Texas State Guard Earns 1st Place in Governors Twenty M240 Competition

The Governors Twenty has come to an end recently with The M4 Rifle & M240 Medium Machine Gun Competitions. The Texas State Guard (State Defense Force) took home The First Place title in The M240 challenge and 2nd Place in The M4 Rifle competition. This is a remarkable and enormous achievement for the Texas State Guard which is not a combat force and does not train with such weapons to fulfill their missions. However many of the servicemen and women in Texas State Guard have served in The US Military. Their experience and skills allow them to compete with professional soldiers and able take home the top ranks in such competitions.

We would like to congratulate the soldiers who took home the trophies.

M240 Medium Machine Gun 1st Place Winners:

Captain Hector Camarillo

1st Lieutenant Christopher Whitt

M4 Rifle 2nd Place Winners:

Captain Hector Camarillo

1st Lieutenant Christopher Whitt

Warrant Officer 1 Michael Faber

Staff Sergeant Bobby Johnson

The Texas State Guard accomplishments at the competition didnt stop there, other members of The State Guard achieved a 97% in The M17 competition. Also 2023 marked the first year the team included a female State Guard contestant.

Guardsmen of 2nd Brigade, Texas State Guard, competing at the annual Texas Military Department Governor’s Twenty Competition, earned 1st Place in the 2-man team competition for the M240 Machine Gun, held March 11-12, 2023, as well as 2nd place in the 4-man team competition for the M4 rifle, Feb. 24-25, and three team members earned individual Governor’s Twenty

Marksmanship tabs: Warrant Officer 1 Michael Faber for Rifle, Capt. Hector Camarillo and 1st Lt. Christopher Whitt for Machine Gun at Camp Swift, Bastrop, Texas. The members of the rifle team awarded second place are: Cpt. Hector Camarillo, Engineers, 2nd Battalion, 1st Lt. Christopher Whitt, Search and Rescue, 2nd Battalion, Warrant Officer 1 Michael Faber, Search and Rescue, 2nd Battalion, and Staff Sgt. Bobby Johnson, 2nd Brigade Headquarters. Camarillo and Whitt placed 1st for the Machine Gun Team Competition.

Other 2nd Brigade participants included Warrant Officer 1 Chase Welch, Search and Rescue, 2nd Battalion, 1st Lt. William Smith, Boats, 2nd Battalion, 1Lt. Mark Coleman, Engineers, 2nd Battalion, Warrant Officer 1 James Gigante, Engineers, 2nd Battalion and Lt. Col. Randy Frazier, Commander, 3rd Battalion.

The Texas State Guard is one of the three branches of the Texas Military Department, along with the Texas Army National Guard and Texas Air National Guard. The TXSG provides support to Texas for in-state missions, from emergency and disaster response to border security and community service. As part of the Texas Military Department, the TXSG is invited each year to compete alongside their brothers and sisters in the National Guard and Air National Guard.

Many in the TXSG have prior service experience in the U. S. Armed Forces or have civilian expertise in marksmanship. For example, the members of the Machine Gun competition team, Camarillo and Whitt, have years of prior federal service experience which included operating the M240. They showed their resourcefulness in borrowing and obtaining all the necessary equipment. Notably, many of the team members are assigned to Search and Rescue, Boats or Engineering and are avid outdoorsmen and enjoy a challenge.

Responsible for assembling the teams and the training, Whitt explains, “We have 2nd Brigade team members from various Mission Ready Package (MRP) backgrounds, including Search and Rescue, Boats, Engineering and general service. In order to be ready for the 2023 Governor’s Twenty Matches, our team prepared just as we would for a typical State Guard mission. We developed an OPORD, created and followed a training plan, strategized potential obstacles and how we would overcome them.” He summarizes, “No mission goes exactly according to plan, but proper preparation and teamwork helped us overcome the inevitable obstacles. This experience makes us more prepared for our primary missions that will come our way when natural or manmade disasters happen in the future.” Congratulations and well done! They exemplify the 2nd Brigade motto: ad omnia parati, “Ready for Anything.” (Texas State Guard photos) #duty #honor #texas #TXMilitary #TXSG #TexansServingTexas #txlege

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Source: Texas State Guard