Texas Denying Most Guard Troops at Border Chance to Help Families Suffering Hardships at Home
A member of the Texas National Guard who is deployed to the state's border security mission was recently sitting in his bed, on a fourth or fifth alcoholic cocktail, when the worry welled up.
"I was wondering what I'm doing here," the noncommissioned officer remembered in an interview this week with Military.com. The NCO spoke on the condition of anonymity because troops there were ordered not to comment publicly.
The Texas deployment in October had pulled the soldier away from a civilian job, a family including children who depended on that income to survive, and a spouse enrolled in college. The loss of pay threatened mortgage and vehicle payments, even sports fees for the kids.
The NCO filed a hardship request, a formal process for soldiers to make a case to be excused from duty, with his chain of command. But that request was denied, leaving him in a dire financial situation.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/01/13/texas-denying-most-guard-troops-border-chance-help-families-suffering-hardships-home.html
