South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem described the U.S. border with Mexico as a “war zone” last year when she sent dozens of state National Guard troops there.
Congress appears poised to save five littoral combat ships from an early retirement, but the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is saying that the fight to ditch the ships is not yet over.
The recent death of a Guard soldier who drowned trying to save migrants in the Rio Grande has led to scrutiny of the Texas Military Department’s policy discouraging service members from engaging in water rescues.
By James Barragán, The Texas Tribune and Davis Winkie