TX National Guard Unveils Newly Formed Green Beret Unit

**Team Sergeant** · 01-10-2008, 14:49

KTEN.com
Hometown News
TX National Guard Unveils Newly Formed Green Beret Unit

Updated: Jan 10, 2008 07:58 AM MST

Maj. Gen. John T. Furlow, Texas Army National Guard commander, passes the guidon to the new commander of C Company, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, Texas Army National Guard. (Texas Military Forces photo by Chief Master Sgt. Gonda Moncada)

By Capt. James M. Campbell
Texas Military Forces Public Affairs

CAMP MABRY, Texas - Years of interstate coordination and diligent planning paid off as the Texas Army National Guard proudly unveiled its own Special Forces unit recently.

Maj. Gen. John T. Furlow, Assistant Adjutant General-Army and Texas Army National Guard commander, was pleased to stand up Charlie Company, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, at a small ceremony in front of the Texas National Guard headquarters building here in Austin, Texas.

"This is a great move forward in rebalancing the structure of the Texas Army National Guard," said General Furlow. "We'll be able to provide a full spectrum of capabilities and demonstrate what the Texas Military Forces have to offer."

The need for a special operations unit arose because of the continuing transformation of the Texas Army National Guard. Additionally, there were several Green Berets residing in Texas who were drilling with Special Forces units in other states.

"This is a great opportunity for Texas," said the commander of Charlie Company, not identified by name for security reasons. "We've had several Soldiers from Texas that have gone to Mississippi, Colorado and Utah, and now they'll have the opportunity to drill right here in Texas to represent our state."

Continued;

http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=7604736

austinsf · 01-11-2008, 11:21

Team Sergeant,

Thanks for posting this article. We're pretty excited about this new unit standing up, and this definitely helps us get the word out. If anyone on this board has any questions, here's our link and e-mail:

http://www.agd.state.tx.us/rr/19th-s...rces-group.htm
e-mail: ngtx-sf@tx.ngb.mil

thanks again, and have a great weekend.

**18C4V** · 01-11-2008, 17:26

Congrats in standing up the company, it's about time. I also heard that the REC is going away.

H8Leech · 01-12-2008, 02:52

is this going to be in SA as i have heard before or the austin area?

austinsf · 01-12-2008, 14:40

We've got a few full-time Guard guys working in Austin, but the company itself is closer to San Antonio. We've got guys coming in from all over the state, though, so SA works pretty well for a good centralized location.

Rob_0811 · 01-14-2008, 09:34

C Co.'s commander gave us an excellent brief on his unitwhen we got back from Iraq in Oct.

He seems squared away. It sounds like it's going to be a good unit.

Just out of curiosity, since it is an SF group, does the unit admin stuff (schools, pay, orders, promotions/awards, etc.) get done through SOC or does it still go through Austin, since it's a Guard group? I've noticed that almost anything that goes through Austin usually gets lost or jacked up. I was wondering if being an SF group helps at all.

Thanks,

Rob

austinsf · 01-14-2008, 11:37

Rob, great question. Although we fall under the TXARNG, all SOF schools, training, admin stuff is routed through NGB SOF channels. Other issues that must run through the TXARNG side are given a good amount of priority, which definitely helps us cut through the red tape. One of the best things about standing this company up is the incredible support we've been given by the key leaders in the TXARNG. Bottom line, while standing up a new unit can be quirky, we couldn't have asked for a better environment here in Texas. Shoot me an e-mail or PM me if you have any more questions, and thanks.

4StringSlinger · 02-27-2008, 12:49

Just curious how things are going w/the unit so far.

farmertrav · 02-27-2008, 16:56

I do not have much to say about Special Forces as I am barely a zygote in the training process, as I just completed the SF Assessment Drill conducted by C/5/19SFG(A) this month and am now waiting to go to SFAS in July.
But I would like to tell anyone reading this post about how professional and serious the Cadre of C/5/19 are. I was not sure what to expect but what I got was professional and straightforward treatment.
These guys wasted no time getting me squared away with the necessary forms and paperwork to get me to the SFAD to try-out. These guys mean business and if you were in the Reserves like me then you can really really appreciate that.
So, if your done looking up SF on the internet and are ready to take the first SERIOUS step towards Selection, turn off your computer, go find a copy of the SFAS PT Booklet(PT 31-210-SWCS) and a Large ALICE pack and give these Gentlemen a call.

