Thread: AZ: Border Issues: Strong border defense halts illegals on G

Border Issues: Strong border defense halts illegals on Goldwater range, leaving training unhindered
December 4, 2008
Story by Lance Cpl. Gregory Aalto, Desert Warrior Staff


Military training time lost or delayed due to illegal immigrant activity on Yuma's Barry M. Goldwater Range has all but ceased after hitting a recorded all-time high just three years ago when 45 training events were impacted in May 2005.

Increased air station communication with Customs and Border Protection, combined with its multifaceted attack on illegal immigration has made human traffic on the Goldwater practically extinct in the Yuma area.

Now, if illegal immigrants cross further east, because of the border lockdown, the risk of an endangered species migrating to our ranges looms.

"I don't want to say we solved the problem forever, but currently the impact on training is practically nonexistent," said Pete Loughlin, station mission assurance director.

Better communications with Border Patrol, implementation of the Range Operations Center, CBPs installation of radar and video to range hazard areas, construction of vehicle barriers, pedestrian fencing and increased Border Patrol manpower have all led to reduced presence of illegal immigrants on the range.

"As long as there has been a range, there has been (illegal smuggling) activity. Until recent years this was never a problem to the Marine Corps," said Loughlin.

The Goldwater's illegal immigrant traffic started growing after 2002; no stats are available before fall 2004.

"During this time there is no measure to its impact on training," said Loughlin. "Sometimes training was lost entirely; other times it was just delayed."

In 1994, the Border Patrol launched Operation Gatekeeper, focusing border security on the five westernmost miles of the California-Mexico border. By 1997, the program extended eastward, allocating funds and manpower to the El Centro Border Patrol sector, which ends at the Imperial Sand Dunes, west of Yuma.

The Yuma sector of Border Patrol covers the area from the Imperial Sand Dunes to the eastern boundary of Yuma County, approximately 85 miles east of the air station.

Officials believed the desert climate and terrain of the Yuma sector would be a natural barrier to human trafficking. After 2000, however, the amount of illegal immigrants crossing the Goldwater began increasing significantly, said Loughlin.

The quantity of illegal border crossings traditionally increase between February and May, presumably because of more hospitable weather, said Ben Vik, supervisory Border Patrol agent.

"There was no spike at all this year," said Vik.

While the Border Patrol has no statistics specifically on Goldwater, between October 2007 and June, 7,255 apprehensions were made Yuma sectorwide. In fiscal year 2005, 138,429 apprehensions were made.

These decreases came after changes made by the Department of Homeland Security and even more dramatically following a visit to the area from President George W. Bush in April 2007.

In FY-05, 17,460 illegal immigrant entries occurred on the Goldwater; by FY-07 it dropped to 5,210, according to Loughlin.

In FY-05, nearly 200 training events were impacted by illegal immigrants, but by FY-07 just fewer than 20 events were affected.

Illegal immigrant's impact on aviation training was magnified by the force responsible for policing them. In these cases, Border Patrol would unknowingly search for illegal immigrants in our live fire areas and cause the same training issues illegal immigrants were making, said Loughlin.

With the development of DHS in the late 2002, Border Patrol's ground and air operations divided.

During the transition, pilots from other areas came in to support the local mission. Being unfamiliar with the terrain they would unknowingly fly over hazard areas, said Craig Weathermax, air interdiction agent with a combined 16 years of Border Patrol and CBP experience.

"We have never had an incursion by our local pilots," added Weathermax.

In November 2005 the Range Operations Center opened on the air station, improving the capabilities of our air traffic controllers.

ROC connects military and law enforcement on the ground to ATC, said Gunnery Sgt. Robert Friccero, ATC radar chief.

"Before, air traffic control would just suspend all training if illegal immigrants were on the range," said Loughlin.

Now, the ROC identifies where the ground issues are, and if it does not affect the hazardous training areas, flights go as scheduled, said Gene Kellar, range operations officer and Marine Air Control Squadron 1 ATC watch officer from 2002-2005.

Increased communications between Border Patrol and the air station also prompted a higher presence south of the hazardous areas during Weapons and Tactics Instructor courses and Desert Talon, when range use is at its highest.

"Only two targets are used in the Goldwater West, both with inert ordnance only," said Kellar.

To protect the hazardous areas, station military policemen manned radar and video stations on the range between 2004-2006. By summer 2006, the radar and video systems were fully operational and transmitted information to an air station control room currently manned jointly by station Provost Marshal's Office and Border Patrol.

Improvements to construction of physical barriers have added to the success, said Vik.

The most visible change to the range is the pedestrian and vehicle fences on Barry M. Goldwater's portion of the border. Yuma was one of the first fences built along the rural portions of the U.S.-Mexico border following the president's visit to speak to homeland security leaders here.

"The fence contributed to solving the problem, but it did not fix it exclusively," said Loughlin.

