Border @ MindSay

By Carmen L. Gleason

American Forces Press Service

May 10, 2007 – U.S. forces are continuing to see improvements in the abilities of the Iraqi security forces they are training, the commander of the Iraqi Assistance Group today told representatives of veterans service organizations during a conference call from Iraq.

"From the streets of Baghdad to the Iranian border, transition teams are providing high-quality advice and assistance to Iraq security force units," said Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, commander of the Iraq Assistance Group in charge of helping Iraqi military, police and border enforcement officials.

Pittard said his troops are working directly with Iraqi leaders from a variety of units to advise them in real-time scenarios and tactical operations. They also are assisting with the organization's staffing and unit structures.

To help make Iraqi forces more effective, Pittard's group serves as the key link between Multinational Corps Iraq, which commands operations in the country, and Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, which equips, mans and trains Iraqi security forces.

During the conference call, Pittard said he travels almost daily to engage with Iraqi leaders, noncommissioned officers and units who are making great strides in security enforcement throughout Iraq.

"I feel like I've been witnessing history in the making," Pittard said. "I've watched very courageous Iraqi leaders make tough decisions and work hard to develop units capable of defending their homeland."

He cited the commanders of Iraqi ground forces, the national police and department of border enforcement units as making extraordinary efforts and "stepping up to the plate" to put an end to sectarian influences.

Efforts along the Iraqi border haven't always been a priority for the country, he said.

"Over the last year we've seen more of a priority from the Iraqi government and coalition forces in training and equipping the Department of Border Enforcement," Pittard said.

After training and working with representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Iraqi forces are primarily focusing on the country's borders with Iran and Syria.

Pittard compared this "tough job" to the issues the United States has in securing its border with Mexico.

Beginning in May, more than 100 former U.S. border patrol agents have been contracted to assist Iraqis in border operations, Pittard said. Two of these agents have been embedded with each 11-man border transition team.

Applying their knowledge from operations at the U.S./Mexico border, agents have assisted Iraqi border enforcement officials along the Syrian border in using a "layered" approach with checkpoints at and away from the border. Pittard said this has helped reduce illegal goods and foreign fighters coming across the border.

Despite recent problems at the Iranian border with smuggling explosively formed projectiles, border officials are seeing some success in their efforts, the general said.

"Whether you talk to a soldier in Iraq or a Marine in al Anbar and ask them if we're winning or losing," he said, "I'd say the majority would say we are winning."

He said his troops are making slow, methodical progress, and efforts will require time and patience on the part of Americans and Iraqis.

"We know it's a moral commitment," he said. "We can't leave this nation as a failed state in disarray. We owe it to the American people and the Iraqi people to leave Iraq as a stable nation that can govern and defend itself with the Iraqi security forces."

Article sponsored by police officers who have written books on law enforcement jobs; as well as those involved in writing on leadership.

By Fred W. Baker III

Jan. 24, 2007 – More than 600 Texas National Guardsmen were activated by the state's governor Jan. 22 to support a surge operation targeting crime and international drug and human trafficking along the state's 1,200-mile border with Mexico.  The soldiers are activated in support of Operation Wrangler, an interagency law enforcement operation that involves 6,800 federal, state and local officials, according to a release by Texas Gov. Rick Perry's office.

These soldiers are in addition to the 1,700 Texas Guardsmen federally activated in support Operation Jump Start, a beef-up of National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border aimed at stopping illegal immigrants from entering the U.S.

Airmen from the 204th Security Forces Squadron from Fort Bliss, Texas, will play a major part by supporting with trained and experienced security force airmen and the rest of the forces will be provided by smaller units from throughout the state, said Army Col. Bill Meehan, Texas National Guard's state public affairs officer. The majority of the 604 activated are Army National Guardsmen. The Guardsmen will remain on state activation for the next several weeks, Meehan said.

The Guardsmen will form 12 armed security platoons and man traffic crossovers along the Rio Grande River. Each platoon will be accompanied by a Border Patrol agent and a local police officer, according to a release by the governor's office. The Guardsmen are issued weapons, but whether they carry them will depend on the mission, Meehan said.

The 204th Security Force Squadron is uniquely qualified for its role of reinforcing local law enforcement as the only heavy weapons security force in the Air National Guard, Meehan said, and troop support is strong for this new mission.

"The National Guard has its roots as a voluntary organization, and all of our soldiers and airmen know this," Meehan said. "We have not seen a problem with recruiting and retaining fine Army and Air guardsmen in any of the years that we have answered the call to respond to the citizens of Texas or the United States.

"Morale continues to be high," Meehan said. "This is reflected in Operation Jump Start. Every (Texas) soldier or airman in Operation Jump Start is a volunteer."

