Posted on 06/13/2005 5:22:05 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
AUSTIN — The state's first Hispanic adjutant general took command Sunday of a Texas National Guard at war and on the cusp of profound changes.
Maj. Gen. Charles G. Rodriguez, who was sworn in to the job here by Gov. Rick Perry, will oversee a force that now has thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They'll continue playing big roles in overseas operations for years to come, but changes loom — some of Rodriguez's making and others from planners in the Pentagon.
An Army reorganization under way likely will increase the number of women in the ranks, as units jettison much of their armor for such critical jobs as MPs. But Rodriguez also said he wants to "create a broad sense of diversity" in the Guard's leadership positions.
"We're not fighting World War II anymore. ... And this is a different kind of challenge we face and a different kind of world we live in," he said. "So it's going to take a whole lot of different people in senior leadership, and we have to find them and grow them, and we've got to help them along."
Rodriguez and the Guard's outgoing chief, Maj. Gen. Wayne D. Marty, traded places after an hour-long ceremony that drew 800 people, including the state's first African American adjutant general, Lt. Gen. Daniel James III.
Marty, a Vietnam gunship pilot, returns home after heading the Guard for the past three years.
Both James and Rodriguez, 51, who was promoted from brigadier general at the ceremony, hail from San Antonio.
Rodriguez, born in San Bernardino, Calif., left his job as chief fundraiser for the University of Texas Health Science Center.
This week he moves into Marty's second-floor office at the Guard's tranquil Camp Mabry headquarters west of the Capitol.
As Rodriguez sets out to groom women and minorities for leadership roles, he must also provide 1,000 soldiers for a year-long Kosovo peacekeeping tour, retain enough troops in the 19,931-strong Guard for future missions, and devise plans to help returning war veterans and their families cope with stress.
"Today, our challenges are many because we support thousands of our deployed and deploying soldiers and airmen in the 'away game,' that is, in multiple assignments overseas," he told the crowd, adding that four in 10 Guard members will be in high-tension and combat zones by winter.
"In addition, we simultaneously prepare to respond domestically, in the 'home game,' to natural disasters and even acts of terrorism inside Texas."
Most of the 5,200 Texans on active duty are in Iraq, said Col. John Stanford, spokesman for the Guard. About 500 are in Afghanistan. More will go to Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and the Sinai desert starting next year.
Rodriguez vowed to bolster "a wonderful" family support program by establishing classes, seminars and other efforts to help reorient war veterans.
"This is not about someone who is ill coming back. This is about helping each other with the re-entry process," he said.
Though the Army consistently has fallen short of its recruiting goals this year, the Texas Guard hasn't been hurt. It's still first in recruiting nationwide and is keeping enough veterans, Stanford said. Retention is best among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The question is, we've never used the reserve components in this way since the Korean War, and it's not going to work in the long run," said Charles Moskos, a Northwestern University sociologist who advocates a return to the draft. "There's going to have to be a rethinking of what the role of the reserve is in the total force."
Rodriguez conceded that it's more difficult to sign up young people, who are strongly influenced by their parents, and that fewer troops are joining after leaving active duty.
But the Guard needs fewer younger people because it draws older recruits, he said, predicting that the Army could evolve from a family-oriented force to one that attracts those who are single, divorced or motivated by bonus money.
"And there's nothing wrong with that motivation. They're willing to put their lives at risk; I don't think you can put a real dollar figure on that," Rodriguez said. "So the character of the armed forces might change in terms of what kind of people decide to stay in, but it's not like we're going to run out of folks."
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sigc@express-news.net
How about the southern invasion?
Oh have no fear, I'm sure this thread will net scores of objections to putting an hispanic in charge of the Texas guard.
No, but you will see some people wonder if affirmative action or pandering politics is part of it. That's the problem with affirmative action and pandering politics.
In memory of the Soldiers of D-9-3 who fell from friendly fire in the summerof 1960 when a 155 hit the mess tent in tent city at Graf. Most of them were hispanic. God bless America.
You're a good man. Stick around, you'll soon find that with some, no hispanic can do anything right.
Texas Guard! Texas Guard! The man is complicit in covering up Bush's insubordination! It's court-martiallin' time!
That may be true but I judge a man for what he does. Illegals, yes they should be kept under control but not because they are Mexican, but because of national security and the Diseases they are bringing in by not going through the legal processes.
I have always loved our open borders between the countries, Canada and Mexico included. Now, however we have to watch our tail and it has nothing to do with Hispanics. It has everything to do with National security. I hate having to seal borders, I hate having the security we have at airports now, but we must do something or we will all die under the terrorism of Islam.
Mexico needs to start providing jobs for her people and quit depending on America to solve her problems, a little less dictatorship would seem to be in order.
As for Hispanics as a whole, I admire them and salute the legals in the US. Come to us Legally or don't come at all.
Texas Guard! Texas Guard! The man is complicit in covering up Bush's insubordination! It's court-martiallin' time!
Not to confuse anyone, but there is also an all volunteer Texas Guard that is commanded by the Governor. It's a descendant of the civilian volunteer State Defense Guard that protected Texas borders during World War II and the volunteer militias that policed the wild and woolly frontier during the 19th century.
Sounds very interesting! Paging Governor Perry!
Did not realize that Texas has its own guard.
Oregon also has that kind of organization or did.. Things do change and I can not find a listing for the Oregon State in its website.
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