For months, soldiers decried a lack of equipment on Gov. Greg Abbott’s border mission known as Operation Lone Star. But the absence of water safety equipment is the first time that lack of supplies may have contributed to a soldier’s death.
Evans jumped into the raging waters without a flotation device, the Texas Military Department said in an email Tuesday in response to inquiries from The Texas Tribune and Military Times.
The public affairs staff also said it made the request for equipment in February as part of its plan to address “gaps in equipment and safety gear.” The delays are new evidence of TMD’s staggering failure to ensure its troops have the equipment they need. The Tribune and Military Times previously investigated how
But not all service members will be issued water equipment. Brig. Gen. Monie Ulis said troops who are not stationed near the border don't need the equipment and the department's goal is to have one flotation device for each security point, but not necessarily each service member.Spc. Hunter Schuler, a soldier on the border mission who represents a group of newly unionized soldiers, said Evans’ death was tragic, preventable and unnecessary.
Border Patrol agents have been busy rescuing migrants for the last month from the stretch of river where Evans died. A spokesperson for the agency toldthat agents rescued a dozen people in the same area two weeks ago after they were swept off their feet by a swift current. Officials from the two main state agencies participating in the mission said they do not keep track of water rescues.
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