Guys - Here's some info I just got in an email from a friend. I'm putting it in the Base Camp vs. the 19th Gp thread to ensure max distro. (TS - Subject to your discretion/review of course.) Should be enough TX boys with an inverse ratio of testostrone to common sense to make this a real deal in short order. FWIW - Peregrino
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The following reports were taken from the SOG Daily Publication
which Chapter Member John Perchard sends to me each day.
Thanks, John.
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DOD to add 2,300 special forces troops, general says
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?...0&archive=true (more)
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
The Defense Department will add about 2,300 new special operations forces to its rolls over the next four years, including two Navy SEAL team equivalents and about 500 Green Berets, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command told Congress this week. Gen. Bryan D. Brown said the extra personnel are needed to keep up with the current demand on the elite teams, both for small-scale individual missions and as support for larger, multiforce operations. The old paradigm was any place, anytime, Brown said. Today, we are focused on key areas that have an impact on the global war on terror. About 1,400 of those new troops will be ready by October 2006, Brown said. Recruitment and training for the posts usually take 12 to 24 months. For the last year, about 6,100 special operations personnel have been deployed worldwide, the highest sustained level of activity ever, Brown said. About 20 percent of that number are reservists, mostly serving as civil affairs and psychological operations officers. While other military specialties are facing recruiting and retention shortfalls, Brown said he has not seen similar problems so far. All special operations personnel are eligible for education benefits, and other targeted bonuses have also kept applicants interested. But he did admit that the global demand on the special forces has stretched the ability to train at the level we would like to."
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For your information and action should you know someone in Texas
who would like to join the 19th SFG.
You are receiving this e-mail because at some point you've ended up in my address book as someone who is interested in seeing Special Forces come to the Texas Army National Guard; or you may know someone who is interested. Forward this message as you deem appropriate. Understand, up front, if you are in a unit, no one is asking you to leave your unit. Everyone recognizes that SF soldiers are tremendously loyal to their teams and units. However, everyone also realizes that many guys leave the Army because they can no longer make the commitment to travel 10 hours, each way, to drill in another state.
Yesterday, Marc Patterson (COARNG, lives in Austin) and I attended a meeting at Camp Mabry, headquarters of the Texas National Guard. The Commander of the 19th Special Forces Group, and his! XO came down from Utah to meet with senior officers from Texas regarding the details of moving SF force structure to the TXARNG. In addition, we traveled by UH-60 to conduct a site survey of two possible locations to station the unit, Hondo, TX (outside of San Antonio) and Camp Swift, Bastrop, TX.
There are some bureaucratic and financial details that still need to be worked out, mostly regarding full time manning. However, it appears that the initial structure will consist of four ODAs, plus half of a ODB. This will allow Texas to prove it can support SF, without hurting UT too much. My own personal feeling is that there are enough SF qualified guys who would join, plus enough guys who want to get qualified, that Texas will get a full company in short order. Slots in the unit will be filled in a first come basis. No non qualified personnel will be turned away, assuming they are otherwise prepared to succeed at SFAS & Q Course.
Assuming the full time manning issue! can be resolved, current plans call for an official start date of 1 October. The unit would probably start organizing and drilling sooner.
If you would like to stay informed on this issue, reply to this e-mail and I will keep you on the distribution list.
SFC Rolando Garza tells me he re-enlisted as a National Guard 18B and will receive a 15k bonus! Don't know what the potential is for guys coming to an SF unit from the USAR or IRR, but it may be worth checking out.
Douglas K. O'Connell
Special Assistant United States Attorney
PSN / Texas Exile Prosecutor
816 Congress Avenue - Suite 1000
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 916-5858
(512) 916-5854 - fax
Email: Douglas.O'Connell@usdoj.gov
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Otherwise I would be more sympathetic. All of us understand the "ties that bind" and loyalty, you just have to put the price tag on it. Sadly, with transportation costs looking to keep skyrocketing, I don't know how the SF Guard units with members living 4-5 states away are going to be able to take care of their guys over the long run. 
Initiatives like this one might just make a career a little more accessible for the dedicated SF Guardsman. Look at it this way - SF wins no matter how "screwed" you feel! 
LOL - Peregrino
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