Some National Guard soldiers decide to remain on the border
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 04/24/2008 04:56:09 PM MDT


The National Guard soldiers posted on the border may be getting ready to leave this summer, but some of them have decided to stay.
Texas Army and Air National Guard officials said that at least 51 guardsmen who participated in Operation Jumpstart have applied to become Border Patrol agents, including about 15 who had been working alongside the Border Patrol in El Paso.

The new recruits will not necessarily keep working in El Paso, or even in Texas, but they will make protecting the U.S. borders their job.

One of them is Jose Morales, 24, who is currently going through the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, N.M.

As a native El Pasoan, Morales was familiar with the Border Patrol but working alongside agents, "gave me a better perspective on what the Border Patrol is really about," he said.

"After working in support of them, I felt it was a career with upward mobility," he said.

As a guardsman, Morales monitored surveillance cameras at the Paso Del Norte Bridge, and was part of many drug seizures.

"That's what you look forward to every day, that adrenaline rush," he said.

The guard, now with 3,000 along the border, including 900 in Texas and 300 in New Mexico, are scheduled to go home in July.

They spent two years helping the Border Patrol at the urging of President Bush. Under Operation Jumpstart, the soldiers did not patrol the border, but rather supported the work of the Border Patrol by monitoring surveillance cameras, watching the river from observation posts, maintaining vehicles, and caring for horses, among other tasks.

Border Patrol officials credit the soldiers' presence, as well as a Border Patrol staffing increase, for a drop in illegal crossings. Apprehensions in the El Paso Sector have gone down 70 percent in March compared with March last year, from 10,535 migrants caught to 3,129.

Most of the guardsmen will return to their civilian jobs, but some are contemplating staying with the Border Patrol as agents, officials said.

Both the National Guard and the Border Patrol, in the midst of an unprecedented recruiting spree, applauded such a development.

"It's good for them. They can remain as guardsman and everybody wins," said Col. Bill Meehan, spokesman for the Texas Army and Air National Guard in Austin.

The Border Patrol was tasked by President Bush with growing its ranks by 3,000 agents in 2008 to reach an ultimate goal of more than 18,000 Border Patrol nationwide.

Although they have recruited applicants from the military, Border Patrol officials have not actively tried to woo the guardsmen working with them, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero said.

"We welcome all these members who join the ranks of the Border Patrol. They have some kind of experience because they have been around us for a while," he said.

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union, said soldiers are likely to make good agents.

"They have a lot of attributes that any law enforcement agency would require. The ability to respond well under pressure, for instance," he said.

Morales just barely started the Border Patrol academy but he already sees some similarities, he said.

"It's a little like the military -- a rude awakening," he said.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_9043536