http://nwanews.com/bcdr/News/38365/

Soldiers transition from war to U.S. border duty
By Ron Martz Cox News Service

Posted on Sunday, August 13, 2006

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/38365/


COLUMBUS, N. M. — From his air-conditioned perch 20 feet above the desert floor, Sgt. Timothy Gantt has a commanding view of a desolate section of the U. S. border with Mexico nine miles west of here.

Armed with a pair of highpowered binoculars and an infrared camera, the Georgia Army National Guard soldier can easily spot those trying to step across several strands of trampled, rusty barbed wire — all that separates Mexico from the promise of the United States.

Catching the illegals before they disappear into the rugged gullies and arroyos and head north for the relative safety of state Highway 9, which runs parallel to the border, or I-10 farther north is another matter, said one for the undermanned and overworked U. S. Border Patrol agents assigned here.

“ The Border Patrol has a much more difficult job than I ever imagined, ” said Gantt, 32, who works for the Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department. “ This is something we need to do. It’s something we’ve needed to do for a while. ”

Gantt is among the approximately 150 Georgia Army National Guard soldiers — some of whom returned from a yearlong tour in Iraq with the 48 th Brigade just a few months ago — who volunteered to come here to assist the Border Patrol in its efforts to stem the flow of illegals crossing the border.

Some say they volunteered out of a sense of patriotism. Others say they volunteered because they enjoy the military lifestyle and this is a steady paycheck.

For Pfc. Maurice Holcomb, “ It was either this or going to Iraq. I think this is easier and gives me a new experience. ”

Known as Operation Jump Start, the program introduced by President Bush in May has put about 6, 000 Army and Air Guard members from dozens of states along the 1, 951-mile southern border. Georgia is among about 40 states that have agreed to send troops. They are expected to serve as a stopgap measure until the Border Patrol recruits and trains an equal number of new agents, something that could take up to two years.

The Guard troops have no law enforcement authority and cannot stop or arrest illegals. They can only watch and try to guide agents to where illegals are crossing or hiding in the rugged terrain once they cross the border.

The Georgia soldiers have been here about a month now, working out of the Border Patrol’s Deming office about 35 miles north of the border. They and the Border Patrol agents assigned here are responsible for policing 54 miles of the border.

Cal Cook, a supervisory Border Patrol agent in the Deming office, would not say how many agents are assigned to this area. But he and his staff have greeted the soldiers as if they were the U. S. Cavalry riding to their rescue. Warriors now watchers

The primary job for most of the Georgia soldiers is to serve as what are called EITs, or Entry Identification Teams. Other Guard units handle logistics, vehicle maintenance and construction of a waist-high vehicle barrier at the border, about 13 miles of which is complete.

The two-soldier EITs are sent into the desert to man mobile “ sky boxes” about a half-mile north of the border. While one sits in the air-conditioned box looking at the border through binoculars or the infrared camera that picks up heat sources, the other monitors communications between agents and other sky boxes.

If either sees anything suspicious, a call goes out to the nearest Border Patrol agent to investigate.

For those veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, who make up about 25 percent of the Georgia soldiers here, the job is far different from what they experienced overseas.

Not getting shot at daily, or ambushed here as he did in Iraq with the 48 th Brigade, “ is definitely a plus, ” said Spc. Bobby Couch, 35, a construction worker.

“ But even here you need to be physically aware, because you never know what could happen, ” he said.

The mission here is much more passive than the one overseas, said Gantt, a combat veteran of Afghanistan.

“ We’re helping the state of New Mexico, which is great, and we get to help out somebody where we can actually see the benefit right away. It really doesn’t get boring, but it’s a lot different for sure. ”

On a recent night, Gantt saw someone poke his head above a ridgeline just inside the U. S. border. A Border Patrol agent went to investigate in the dark and walked around for 45 minutes with a flashlight before he found seven illegals stacked one on top of another in a hole they had dug.

“ It’s unbelievable some of the things they will do to get across, ” said Cook.

Once, he said, illegals were found sewn into the seats of a car trying to come across the border. He has found them hidden in false compartments in the sides and bottoms of trucks and cars, often packed so tightly they can barely breathe.

Still, they keep coming. Intruders from all over

Although most of those attempting to cross the border are Mexican, agents frequently see illegals from many Central and South American countries. Recently, Cook picked up a man from India trying to get into the United States from Mexico. Cook knows of North Koreans, South Koreans and Russians who have been caught crossing illegally.

But since the National Guard arrived, the illegals are moving into less closely monitored areas, said Manny Reza, a Border Patrol agent in the Deming office. “ We’re trying to send them farther and farther west and get them out of our area, ” Cook acknowledged.

But that means more dangerous territory and more likelihood that those crossing the border who run into trouble, either with the weather, the terrain or bandits, may not be rescued as quickly.

Temperatures here in the summer regularly top 100, while dropping below freezing during winter nights. There is no water or shelter in the desert, and flash floods are not uncommon this time of year.

Human rights groups opposed to Bush’s plan say stricter enforcement along the border will cause more deaths and suffering without addressing the issue of illegal immigration.

No More Deaths, a Tucsonbased volunteer organization, has called the situation on the border a “ humanitarian crisis. ”

Joseph Nevins, a spokesman for No More Deaths, said there have been more than 4, 000 documented deaths along the southern border since 1995, but that number is expected to climb with increased enforcement.

“ We’re seeing more environmental deaths, ” he said, from heat, cold or lack of water. “ One of the goals of this operation is to push people into more difficult terrain ” with the idea that they will give up.

But, said Nevins, “ that is not happening. Relatively small numbers of people are being deterred. They just keep coming. ”

Last month, an 11-year-old girl died in the Arizona desert after she and her 17-year-old sister became separated from a group of illegal immigrants that had just crossed the border. The two girls were trying to reunite with their parents in Atlanta.

Still, Border Patrol officials in Deming say the presence of the Guard is having an impact on the human trafficking in this area.

Since Operation Jump Start kicked off in June, agents and their National Guard assistants in the Deming office have accounted for the apprehension of more than 500 illegals and the seizure of more than 4, 700 pounds of marijuana and 19 pounds of cocaine.

For Cook and the Border Patrol, there is no doubt about the contributions of the Guard soldiers.

“ Those National Guard guys don’t realize how much good they are doing, ” he said. “ They’re doing a lot more good than they can see. ”

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