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AUSTIN (Nexstar) A string of recent deaths among Texas National Guardsmen deployed as part of Governor Greg Abbotts Operation Lone Star is stirring up questions about the mission.

The governor has repeatedly emphasized the importance of these soldiers on our southern border, meant to help respond to the surge in migrants this year.

Tuesday, a spokesperson for the governor noted, Since Governor Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March, National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers have apprehended over 83,000 migrants, arrested over 9,200 who committed a border-related crime, including smugglers and human traffickers, seized over 200 million lethal doses of fentanyl, and erected strategic barriers to stem the flow of illegal immigration.

Back in early October, he announced more troops would be sent, adding up to 2,500 total.

Last week, Davis Winkie with the Army Times reported a jarring trend among those guardsmen.

The key stressor that all four of these soldiers had in common was, the state of Texas had either asked them to drop their life on two weeks, one week, maybe less notice, Winkie told Nexstar Monday.

Winkie said all four of those guardsmen have died by suicide since the end of October.

The most recent was 1st Lt. Charles Williams, who died last Thursday while on a holiday pass to go home and see his family. He had been leading soldiers out there in Del Rio on the border, and was actually in the same company, in the same unit, as 1st Sgt. Kenny Crutcher who died in November, Winkie explained.

While Winkie said its tough to speculate, the guardsmen deployed on Operation Lone Star have faced some tough challenges.

For somebody who hasnt had to put down their civilian life on that kind of notice, to go on a mission where you dont know how long youre going to be there. You dont know if youre going to be allowed see your family regularly, thats a really significant stressor, Winkie added.

Additionally, guardsmen in the operation have faced delays in payments and cuts to benefits.

In a statement, the Texas Military Department said it could confirm those four deaths, but did not yet confirm they were suicide, citing ongoing investigations.

We take the loss of any service member seriously and prioritize mitigating risk to loss of life in everything we do. We can confirm the loss of these four service members; however, the cause of death and circumstances surrounding each are currently under investigation, a TMD spokesperson said in part.

TMD told Winkie the same thing, but Winkie reached out to those guardsmen best to learn more.

By speaking with family members by speaking with sources with knowledge of the investigations or sources otherwise and involved with the men who died, and then also through official TMD documents that I obtained, all four members died by gunshot wounds that are believed to be self-inflicted, Winkie said.

The deaths are now renewing questions about the need for all 2,500 soldiers to be deployed at our southern border.

With most of them unable to do anything meaningful to address the immigration challenges that we have, and a real challenge with morale that has led to the suicides of four members of the guard, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke said this week. Theyre being asked to participate in political theater

Immigration experts also call the move political, explaining more troops are not the answer.

Our current border crisis is one that has to ultimately deal with the origins and the reasons that people are fleeing. And that is something that the administration is working on, Doris Meissner with the Migration Policy Institute said.

But, that takes time. Meanwhile, local authorities in border towns are grateful for the extra manpower.

Id rather have the state doing what theyre doing than the federal government doing nothing at all, Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez said last month.

But immigration experts also point to the data posted by border patrol each month, showing the number of migrant apprehensions has remained steady since the start of Operation Lone Star in the spring.

Theres no question that border enforcement is in a different phase at this point. But the way to do it is to try to manage it effectively, work together cooperatively, whats happening in Texas, really is political grandstanding, Meissner said.

The governors office said it will continue working with service leaders to ensure all troops deployed have the support they need.

Texas is beyond grateful for the brave men and women of the National Guard and DPS who are diligently and selflessly securing the border in the federal governments absence, the statement continued.

In addition to what the National Guard already offers for mental healthcare, TMD also said it has a team specifically assigned to Operation Lone Star.

There is a behavioral health team assigned to Operation Lone Star with members in each region our task force supports. The OLS behavioral health team practices proactive, face-to-face outreach through education on self-care, crisis mitigation, and resources available, a spokesperson for TMD said in a statement.

Dr. Donald McGeary, with STRONG STAR PTSD research consortium at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said we need to make sure our troops know they have options when it comes to mental health.

The two important ingredients for stress is that something changes, and you have a response to it. In this case, the response can be pretty significant when youre called up to duty, you have plans to do other things, Dr. McGeary said.

For the National Guard, they have a network of individuals who are providing free mental health care to anyone who needs it. So if they dont know who that is, they could reach out to their NCO, if they do have a counselor, or a psychologist or mental health resources available, thats even better, Dr. McGeary explained.

He also urges those who have a friend or family member serving to reach out to them often.

Sometimes with suicide risk, it can be very difficult to talk about it, even though you feel the risk coming, you feel the risk increasing, it can be hard to talk about. But try to take a moment to talk to others about it. So when you trust someone who you know, cares about you and someone you care about, give yourself an opportunity to have it addressed, Dr. McGeary said.

Originally posted here:
String of deaths among Texas National Guardsmen deployed at southern border stirs up questions - KXAN.com