A U.S. Army National Guard soldier, a member of an entry identification team, watches the U.S./Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz., on Jan. 17, 2007. National Guard soldiers and airmen participating in operation Jump Start are acting as the eyes and ears for the Border Patrol in securing the border. DoD photo by Sgt. Jim Greenhill, U.S. Army. (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. — National Guard troops in four states are in training today as they prepare to join colleagues already supporting Border Patrol agents on the nation’s Southwest border.

“The National Guard has been providing Southwest border support for a number of years through our Counterdrug … program,” said Army Maj. Gen. Peter Aylward, who is coordinating the latest operation at the National Guard Bureau. “Today we have more than 360 folks providing that kind of support. For this new mission, we have 150 folks, and we’ll ramp up as part of a phased, deliberate operation to as many as 1,200.”

These Guardsmen will support Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – Starting Aug. 1, up to 1,200 National Guard troops will deploy to the Southwest border with Mexico, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said in a joint announcement with Obama administration officials at the Pentagon here today.

“We’re very pleased to be in support of our interagency partners,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley said. The 1,200 troops will support Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

“We’ll make sure that all our Soldiers and Airmen are well-qualified, well-integrated and well-briefed on the mission,” McKinley said.

“We are pleased because along the Southwest border we have had an integration effort of counternarcotics for over two decades, with 300 of our National Guard men and women already working with our interagency partners,” he said, referring to the National Guard’s Counterdrug Program.

The National Guard Counterdrug Program supports local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, community-based organizations and combatant commanders in the fight against illicit drugs and transnational threats to the homeland, Guard officials said.

“The National Guard is there to support the efforts of law enforcement, not to have a direct law enforcement role,” Alan Bersin, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said at the Pentagon briefing. “The National Guard has done that extremely well in the past, and we trust they’ll do so again on this occasion.”

The cost of the deployment of the 1,200 is to be split equally between the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

The largest number of troops – 524 – is slated to deploy in Arizona. Meanwhile, an estimated 250 will deploy in Texas, 224 in California and 72 in New Mexico. Additional troops from these states will also serve in command and control or support positions.

The deployment is expected to peak in October and in June, 2011, when CBP anticipates hiring an additional 1,000 agents.

The majority of the Guardmembers will support the Border Patrol with entry identification teams and support ICE with criminal investigative analysts, Defense officials said.

The criminal investigative analysts will assist ICE agents in reducing the flow of illegal bulk currency and weapons from the United States to Mexico.

The National Guardmembers are expected to be volunteers and McKinley said no overseas deployments are affected.

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON – If elected and appointed civilian leaders decide to include the National Guard in a broader mission on the Southwest border, the Guard stands ready, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said here Tuesday.

“The president and the secretary of defense will tell me when the time is right, when the conditions are right, whether they need [Guardmembers] or not,” Gen. Craig McKinley told a gathering of about a dozen journalists who cover the military. “Based on this magnificent force … I don’t think there’ll be a problem finding a force if authorized to help. But I’m not out looking for a mission.”

About 6,000 Guardmembers were on the Southwest border for two years, starting in 2006, in the Operation Jump Start mission to support the Border Patrol while it boosted its own force, recruiting and training new agents.

Today, a small number of National Guard troops continues to provide border support through the Counterdrug program.

However, any new mission would likely be much different from OJS, perhaps focused on preventing the spillover of drug violence across the border, Guard officials said.

“President Calderon and President Obama will meet later this month,”
McKinley said. “Let’s let the presidents of the two countries decide … We will do what we’re asked to do. Many of the Southwest border governors have asked for National Guard forces, but those decisions will be given to me by my leadership when the time is right.”

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., (2/4/10) — About 1,000 Puerto Rico National Guardmembers will assist the U.S. territory’s police for up to a year while new police recruits are trained, the governor said Monday.

Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, right, chief of the National Guard Bureau, confers with Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, director of the Air National Guard, during the National Guard Association of the United States’ General Conference in Albuquerque, N.M. Blum told the group that the Guard’s domestic resources need to be significantly improved. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The National Guard’s domestic equipment levels must be significantly improved, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said here Sept. 16.

“We are superbly equipped overseas,” Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum told the 128th National Guard Association of the United States General Conference. “The soldiers want for nothing as far as equipment in the combat zone, and that’s the way it should be.”

But the domestic picture is less rosy. “We are now in a dangerously low resourcing level for missions back here at home, and that must be seriously addressed,” Blum said.

Talking to about 2,500 National Guard officers and others attending the conference, the general used the analogy of a small-town fire department that needs people, training and equipment to fight fires. Americans would not tolerate inadequately equipped fire departments, he said.

“Nobody would accept that from their fire department in any hometown in America, and we should not allow that to be accepted in any (National Guard) armory or readiness center,” he said. “The American people are not going to be happy with a response from the National Guard that has not been fully equipped for the mission it has been assigned.”

The comments were the one note of warning during Blum’s hour-long “State of the Guard” address that highlighted five years of extraordinary change.