Operation Jump Start Guardsmen work in direct support of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection under a federal activation, Meehan said.

The majority of the soldiers and airmen activated for Operation Wrangler already have seen either state or federal duty, or both, Meehan said.

In the past five years, more than 8,000 Texas Guardsmen have been activated on federal orders, Meehan said. Even more have been activated for state missions, such as hurricane and flood relief, he said.

Just yesterday, 400 Texas Army National Guard soldiers returned home after serving a one-year deployment to the Sinai, in Egypt, Meehan said. The group served as the command cell for Multinational Force and Observers 49. The command cell was led by the 1st Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment, out of Waco, Texas.

Some 250 Texas Guardsmen were activated to assist during the winter storm that swept through the state Jan. 15-17. The soldiers were stationed in Abilene, Corsicana, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Waco, Terrell and Tyler to support the Texas Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement in west central Texas.

Also, 1,500 are serving in Baghdad. The 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, from Austin, deployed in August and controls a 2,500-person brigade that represents troops from 44 states.

Texas has 21,000 Army and Air National Guard soldiers and airmen.

Article sponsored by criminal justice leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.

Tres Compadres . . .

There’s something about early morning before sunrise . . .  there’s a coolness in the summer air, a dampness in the fall and spring air and a Frigid Soul in winter . . . you’re cloaked and unseen, unnoticed . . . private . . . When the sun comes up it injects reality and you become a part of “out there” . . .

All my life . . . growing up, at 6 or 7 we had livestock and I had before sunrise chores . . . flying missions at 19, that pre-dawn cloak, inside-looking-out . . . then with light, the business at hand . . .

In the past few years that pre-dawn addiction replaces a Cobra with my truck . . . strapping in, adjusting my radio, checking the instruments, the fuel, listening to the engine, checking visibility in the mirrors and my load for the day . . . I still have my checklist . . . and off to the business at hand. There’s no sweeter flight than before dawn, or sweeter time to drive on an open highway . . .

Sleepy goodbyes . . . comfy lovers, that stayed where it was warm and just right . . . once, twice . . . three kisses goodbye . . .

I was up earlier and made coffee and checked my rig, and had the truck ready, the running lights on and two thermos’ of hot hot coffee, and almost two hours before sunrise . . .  

“Running for the border G?”  Karit refilled my coffee cup and handed it to me.

“There’s a certain comfort in that. You’re leaving something behind, setting it aside for now, settle the score later, but going to embrace something else”

“Embrace? Interesting choice of words”  Karit caught my eye and raised his eyebrow.

“That must mean that you are an outlaw, G”  Luis grew up in El Paso and knows a thing or two about outlaws, running the border and “embracing” on the other side.

“If I am, then with the company you keep . . . mi c-o-m-p-a-d-r-e . . .

“Tres Compadres? I like that. Not Three Amigos. I don’t like that at all . . . Compadres . . . companions . . . There’s no doubt that you two are outlaws though “  Karit was a bit profound for this early in the morning

“G? What does HE mean by that?”

“He means that he’s got culture and refinement”
”I’m not going to forget that Karit”

“Tres Compadres!”  Karit held his coffee cup high

“Tres Compadres! . . .” I reached and put in a CD . . .

“Tres Hombres!  ZZ Top . . . Time to put a head on it G!”

“Tres Compadres . . . that could be our construction company . . . can we get a logo? Tee shirts with a logo? We need that. I wish we had that now. Tee shirts with logos . . ." 

“I have a dozen in the back, if you don’t mind wearing my logo”

“Cool, absolutely. What color G?  But we should have a Tres Compadres logo tee shirt too. I mean for again . . . G?”

Karit rolled his eyes . . . "What about a cap? Did you . . ."

"G? You got caps too? We should have caps, with logos . . . How many caps you got? I want to look professional . . ."

G.

P.S. We stopped, topped off the tanks and had breakfast as the sun rose. We crossed the border and the traffic that was headed towards what we left behind. The posse that had followed us so far . . . had to stop . . . at the border . . .

P.P.S.  Posted 8/24/06 from Colonial Negra, Baja

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2006 – The National Guard's mission at the southwestern U.S. border is a balance of shared responsibility between the federal and state governments that is already improving border security and reducing illegal immigration, the National Guard's top leader said here today.  “I think it's the right way to do business in the United States of America," said Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau. "It is exactly a shared responsibility between state and federal (governments). It is not heavy-handed one way or the other, and it doesn't wrench control away from the governor nor the president. The National Guard has met all of the numbers that have been asked for and delivered all of the capabilities that have been asked for."