Best of Luck,
Travis

4StringSlinger · 02-27-2008, 17:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmertrav

I do not have much to say about Special Forces as I am barely a zygote in the training process, as I just completed the SF Assessment Drill conducted by C/5/19SFG(A) this month and am now waiting to go to SFAS in July.
But I would like to tell anyone reading this post about how professional and serious the Cadre of C/5/19 are. I was not sure what to expect but what I got was professional and straightforward treatment.
These guys wasted no time getting me squared away with the necessary forms and paperwork to get me to the SFAD to try-out. These guys mean business and if you were in the Reserves like me then you can really really appreciate that.
So, if your done looking up SF on the internet and are ready to take the first SERIOUS step towards Selection, turn off your computer, go find a copy of the SFAS PT Booklet(PT 31-210-SWCS) and a Large ALICE pack and give these Gentlemen a call.

Best of Luck,
Travis

Thanks for the insight, good to hear. I'm in the process of squaring away some personal stuff and looking at joining [finally] around September.

Good luck.

austinsf · 03-02-2008, 11:03

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the inquiry and the feedback. 4StringSlinger, to answer your original question, things are busy! Recruiting's blowing up, and we've had to hire a couple more guys to help with the high volume of inquiries and events we've got coming up. We received some great news from the school house, when 4 of 4 TXARNG SF candidates were selected recently. All four went through SFPC I, which I've heard is an excellent program for setting guys up for success in SFAS. Many thanks to the instructors out there for executing such a quality POI.

In the meantime, we've had the company sprinting these last couple of months, going to some individual schools and a couple of overseas deployments. Morale's high, and the state of Texas is all about supporting our little company. 4StringSlinger, if you want to chat about the unit or the pipeline process, please drop me a line.

Thanks again, and take care.

SPCFoster · 03-13-2008, 19:07

Very glad to see the unit come up. This unit seems to be sparking interest in a lot of people and bringing prior service members out of the woods, and talking to us about coming back. How is the recruiting side of it going?

**The Reaper** · 03-14-2008, 06:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPCFoster

Very glad to see the unit come up. I am recruiting up north in the panhandle and from RG1 TM1 we have sent/sending two your way. We have a prior service enlistee that we sent back, and one that is getting ready to go. His recruiter is dropping the ball on him though so I have been keeping him updated and giving him some info on what he needs to do. He is really motivated about going and is very intelligent. This unit seems to be sparking interest in a lot of people and bringing prior service members out of the woods, and talking to us about coming back. How is the recruiting side of it going?

SPC Foster:

Please review the registration message you received when you joined this site, as well as the stickies and rules, and comply.

TR

Defion69 · 03-14-2008, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPCFoster

Very glad to see the unit come up. I am recruiting up north in the panhandle and from RG1 TM1 we have sent/sending two your way. We have a prior service enlistee that we sent back, and one that is getting ready to go. His recruiter is dropping the ball on him though so I have been keeping him updated and giving him some info on what he needs to do. He is really motivated about going and is very intelligent. This unit seems to be sparking interest in a lot of people and bringing prior service members out of the woods, and talking to us about coming back. How is the recruiting side of it going?

Thanks for the recruiting support you do for the TXARNG but I would offer a bit of advice and that is: don't speak badly or in a negative manner about one of your own (fellow recruiter, fellow soldier, fellow American), especially in a public forum such as this. If recruiting/personnel issues as you so suggest do exist within your unit, there are other ways to tackle such a beast. Remember where you are posting, the name of this board says it all.

Good luck and take care.

SPCFoster · 03-15-2008, 10:46

Roger that.