Overview

• The Texas Military Department said a small group of roughly 200 Texas National Guard members mobilized to Illinois were found out of compliance during validation and were replaced, without specifying the number or standards failed.
• The National Guard Bureau reiterated that Guard members must meet service-specific height, weight and physical fitness requirements at all times, and those who do not will be returned and replaced during mobilizations.
• A widely shared Associated Press photo published by ABC News drew scrutiny of arriving troops’ fitness, though officials have not said whether the individuals pictured were among those replaced.
• War Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly praised the replacements and has been pressing force-wide changes, including twice-yearly fitness tests, regular height and weight checks, tighter grooming rules and gender-neutral combat standards measured to the male benchmark.
• Courts have temporarily blocked active deployment in Chicago for two weeks, and officials say Guard personnel in Illinois remain federalized but are limited to planning and training rather than operations.