7 Texas National Guard members in Illinois replaced for ‘not meeting mission standards’ when it came to physical fitness
0JaoOctober 15, 2025
The Texas National Guard sent home seven soldiers whose fitness levels seemingly “did not meet mission requirements” for their deployment to Illinois, a Texas Military Department spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
In a statement provided to the Tribune, the spokesperson said the service members were replaced “during the pre-mission validation process” at the U.S. Army Reserve training center in suburban Elwood, where the troops have been garrisoned since last week.
“These service members were returned to home station,” according to the statement.
The decision comes after some soldiers were ridiculed on social media for their physical appearance upon their arrival in Illinois. Widely circulated media photographs showed heavier guardsmen at the Elwood base, prompting critics to question how the troops fit in with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insistence that all military members must meet height and weight standards.
Hegseth — who told top military leaders last month that it was “tiring” to see “fat troops” — signaled his support for the soldiers’ removal on social media Monday.
“Standards are back at The @DeptofWar,” he posted on X, along with a screenshot of a story about the Texas National Guard’s decision.
The Texas Military Department did not specify which standards the seven Guard members did not meet, but the statement said the department “echoes Secretary Hegseth’s message to the force: ‘Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear.’”
A federal judge in Chicago last week blocked the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops to Chicago and the rest of Illinois as part of its ongoing immigration enforcement push. In response, the Trump administration requested an emergency stay of the order, which was denied by a federal appeals court in Chicago on Saturday.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, did allow National Guard members already in Illinois to remain here during the appeal.
“Members of the National Guard do not need to return to their home states unless further ordered by a court to do so,” the court order said.
Texas National Guard members patrol outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview on Oct. 9, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard carry luggage after arriving Oct. 7, 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard arrive Oct. 7, 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
National Guard members walk around outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview on Oct. 9, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard arrive Oct. 7, 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, Oct. 8, 2025,. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard carry shields while running run drills on Oct. 8, 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard stand at an entrance Oct. 8, 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard arrive Oct. 7, 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a far southwest suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Erin Gallagher, from Will County, protests the arrival of members of the Texas National Guard on Oct. 7. 2025, at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard walk around the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, Oct. 7. 2025. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble in Elwood at the Army Reserve Training Center in the southwest suburb of Chicago on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a far southwest suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a far southwest suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble in Elwood at the Army Reserve Training Center in the southwest suburb of Chicago on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a far southwest suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a far southwest suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood on Oct. 7, 2025, southwest of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a far southwest suburb of Chicago, on Oct. 7, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Members of the Texas National Guard assemble at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood on Oct. 7, 2025, southwest of Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
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Texas National Guard members patrol outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview on Oct. 9, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
In her oral ruling from the bench, U.S. District Judge April Perry, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, said National Guard troops are “not trained in de-escalation or other extremely important law enforcement functions that would help to quell these problems,” and that allowing troops to come into Chicago “will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”
The Department of Justice argued in a filing Friday night that Perry’s order “improperly impinges on the Commander in Chief’s supervision of military operations, countermands a military directive to officers in the field, and endangers federal personnel and property.”
There has been no visible presence of the Texas National Guard since last week’s ruling. Before the judge’s ruling, the troops were spotted at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in west suburban Broadview, but they did not interact with protesters.
The Pentagon has not clarified what the Guard members will be doing while the appeal plays out. Uniformed troops have been spotted a U.S. Army Reserve Center in recent days, with a few appearing to be carrying rifles as they walked around the 3,600-acre property about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.
