[Poohbah]

I still think they could line the northern and southern borders with the National Guard and the issue of drugs and illegals would be put to rest if not eliminated completely.

The total end strength of the National Guard, from all fifty states, is approximately 350,000.

National Guard are one weekend a month and two weeks per summer. Divide the end strength by 26 to get an idea of how many bodies would be available for patrolling the borders at any one time, unless you permanently federalize the Guard and keep them on active duty forever.

So, with approximately 13,500 bodies available, we want to man the posts 24/7. To man a single post in three shifts requires five people (the other two are spares to allow for illness, support requirements, et cetera). Therefore, you have 2,700 personnel on post at any one time.

These personnel must secure 6,000 miles of border (4,000 or so along the Canadian border, and the balance forming the US-Mexican border).

This works out to one soldier patrolling about 2.25 miles of border, or a two-man patrol covering 4.5 miles.

That's not even a "thin screen." That's anorexic.

[Spiff]

I've talked to former military commanders about this. Your assessment does not hold water. Col Ben Anderson (Ret) and LTC James Behnke (Ret) (among others) have stated how this could be done with a lot less bodies than you imagine would be needed. Combine soldiers with physical barriers (a force multiplier) with high tech sensors, observation equipment, and UAVs (more force multipliers), and rapid response teams and this mission to augment (not replace) the Border Patrol can be done with far fewer personnel than you state.