Posted on 08/13/2014 11:15:02 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
HOUSTON, Texas Members of the Texas National Guard currently in training at Camp Swift, near Austin, have been told to stand by for a personal briefing from Texas Governor Rick Perry. Perry is expected to arrive at Camp Swift this morning to brief the troops on his expectations of their deployment.
It is still not clear as to exactly where this first batch of troops will be deployed, according to one of the soldiers currently at Camp Swift. The soldier has been at the camp receiving training this week and expects to be deployed somewhere along the border this weekend.
Approximately 300 soldiers are in this particular training group. He also revealed the soldiers will be traveling and patrolling in military vehicles.
The first group of soldiers who were trained last week have been ordered to remain at Camp Swift to train the following waves of soldiers. They will remain at Swift for two months.
The soldiers are also being trained in the use of advanced surveillance systems such as the Ratheon LRAS (Long Range Advanced Scout) systems. These systems can be used to detect illegal crossings of the border, but also to search for people being smuggled through ranch lands to avoid border patrol checkpoints like the one in Falfurrias.
Public Information Officers from both the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas National Guard have been extremely tight lipped about releasing any information regarding the deployment.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Will they be given the authority to apprehend and detain any illegals who are caught crossing the border?
"Mounted Reconnaissance Surveillance and Target Acquisition
The Long-Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3) is a long-range multi-sensor system for the U.S. Army scout, providing the real-time ability to detect, recognize, identify and geo-locate distant targets. The LRAS3 is the premier ground combat reconnaissance and surveillance system on the modern battlefield.
The LRAS3 enables Army scouts to conduct 24-hour reconnaissance and surveillance missions, remaining outside threat acquisition and engagement ranges. The LRAS3 replaces obsolete systems that require scouts to close within direct fire range of the threat they seek to detect.
eLRAS3 - 3rd Generation FLIR
eLRAS3 is the next generation Long Range Scout Surveillance System. eLRAS3 meets or exceeds all LRAS3 requirements, with a 55% reduction in sensor weight and volume and is fully compatible with all existing LRAS3 platforms."
No, he's not: it's an observation mission, one in which they will apparently not be armed.
That sort of crap is the very mark of someone who is not worthy of the office.
Really? Where did you get that from?
"Texas State Representative Allen Fletcher, Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety, told Breitbart Texas he expects the soldiers to have a very impactful deterrent effect on those seeking to cross our borders.
In their home countries, the military are people they are very afraid of, Fletcher said. When they hear there are armed soldiers along the border of the United States, it will deter some of them from coming.
God bless them all, including Governor Perry.
“They will be unarmed, their job is only to observe”
Could you provide details of that information please?
I was in the National Guard for 9 years… there are craptacular missions like that.
(Of course you don't really need to be armed on a majority of relief missions, like say the Los Alamos fires and such, so I don't count those in the above.)
How do you (not you personally) expect people will react when one of the guardsmen is shot/killed and word gets out he was unable to defend himself because no ammo was issued?
I'm not sure.
What happened with Brian Terry? We got some exposure of Fast & Furious, the easiest Treason case in eighty years, and what happens? Nothing.
Bloody hell is what will happen.
I'd like to think so, but given the above I just don't know.
What's really funny is that the whole southern border could be closed with less than 200 Paladins.
Instead we chose another path.
We might not have a 9/11 every day. But, thousands upon thousands of Americans have been killed, robbed, raped, and harmed by illegal aliens.
The US has never taken the threat seriously and the continued policies with South and Central American countries have shown that the destruction is merely collateral damage for the status quo and business interests.
Hmmmm...I just wonder how many of the FReeper naysayers blasting Gov. Perry on this thread are hoping (and working) for another Romney run for POTUS?
Nothing there says that they will be armed.
In fact, reading between the lines, it looks like they’re counting on the visual-appearance of the military to be the deterrent — which does not, strictly speaking, require weapons... just driving around military vehicles.
“Hes really good on some issues, so-so on others”
Aren’t they all?.....except for the current POTUS that is.
None, I hope. Heaven forbid.
I assumed they will be unarmed. Like many of the Guardsmen “protecting” airports after 9-11 were issued no ammo.
I assumed they would be unarmed (no ammo is still unarmed in my book) the same way many Guardsmen at the airports on 9-11 were, no ammo. Since their mission is just to observe, I would expect they will have no ammo or even a firearm.
Their main duties will likely be to assist the federal agencies.
I saw an article a couple weeks ago that said they would. Hope so. Meanwhile, gotta keep the pressure on.
We once had armed military missions on the border . The whole mission changed once Mr. Hernández, Jr. got blasted.
Posse Comitatus!!!
I’m sure Governor Perry will give them every possible tool to do their job. He’s stepped out where all the other governors are still hiding in their mansions. I don’t believe he did it just for appearances.
And I feel confident TX will fight for their border and make a difference. Unlike Obama, Perry can’t just sit and watch the U.S. disintegrate. He’s fighting back.
Not me, no way for Romney!
He was for amnesty too. Just going at it much more behind closed doors than Bam Bam the swinging hip golfer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.