Guam Calling

By Texas Game Warden
Will Plumas

IGW Spring 2018

I have been a state game warden, with the Texas Parks & Wildlife, for 26 years. My career was stationed in the extreme southern tip of the state, which includes the southern Gulf of Mexico Coast and the Rio Grande River. Currently, I am one of the full-time operators on our agency’s Special Operations Division’s Maritime Tactical Operations Group (MTOG). As the “Texas Navy,” Texas Game Wardens are tasked with the important role of maintaining the state’s maritime security. Our law enforcement division staffs a specialized unit comprised of trained, equipped, and tactically proficient game wardens known as the MTOG for maritime operations. MTOG exists to enhance game wardens’ response capabilities during critical waterborne incidents or special maritime details that include port/ homeland security, interdiction of narcotics and human trafficking, and tactical waterborne response. Having the desire to instruct, I started adding layers to my skill set, and after receiving my basic instructor certificate and firearms instructor certificate, I started looking around for something in the maritime domain. In 2011, I sat through the first National Association of State Boating Law Administrator’s (NASBLA) course in Texas.

That particular course was the NASBLA tactical operator’s course. Soon after completion, I was asked to become an instructor. I am now a lead instructor and national program manager for the NASBLA airboat operator’s course.

Having taught all of the courses in our catalog throughout the US, there was one course, held in a special location, which had still eluded me. That location was on the island of Guam. For those of you not familiar with Guam, it is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States in Micronesia in the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point (in terms of jurisdiction) and territory of the United States, along with the Northern Mariana Islands. The capital city of Guam is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo. The inhabitants of Guam are called Guamanians, and they are American citizens by birth. Indigenous Guamanians arethe Chamorros, who are related to other Austronesian natives to the west in the Philippines and Taiwan.

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