- Joined
- Jan 15, 2019
- Messages
- 49,250
- Reaction score
- 41,161
- Location
- Texas
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Slightly Liberal
As Governor Abbott's border "mission" continues to shit the bed, he goes all in on replacing the leader of the TMD...
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday he has replaced Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris as leader of the Texas Military Department after months of criticism that her handling of his highly touted border mission had led to deplorable living conditions for troops.
In a news release, Abbott said Norris’ term expired in February and Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer, who formerly oversaw the Texas Air Guard, was the military department’s new leader as of Monday.
Norris began her three-year tenure at the helm of the department in 2019 but came under heavy criticism in recent months after a massive ramp-up of Operation Lone Star last fall led to pay issues, poor living conditions and a lack of appropriate gear for troops on the mission.
An investigation co-published by The Texas Tribune and Military Times found that many of the issues plaguing the mission were not only byproducts of the mission’s hasty expansion, but also similar to problems faced during the department’s last major state deployment, during Hurricane Harvey.
-----
Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat challenging Abbott in the November election, put the blame for the mission’s recent controversies squarely at the incumbent governor’s feet.
“You can switch Generals, but we all know where the buck stops. Greg Abbott took 10,000 Guard members from their families, jobs, and communities,” O’Rourke said in a statement. “He has treated them with incredible disrespect as he has delayed their pay, cut their tuition benefits in half, and used them as political pawns in his re-election campaign. It’s time to bring them back home.”
Another vocal critic of Norris’ leadership has been retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Featherston, who was the Texas Army National Guard’s top enlisted soldier from May 2020 until he retired shortly before the border mission’s troop surge
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/RXF547AEFJBPBCOZO2DSULE674.jpg)
www.armytimes.com
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday he has replaced Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris as leader of the Texas Military Department after months of criticism that her handling of his highly touted border mission had led to deplorable living conditions for troops.
In a news release, Abbott said Norris’ term expired in February and Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer, who formerly oversaw the Texas Air Guard, was the military department’s new leader as of Monday.
Norris began her three-year tenure at the helm of the department in 2019 but came under heavy criticism in recent months after a massive ramp-up of Operation Lone Star last fall led to pay issues, poor living conditions and a lack of appropriate gear for troops on the mission.
An investigation co-published by The Texas Tribune and Military Times found that many of the issues plaguing the mission were not only byproducts of the mission’s hasty expansion, but also similar to problems faced during the department’s last major state deployment, during Hurricane Harvey.
-----
Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat challenging Abbott in the November election, put the blame for the mission’s recent controversies squarely at the incumbent governor’s feet.
“You can switch Generals, but we all know where the buck stops. Greg Abbott took 10,000 Guard members from their families, jobs, and communities,” O’Rourke said in a statement. “He has treated them with incredible disrespect as he has delayed their pay, cut their tuition benefits in half, and used them as political pawns in his re-election campaign. It’s time to bring them back home.”
Another vocal critic of Norris’ leadership has been retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Featherston, who was the Texas Army National Guard’s top enlisted soldier from May 2020 until he retired shortly before the border mission’s troop surge
Texas Guard’s top general replaced amid border mission troubles
Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris faced widespread criticism for her handling of Operation Lone Star, the Texas National Guard's border mission.
