Thread: Guard border deployment delayed

Guard border deployment delayed
By Steve Ramirez Sun-News reporter
http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_3886203


New Mexico National Guard troops will be used along the state's border with Mexico, but they won't be there in great numbers today and aren't expected until the middle of June.

Gov. Bill Richardson has authorized the use of state National Guard troops at the border after getting enough answers to questions he had about Bush's plan. But specific details of the state National Guard's role in Bush's plan were still being worked out on Wednesday.

"The National Guard Bureau is still finalizing plans in Washington," said Lt. Col. Kimberly Lalley, spokeswoman for the New Mexico National Guard. "We haven't been told yet exactly when we'll be on the border, but it will be by mid June.

We're ready to go. It's just that the details are being worked out at the national level, and that's the reason for the delay.''

Lalley added command and control issues were being worked out Wednesday at Guard headquarters in Santa Fe.

Richardson said last Friday that 50 members of the New Mexico National Guard would be deployed today along the New Mexico-Mexico border to coordinate planning and logistics for the overall Guard operation to follow. But Pahl Shipley, spokesman for the governor, said those 50 troops would likely be part of the first wave of troops on the border.

As many as 200 state Guard troops could be assigned to the border by September. They would be in addition to the 68 troops already at the border.

Brig. Gen. Kenny C. Montoya, Adjutant General of the New Mexico National Guard, said Guard troops will be used to provide command, control, and support throughout the operation; conduct support operations that cannot or should not be performed by rotational forces such as providing force protection, trainers, and logistics; and coordinate training plans and operations of the supported and supporting states.

The New Mexico National Guard will serve as a liaison to Guard units from other states that could be assigned to New Mexico.

"The NMNG is prepared to support the border mission — we have the skills, the capabilities and the available, highly trained people," Lalley said.

Lalley added border security is, and should remain, a civilian law enforcement responsibility. The New Mexico National Guard will have no direct role in the apprehensions of illegal immigrants.

Richardson's concerns about border security decisions being made without input from governors of border states were reiterated in letters sent Wednesday to Reps. Thomas Davis III, chairman of the Committee on
Government Reform, and Gene Taylor, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond and Patrick J. Leahy. The letter was critical of federal attempts to reduce the end strength of the National Guard, even though almost 50 percent of U.S. combat forces in Iraq are National Guard troops.

"Unfortunately, the proposed reforms were developed without consultation with governors," said Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, chairman and vice chair of the National Governors Association. "Leaders of the active military, which have relied heavily on the Guard as a combat force, continue to overlook the role of governors and the critical mission of the Guard in serving their states."

Huckabee and Napolitano said four improvements should be made: Congress should preserve and promote the dual mission of the Guard; the Guard should receive training and equipment to handle state and federal missions; Congress should provide adequate benefits for National Guard members and their families; and Congress should provide better assistance to employers who support Guard members."The governor remains supportive of all those initiatives," Shipley said of Richardson. "Gov. Richardson understands the importance the National Guard has on the state and the nation."


The Associated Press also contributed to this story.



Guarding the border


New Mexico National Guard troops will begin operations in mid June along the Mexican border to support the U.S. Border Patrol. The exact date when troops will be stationed at the border has not been determined.

How many members of the New Mexico National Guard will be assigned at the border also has not been determined, but a plan by President Bush calls for 6,000 troops to eventually be used along U.S. borders.

Already, 68 state National Guard troops are at the border assisting with the National Guard Counterdrug program.

It is discouraging to learn that Governors Mike Huckabee (ARK) and
Janet Napolitano (NM)--both strong supporters of "rights" for illegal
immigrants--are Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of our National
Governors Association!

All this BS should have been worked out before Bush announced the National Gurad deployment. Did he really think his speech would come across, with him being the fearless leader and rushing in with troops at the ready.
It's like he sent out a loud and public "Last Call" to illegal aliens from Mexico.

But specific details of the state National Guard's role in Bush's plan were still being worked out on Wednesday.

The second part of not having the troops ready was an attempt to quite the nation about illegal immigration.

Kenny Bunkport Bush, since you are not a real Texan and most likely didn't pay attention in history class. I'm going to educate you. Stephen F. Austin was facing an invasion from Mexico and was hole up at the Alamo, waiting for the troops promised by Sam Houston. We know what happened at that Alamo. It was a devastating massacre.
When is too little going to be too late?

Dixie

Here's the interview from Lou Dobbs tonight about the Border Patrol

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... dt.01.html

DOBBS: Hundreds of our National Guard troops were expected to arrive on our southern border with Mexico as early as next week to assist our Border Patrol, but President Bush's ultimate goal of sending as many as 6,000 National Guard troops to the border is being delayed.

