Thread: National Guard at border cut to fewer than 300

National Guard at border cut to fewer than 300

The Washington Times
By Alicia A. Caldwell
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Obama administration will keep a reduced contingent of National Guard troops working along the Mexican border next year, the Defense Department said Tuesday.

Starting in January, the force of 1,200 National Guard troops at the border will be reduced to fewer than 300 at a cost of about $60 million, said Paul Stockton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense.

The remaining troops will shift their focus from patrolling the border on the ground looking for illegal immigrants and smugglers to aerial surveillance missions using military helicopters and airplanes equipped with high-tech radar and other gear. Exactly where those troops will fly or how many aircraft will be used has not been decided, he said.

“We are basically going from boots on the ground to boots in the air,” said David Aguilar, deputy commissioner for Customs and Border Protection.

Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher said his agency is working on identifying the “areas of greatest concern” along the border - areas that include Arizona and South Texas - and will station troops and aircraft accordingly.

President Obama ordered a second round of Guard troops to the border last year, with the first of those troops arriving in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in August 2010. President George W. Bush first ordered Guard troops to the southern border from 2006 to 2008. The troops Mr. Obama ordered deployed were supposed to be in place for about a year but he extended the deployment earlier this year. The smaller force is now expected to remain through 2012.

Mr. Stockton said the remaining troops are “transitioning to much more effective support.”

“This provides us with more flexibility in dealing with the persistent challenges posed by cross-border movement and illegal crossings,” Mr. Stockton said.

According to the Government Accountability Office, the Pentagon has previously spent about $1.35 billion for the deployments under Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama.

Mr. Stockton said the Pentagon has budgeted about $60 million for the mission in 2012.

Congressional Republicans have objected to reducing the number of troops, arguing that the border isn’t secure and reducing the number of people patrolling the area doesn’t help security.

The administration’s plans to cut the border troops first surfaced in a Dec. 12 Washington Times interview with Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...wer-than-300/?

“We are basically going from boots on the ground to boots in the air,”

Absurd, boots in the freaking air? So its "awe, look it that". We need at least 3000 boots on the freaking ground with lock and load. Boy do I feel safer.
Maybe they can fly over my neighborhood too. And give me the bird. Just like the illegals aliens that walk past my yard do EVERYDAY..!