday, the governor’s workplace introduced that Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer is changing Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris because the adjutant normal of the Texas Army Division.
“I thank Common Norris for her distinctive service to the State of Texas and am honored to nominate her successor, Main Common Thomas Suelzer, because the Adjutant Common of Texas,” Abbott, a Republican, mentioned in a press release. “Common Suelzer brings a wealth of army expertise to this new position, and I’m assured that he’ll uphold the integrity of the Texas Army Division and exemplify servant management all through each facet of this place.”
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The information launch famous that Norris’ three-year time period expired in February. However it’s not unusual to resume an appointment; her predecessor served as adjutant normal for seven years.
Texas’ Operation Lone Star, the border patrol mission Abbott launched in March 2021 as he accused President Joe Biden of being smooth on immigration, has been suffering from months of reviews of depressing circumstances for Texas Guardsmen.
Army.com beforehand reported that greater than 1,000 troops have confronted pay points, together with some being shortchanged 1000’s of {dollars}.
In the meantime, requests to be taken off the open-ended mission due to household hardships, together with monetary points and needing to care for youngsters or sick relations, have been largely denied.
There have additionally been a number of reviews of suicide makes an attempt and incidents associated to alcohol abuse. An investigation by Army Occasions discovered a minimum of 4 troopers linked to the mission have died by suicide.
Amid these points, an undisclosed variety of enlisted troops and officers within the Texas Army and Air Nationwide Guard have moved to unionize, with the objective of constructing higher relationships with Texas Guard management and advocating for troop-friendly laws.
Norris has acquired a few of the criticism for the mission’s points, however Abbott’s political rivals mentioned the blame lies with the governor.
“You’ll be able to change Generals, however we all know the place the buck stops,” Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat working in opposition to Abbott for governor, tweeted Monday. “Abbott took 10,000 Guard members from their jobs and households, handled them with unimaginable disrespect. Pay delayed. Tuition advantages lower in half. Used as political pawns in his marketing campaign. Time to deliver them again house.”
Norris’ successor, Suelzer, has served because the deputy adjutant general-air for the Texas Nationwide Guard at Camp Mabry in Austin since January 2021. That position made him Norris’ principal adviser on Air Nationwide Guard points and put him in command of insurance policies affecting three wings and greater than 3,200 Air Nationwide Guard troops.
Suelzer joined the Texas Nationwide Guard in 2007 following 10 years within the active-duty Air Drive and 7 years within the reserves. He has served on two state missions on the U.S.-Mexico border and led the Texas Nationwide Guard’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in keeping with his official biography.
— Rebecca Kheel may be reached at rebecca.kheel@army.com. Observe her on Twitter @reporterkheel.
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