Overview

• Texas Military Department said a small group from the roughly 200 deployed Guardsmen was found not in compliance during a rapid validation process and has been replaced, without disclosing how many or which standards were unmet.
• The National Guard Bureau reiterated that soldiers must meet service-specific height, weight and physical fitness standards at all times and that noncompliant members are returned to home station and replaced.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly praised the replacements and has been enforcing stricter fitness and grooming rules, including twice‑yearly testing requirements.
• The troops remain in Illinois under federal control, but a federal judge issued a two‑week restraining order that bars their active deployment while litigation proceeds.
• The moves followed a widely shared AP/ABC photo showing heavyset Guardsmen arriving near Chicago, which drew online ridicule, and officials have not said whether those pictured were among those replaced.