U.S. Military Help Guard The Southern Border

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on the military on the Southern border.

You can read the piece via the link below or the text below:

 Paul Davis: U.S. military help guard the southern border

As a proud veteran and retired Defense Department (DOD) civilian employee, I’m pleased to see the American military deployed on the southern border. 

For the last four years, the porous border has allowed the illegal entry of so many drug traffickers, criminals and terrorists that it has become a serious national security issue. It is also a serious local issue. 

One only has to travel to Philadelphia’s Kensington section and see the walking dead drug addicts on the streets. Much of the drugs, including the deadly drug fentanyl, flow to Philadelphia from the southern border.  

With President Trump’s stern policies to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, and the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrant criminals, Philadelphia and America will be a safer place to live.         

According to a Defense Department statement on January 29th, then-Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses announced that the DOD were sending 1,500 active-duty service members and additional air and intelligence assets to the southern border to augment troops already conducting enforcement operations in that region. The announcement came two days after President Trump issued an executive order directing DOD to address the situation at the border. 

“On Monday, to protect the security and safety of United States citizens, President Trump declared that a national emergency exists at the southern border of the United States. The president directed me to take all appropriate action to support the activities of the secretary of homeland security in obtaining complete operational control of the southern border of the United States,” the statement noted. 

According to DOD, the Pentagon has established a task force to oversee the expedited implementation of border-related executive orders with the U.S. Northern Command leading the effort while supported by the U.S. Transportation Command, the National Guard Bureau, the military services and the Department of Homeland Security. 

A senior DOD military official stated that the 1,500 additional active-duty service members authorized by Salesses will initially be put to work on the placement of physical barriers and other border missions within the next 24 to 48 hours. The service members include 1,000 soldiers, as well as 500 Marines who had previously been on standby in Southern California to potentially help combat the recent Los Angeles County wildfires.

With 2,500 active-duty personnel already in the region, the additional 1,500 troops will represent a 60 percent increase in active-duty forces since the president was sworn in on Monday, Salesses stated.  

“We anticipate that overall, on the southwest border, the active-duty personnel will provide real-time situational awareness of persons, vehicles, vessels and aircraft; and they’ll work with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on operator-level maintenance, movement and staging of CBP assets,” the military official said. 

“In addition to the additional active-duty ground personnel, DOD will also provide airlift support for flights operated by DHS to implement the deportation of more than 5,000 individuals detained by CBP at the border sectors in San Diego and El Paso, Texas,” Salesses stated. 

Transcom is providing two C-130 Hercules and two C-17 Globemaster aircraft to assist in that support, the senior military official said. Additionally, the official added that there are UH-72 Lakota military helicopters that began flying today in support of CBP. The DOD is also providing intelligence analyst support at the border. 

“We’re in the process of sourcing those requirements right now,” the senior military official said. “We also anticipate that there could be some additional airborne intelligence, surveillance and support assets that would move down to the border to increase situational awareness.” 

Salesses stated, “In short order, DOD will develop and execute additional missions in cooperation with DHS, federal agencies, and state partners to address the full range of threats outlined by the president at our nation’s borders. President Trump directed action from DOD on securing our nation’s borders and made clear he expects immediate results. That is exactly what our military is doing under his leadership.”

On February 13th, the Defense Department released photos of the military on the southern border. One photo taken by U.S. Army SPC Juan A. Michel shows Georgia National Guardsmen on patrol at Del Rio, Texas. Another photo taken by U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Caleb Goodwin shows Marines deploying concertina wire along the border at San Ysidro, California.  

With the DOD’s help, the increased border security will stop drug traffickers from exporting deadly drugs to Philadelphia and other points north, and will prevent further drug addiction, drug overdoses and the devastation of families. 

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes the “On Crime” column for the Washington Times. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com.