Border drone patrols expected to increase

By Chris Roberts / El Paso Times
Posted: 02/10/2010 12:00:00 AM MST

EL PASO -- Unarmed Predator drones -- sought by Gov. Rick Perry to patrol the border -- have been flying over the nation's Southwest border for the past two years and more are expected, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes said Tuesday.

Perry, a Republican running for his third full term, asked the Defense Department to send one of the drones to Texas during a Monday campaign stop.

"It's nothing new," said Reyes, a Democrat from El Paso. "The governor is well aware of the stuff we're doing."

Perry suggested that Predator units preparing to deploy could use the border with Mexico as a training ground. That also has been done before, Reyes said.

Joint Task Force-North, based at Fort Bliss, is responsible for matching civilian law enforcement requests for unmanned aerial vehicles with units that volunteer for training on the border, said spokesman Armando Carrasco.

"The number of (unmanned aerial systems) support missions varies based on the number of requests submitted and the availability of Defense Department assets," Carrasco said.

Task Force officials do not speak publicly about current missions. However, a recent mission involved about 20 drone pilots with a Hawaiian brigade preparing to deploy.

They flew Shadows, which have a 12-foot wingspan and a maximum range of about 75 miles, from Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

Brig. Gen. Sean MacFarland, task force commander, said they detected numerous undocumented immigrants.

The Predator has a wingspan of more than 48 feet and a

range of about 460 miles.
They have gained recognition for deadly strikes against al-Qaida leaders in the mountains of Pakistan.

However, the ones used on the Southwest border are not armed, officials said.

"Customs and Border Protection has been evaluating Predator capability on the U.S.-Mexico border," Reyes said. "The results have been very encouraging."

He said it was likely that they would be deployed to "key points along the border." He declined to say where those points might be because the decision on where to put them has not been made.

Although production of Predators has been ramped up, the priority destination remains in Middle Eastern combat zones, Reyes said. The CIA also uses Predators.

MacFarland said late last year that getting units in continuous deployment cycles to travel to the border for training has been a tougher sell.

Task Force officials point out that terrain in areas along the border strongly resembles Iraq and Af ghan istan. Moving equipment from the home base also provides a training opportunity, he said.

And, as the U.S. Border Patrol adds agents, demand has shifted to skills that include aerial surveillance, MacFarland said.

"They're going to be training somewhere, so why not make them available here," said Katherine Cesinger, a Perry spokeswoman.

Chris Roberts may be reached at elpasotimes.com; 546-6136.

Gov. Rick Perry asked the Pentagon to send a drone to Texas while cam-paigning Monday.

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