The National Guard has exceeded its 6,000-troop requirement at the border and is providing critical capabilities that allow the Border Patrol to be more effective as a law enforcement agency, Blum said. Guard troops are constructing fencing, putting up lighting, monitoring sensor systems, providing mobility with trucks and helicopters, filling communications gaps, and doing administrative work, he said.

All of these operations are designed to free up Border Patrol agents to do law enforcement activities while an additional 6,000 agents are trained over the next two years to make a more robust force, Blum said.  "We're loaning them the skill sets and the expertise, so they can be more effective in the interim. And then ultimately ... they will be much more capable, manpower-wise, two years from now than they are now," he said.

The Guard's border mission is a shared responsibility between the federal and state governments, because the international border with Mexico is the responsibility of the federal government, but is also part of the state border, Blum said. Blum also has a lot of flexibility in deciding which units will rotate in and out of the border at what times, he said. For instance, Guard units from hurricane-prone states will not be sent to the border until this winter or next spring, so they are available to their state governors for any natural disasters, he said.

The National Guard is still more than able to meet its obligation to the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan while sending troops to the border, because the 6,000-troop limit for the border mission makes up only 2 percent of the total force, Blum said. Currently, 30 states have contributed troops to the border mission, and by the end of the two-year mission, almost all 50 states will have sent troops, he said.  "We can do this. The size of this operation and the flexibility that's been afforded will make it fairly easy for us," he said.

The Border Patrol has already seen measurable success from the National Guard's presence at the border, Blum said. Border Patrol officials recently told Blum that traffic of non-Mexican illegal immigrants across the southwestern border has dropped drastically in the short time the Guard has been there, he said.  Guard troops at the border also are satisfied with the mission and progress they have made, Blum said. They are working in fairly hostile terrain that can be brutal during the summer months, but morale is high among the troops, he said.

"The troops understand that this is important work; it's necessary work," he said. "I think they're pretty fulfilled and rewarded by it, and they like the flexibility and length of the mission."  Blum emphasized that the National Guard's mission at the border is not a military one, but is military support to civil authorities. It's important that people in Mexico don't see this mission as a closure of the border to legal immigration, trade and business, he said.

"We're not trying to close the border; we're trying to make the border more secure, in that we want to get more control of the illegal activity that happens on the border," he said. "The legitimate immigration is very important to our nation and to our Mexican neighbor, and our ability to do trade and business back and forth across that border cannot be impeded."

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – The Army National Guard will meet its goal of having 6,000 soldiers along the Southwest border by Aug. 1 to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in stemming the flow of illegal immigrants, the head of the National Guard Bureau told reporters here today.  "They will be in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas come the first of August," Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum said. "We will meet the president's commitment to do that."

In May, President Bush requested the Guard be used to help strengthen the border. The following month Operation Jump Start was launched. The operation is expected to last two years while the Border Patrol beefs up its ranks. Blum said the Guard might even exceed the 6,000 specified soldiers. He said it is hard to predict the exact number because military units are not built based on numbers. "They're built to deliver capabilities," he said.

Adjustments to the total number will be made over time, he added.  Roughly 4,500 Guard members are supporting the operation. Blum reiterated that these troops do not signify a militarization of the border and emphasized that the Guard's mission is solely to support the Border Patrol.

The Guard will only be using non-lethal military technology, such as high-tech sensors and infrared radar. Their primary tasks will be surveillance and building "tactical infrastructure," such as fences and roads, Blum said.  "The biggest thing we bring in terms of numbers and capability to the game is the additional eyes and ears ... so the Customs and Border Patrol have greater situational awareness of what is going on in places they could not go, could not see, or could not hear," the general said.

"The National Guard will just see it and report it to Border Patrol," he added.  The general said law enforcement would remain the purview of the Border Patrol. "We are not doing law enforcement," he said. "We are doing everything else that other badge-carrying border patrol people used to have to do. We are replacing them so they can get badges back to the border."

Since the operation began last month, 250 border agents have already returned to doing their intended law enforcement and apprehension functions, David Aguilar, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, said.  By the end of August, the Border Patrol intends to have 581 agents back on the border in a strictly law enforcement capacity. "We're about at the halfway point," Aguilar said.

Six hundred fifty-four agents are training at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, N.M., he said.  Blum also emphasized that the Guard is capable of meeting its other obligations. About 68,000 Guard members are deployed around the world fighting in the war on terrorism. From Maine to Texas, Guard members are prepared to respond to hurricanes, and about 10,000 are performing other duties, like fighting wild fires.  "In spite of all that, ... recruiting has been the busiest we've seen," Blum said.

The Army and Air National Guard just completed their ninth consecutive record-breaking recruiting month, Blum said, and retention and reenlistment are 122 percent above the target goal.  "In other words, we are keeping people -- experienced, trained veterans -- at a higher level than we ever have in the history of the volunteer force," he said.