The federal government and border states are arguing about just who will pay for those troops and joining me tonight from the Pentagon is the director of the National Guard bureau, the head man of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Steven Blum. And from Chicago, joining us as well is General David Grange. General Blum, good to have you with us.

LT. GEN. STEVEN BLUM, CHIEF NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU: Good to be with you, Lou.

DOBBS: General Grange, as always. General Blum, let me ask you, first the delay, do we know how long it will be at this point? BLUM: There is no delay. We kick off tomorrow morning. We'll have 2,500 troops on the ground by the end of June and we'll have 6,000 there by 60 days later. Six thousand troops in 60 days is pretty fast. I don't see that as a delay.

DOBBS: Well, let's find out how many you've got. How many are going to be putting on the border by tomorrow?

BLUM: There will be the beginnings of the first 200 tomorrow, there's actually troops there working in New Mexico and Arizona right now. But the duration task force, those that will set up and plan to receive the forces coming in will start arriving tomorrow and they'll build to a total of 200 by the 15th of June. And by the 30th of June, there will be 2,500 guardsman on the border.

DOBBS: General, let me ask you one question here, and that is -- the president made the announcement, how many days in advance of the president's announcement during his immigration speech were you alerted to the requirement for 6,000 troops?

BLUM: Well, we've been talking with the Department of Defense on this particular mission now for about a week-and-a-half. And we've been in close consultation with them all the way along, and with the governors and with the generals. This is a collaborative effort of cooperation between the states and the federal government and we don't want to make it a rush to failure, Lou. We want to do it right.

DOBBS: I wouldn't want you to either, I don't think any other American would. But general, I asked how many days before the president's speech were there discussions about deploying to the southern border?

BLUM: I say, we've been talking about this seriously for about a week-and-a-half.

DOBBS: A week-and-a-half before the president's Monday night speech?

BLUM: Yes, sir.

DOBBS: OK, I just wanted to -- I just did not understand that, I apologize.

So a week-and-a-half before. General Grange, you appreciate the role of the National Guard as much as any other soldier who has ever served. General Blum, General Grange is going to join us here.

I want to ask you both, the great concern that's been expressed by both Governor Schwarzenegger, Governor Richardson and others, that the National Guard, some of those troops have been rotated three, four, times, some even five times I understand it, into Iraq. Can we really sustain in your minds this kind of additional role for our National Guard?

BLUM: Are you asking me, Lou?

DOBBS: I'll ask you first.

DOBBS: Yes, sir. The answer is absolutely, yes, we can. And we can do this without degrading our effort in the fight overseas and the global war on terrorism and without degrading our ability to respond to the upcoming hurricane season.

Today is the first day of the hurricane season. We're very mindful of that. We're better prepared this year than last year. And by the way, Lou, I have 8,000 more soldiers than I did at this time last year. You remember our discussion about our ability to recruit, we succeeded in that.

We have the most experienced force we've ever had, and we're only going to talk about employing a little less than two percent of the entire National Guard for this border operation. We can do all three of those missions simultaneously and do them well.

DOBBS: General Blum, I wish your can-do attitude permeated Washington D.C. and all branches of government. General Grange?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I believe he's right. I think they can. It is a priority. They have to. I think homeland security comes before all of the other missions that includes both terrorist issue in the United States as well as natural disasters.

I think part of the issue is on time, are they mobilized under federal mandate or are some of them working under the title that the governor holds in some type of collaboration, having mobilized National Guard troops for the United States itself during natural disasters. It is a process that takes a little bit of time. It's not like getting on a C-141 and flying over let's say to Kuwait, with the active duty soldiers. It does take a little bit of time to do that process.

DOBBS: I want to ask you both two questions, one question each if I may and I ask you both to respond to it. Good generals both, you wouldn't be taking on a mission without an assessment of risk and effectiveness for the mission that's assigned.

General Blum, let me ask you, 6,000 national guardsmen, presumably armed, but in adjunct support roles to our border patrol -- will you be able to secure the border with Mexico and end incursions by both the Mexican military, end the crossing of that border, by those who are not legal?

BLUM: Let me answer your question very directly. We're not being sent there to secure the border. The National Guard is being called out in support of, at the request of the Department of Homeland Security, to aid and assist to provide military assistance to civilian federal law enforcement. They have the responsibility to secure the border.

They have asked for our help. We will not be doing law enforcement work. We will not be doing border patrol or customs enforcement agent work. We will be doing supporting roles which will enable them to do their work even more effectively than they've been able to do up to now.

DOBBS: General Grange, do you think that 6,000 national guardsmen, they won't be there, General Blum says for another 60 days. Is that correct, general?

BLUM: No, sir, we'll be there tomorrow morning.

DOBBS: I'm talking about all 6,000.

BLUM: All 6,000 won't be there until the 1st of August. You'll have a substantial force of 2,500 by the end of June.

DOBBS: I rounded that off to 60 days.