We are through the looking glass.
Fort Huachuca soldiers told to stay out of Mexico after at
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — The Army’s top officer in southern Arizona on Friday ordered soldiers at Fort Huachuca not to travel into Mexico because of recent drug-related violence across the border.
Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, commander of the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca, issued the order after a drug cartel assault force overran the town of Cananea on Wednesday.
The attackers killed seven people, including five police officers, before police and army troops hunted down and killed 16 of the assailants in ensuing mountain gunbattles.
“In view of the recent increase in drug-related violence just across the Mexican border near the towns of Cananea and Naco, until further notice, I am directing that all military personnel and strongly advising all Department of the Army civilian personnel and their families to restrict their travel by avoiding the border towns of Mexico,” Fast’s order said.
“If you or your families are traveling near the border on the U.S. side, please use caution.”
Maj. Matt Garner, the fort’s chief spokesman, said standard operating procedure calls for anyone planning to travel in Mexico to get a briefing beforehand from the chain of command, which he said provides “a heightened sense of security.”
But Garner said the Army does not track how many personnel from the fort normally go across the border on a given weekend.