Bredesen Ups Border Force by 500 Troops
From the Tennessean: Tennessee will send the first of 500 National Guard troops to Arizona today to assist in controlling the U.S. border with Mexico, Gov. Phil Bredesen announced on Thursday. The number of troops is a significant increase over the 100 guardsmen Bredesen said the state could spare to take part in President Bush’s initiative to stem the flow of illegal immigrants through the nation’s southern border.
“Ultimately the federal government has got to step in much more fully on (illegal immigration),” Bredesen said. “But clearly there are things we can do as a state on an interim basis. We can start with plugging the leak in the boat.”
The original 100 troops offered by Tennessee still could be deployed if they are requested by Arizona. That would be in addition to the 500 logistics and law enforcement soldiers who will definitely be sent, Tennessee Guard officials said.
A 20-person logistical team leaves for Arizona today to help pave the way for the coming influx of troops from Tennessee and other states as part of Operation Jump Start, said Col. David Bates, director of logistics for the Tennessee National Guard.
Arizona initially requested only military police, but when Bates visited the state earlier this month to help with preparations for the deployment, the Arizona Guard also asked for logistical help.
“We’re proud to be in this position,” said Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett Jr. “Tennessee, I think, is the only state that has been asked to provide this type of support to a border state.”
Because Tennessee has a large and diverse National Guard, it is often asked to help coordinate logistics for other state Guard units, he said.
“After Katrina, our guys coordinated all the distribution of food in Gulfport, Miss., for both citizens and military,” he said. “And we did all the logistical stuff for all the heavy brigades going to Iraq.”
In lieu of other annual training exercises, 500 guardsmen from Tennessee will take 17 to 21 day rotations patrolling the border beginning Saturday, and continuing through the end of September.
“The soldiers will provide surveillance on the ground,” said Lt. Col. Patty Jones, commander of the 168th Military Police Battalion. “They will watch the border, and if they see anyone cross at any unauthorized site, they will call the U.S. Border Patrol.”
“Troops will not have any kind of interaction with illegal crosses, at the direction of the governor of Arizona,” she said.
However, they will be armed and have the right to protect themselves and others, Hargett said.
In some ways, this mission is nothing new.
“We’ve sent a lot of troops to the border near San Diego to build fences,” Hargett said. “But we’ve never sent MPs before.”
Staff Sgt. Jason Bucklew, of the 269th Military Police Company out of Murfreesboro, will go to the border near the end of August.
“We were already scheduled to do standard training in the state of Tennessee,” he said. “So we just adjusted. Now we’re doing similar training but with a real world effect.”
Bredesen said the cost to Tennessee of sending the force should be minimal because guardsmen are paid by the federal government when they are deployed on a mission. He said the state should still have plenty of Guard troops available in case of a natural disaster.
He’s happy to have the Guard assist for now, he said, but hopes that within two years further assistance will be unnecessary because there will be enough border patrol agents to watch the border.
“Out of fairness to Tennessee taxpayers,” he said, “we’ve got to keep the federal government’s feet to the fire.”
By Travis Loller
07/21/2006
