Posted on 07/25/2006 4:47:35 PM PDT by SandRat
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.
This is interesting......
While we're at it, how about beefing up the Border Patrol by at least that many?
I hope it's not just more lip service .
I thought Syria was going to attack Israel if they entered Lebonon , that was two days ago .
ping
You mean something like...
"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. "And come the third of August, they will be on their way home."
Hopefully, the Guard will stay until more Border Patrol agents are hired and trained. (I'm not holding my breath.)
"The National Guard will just see it and report it to Border Patrol," he added.
If the Minutemen did nothing else, they've certainly made our government aware that Yes, the border can be fixed. We need a fence but additional eyes and ears are certainly a deterrent. If I planned to pay someone $1500 of my hard earned money to cross, I'd think twice knowing the Minutemen or the guard was there. Nice stop gap measure, now let's work on making a real, long term difference.
"We shouldn't be granting people automatic citizenship, nor is it possible to kick people out of the country," he said.
Quote from President Bush yesterday.
In other words...."if you can get past the guards......Welcome th America!"
You tell me whether or not he is serious....yup....hahahahah
Welcome to America!"
dang fingers!
The Army National Guard will meet its goal of having 6,000 soldiers... Blum said the Guard might even exceed the 6,000 specified soldiers.... Roughly 4,500 Guard members are supporting the operation.
New Math
Remember the OLd
'Army of 1' theme.
Now it's 'Army of 1.333'
ROFL! Now dat splains it!!! :-)
Just stop and think! 6,000 intrepid guardsmen! Why man, that's 1 Guardsman for every 300-500 illegal aliens. Using virtual fencing, virtual tracking, virtual counter-measures, and many other virtual modern cyber-techniques, our chaps will round up virtually every illegal alien.
Following Federal guidelines, virtually to the letter, the intrepid guardsmen will then release the illegal aliens and begin again to patrol our virtual border, each guardsman piling up credits for tuition for virtual college courses on the web!
First NG platoon to score a million points in this sweet new game will win a virtual vacation to a cyber paradise somewhere on the Mexican web!
Get with the program, dude! (O BTW, para inglés, oprime numero dos).
4.5 k now, expecting to reach 6k or more by Aug. We'll see, that's roughly only 2 weeks away.
No problem, I had to go back and carefully double check it too.
Every article I have seen about this is confusing ... at least to me.
It is never clear as to how many are ACTUALLY ON THE BORDER as of now. 4,500? And how many of CA's 1,000 promised troops have been deployed?
It seems cloaked in ambiguity, and I think there are political reasons for that rather than military.
This is, like, the slowest "jump start" in history.
So well said it was worth repeating. Despite all this RINO smearing of Simcox's sloppy bookkeeping I consider the man a true patriot with his heart in the right place. Mr. Gilchrist's efforts are even more laudable - just because they see different paths to the same goal doesn't mean that goal isn't worth working for.
"The National Guard's leader in Washington insists the project is moving at this pace for a reason.
"If we rushed in with a great number of troops and had a great presence on the border, it would look like we were militarizing our border," says Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, head of National Guard. "We are going to make sure that perception is not possible."
Washington hopes the sight of soldiers on the border, fixing roads and building fences, will scare away would-be illegals.
But even on a small stretch of border in New Mexico, with the National Guard in plain view, and just a quarter-mile from the end of their fence, people are still walking across the border. "
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/15/eveningnews/main1718254.shtml
6,000 National Guard ON THE BORDER to free up @600 BP. NG not 'in the border states', not 'reporting' to the border, not 'committed', not 'deployed', not 'in training'...ON THE BORDER - 5 DAYS AND COUNTING
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