The current vehicle bollard system has never been breached. The previous system was only rated to stop a 45-mph, four-wheel drive vehicle collision.

Vehicle bollards are reinforced posts that stop vehicle traffic but not humans on foot.

At the Arizona-Mexico border, near the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, vehicle bollards are combined with a 16-foot tall steel mesh fence.

The mesh is designed to allow officers to see activity on the Mexican side of the border, said Michael Bernacke, Border Patrol public information officer.

Similar to mountains, the fences are mentally defeating to prospective crossers, said Bernacke.

Fences are still not constructed along the mountainous areas of the border.

DHS engineers consider the mountains to be a suitable barrier to illegal immigrants, said Bernacke.

These changes did not have a large effect at the beginning.

"Things began to change significantly once the 'coyotes' learned to not go to the hazard areas," said Loughlin.

Coyote is the nickname for leaders of illegal immigrant groups coming across the border.

Currently, one of the DHS areas with a heavy illegal immigrant traffic rating lies at the eastern end of the range, where the coyotes are being forced to go to cross illegally.

The current concern with the range is illegal immigrants driving east to Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge; where they could disrupt the endangered animals there, specifically the Sonoran Pronghorn, a deer-like animal from the antelope family, said Loughlin.

Combining a 320-degree field of vision that can see seven miles and a severe survival flight response, the animal is prone to fleeing from its habitat by minimal disturbances, said James Atkinson, wildlife biologist and Sonoran Pronghorn recovery team leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department.

Illegal immigrants traditionally travel along mountains, where the pronghorn can stay relatively cool in the summer heat. The human traffic, along with Border Patrol pursuits, can drive Sonoran Pronghorn, North America's fastest mammal, up to 25 miles at a time, said Atkinson.

"The cat-and-mouse game with Border Patrol can push the pronghorn to less ideal locations in the area," said Atkinson.

"If this occurs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife could place flight restrictions of aircraft flying over the area," added Loughlin.

Traditionally, the pronghorn will travel northwest when driven out of their natural habitat on Cabeza Prieta to the Goldwater Range, said Atkinson.

The Cabeza Prieta is located on the southern portion of the Goldwater Range so animals on Cabeza Prieta would be driven onto the Goldwater.

Approximately 822,000 of the refuge's 860,000 acres are located on the range.

Fish and Wildlife are currently attempting to keep the pronghorn on the refuge by setting up watering holes in prime locations.

Near the eastern end of Cabeza, wildlife biologists have built a breeding pen for the pronghorn.

Last winter, illegal immigrants cut through a section of electric fence surrounding the breeding pen. The breeding pen is a rectangular shape and presumably the illegal immigrants did not realize they could have walked around its perimeter, said Sean Knapp, Arizona Game and Fish Department wildlife technician.

Animal rights groups have criticized the military's role in disturbing the Sonoran Pronghorn.

However, U.S. Fish and Wildlife reported more "habitat degradation and destruction from illegal entrants and associated enforcement activity than results from military training" on the Cabeza.

Illegal immigrant's abandoned vehicles, human waste and fires also degrade the pronghorn's current habitat.

A July 2004 University of Arizona study concluded that military plane noise does not affect the Sonoran Pronghorn's behavior.

The study found that humans have a larger response to airplane noise than the pronghorn but the pronghorn's behavior was affected often when ground stimuli (humans or vehicles) became present.

Military pilots are still required to maintain more than 1,500 feet elevation when flying over Cabeza Prieta. No air-to-surface ordnance, inert or live, is dropped on Cabeza Prieta in accordance with the Department of Defense and U.S. Fish and Wildlife's memorandum of understanding regarding the refuge.

In 2002, 21 Sonoran Pronghorns were documented living in America. Now they number between 70-100, said Atkinson. U.S. Fish and Wildlife's goal is to maintain 300 pronghorn for five years prior to removing the species from endangered status.

Regardless of future happenings, the range's illegal immigrant situation is under control and the multipronged attack to protect Department of Defense property has given air station range wardens the time necessary to do their jobs.

"(After 2002) our main mission became catching illegal immigrants. Part of our mission is to stop and prevent trespassers," said Del Maslen, station range warden.

"Now we are conservation officers, taking care of roads, trails, identifying archeological sites and assisting public recreation like we are meant to be," said Maslen.

Range Management has already used the time not spent chasing illegal immigrants to build a trail at the Fortuna Gold Mine.

Kiosks along the route show visitors of what the scenery looked like between 1895 and 1910. Using all four range wardens, the unit was able to complete the interpretive trail in two weeks.

"My idea of stopping (illegal immigration) was still having a few crossings a day. This is a lot better than I had ever imagined," said Maslen.

http://yuma.usmc.mil

Very interesting, illegal aliens cause a lot of costly problems.