National Guard to Head to the Border(The first 800 next week - 6,000 troops first year)

The Chron/The Associated Press ^ | May 24, 2006 | LOLITA C. BALDOR

[IrishMike]

WASHINGTON — The first wave of about 800 National Guard soldiers will head to the U.S-Mexico border next week, including planners and leadership personnel who will stay longer than the planned 21-day missions, the National Guard chief told lawmakers Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Steven Blum said 200 soldiers are preparing to go to each of the four border states _ California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico _ around June 1. He said the initial troops will be part of a longer-term force of project managers who will stay on the job over time to provide continuity in the new border program.

The troops represent the launch of President Bush's plan to dispatch up to 6,000 National Guard members to states bordering Mexico to support the Border Patrol and help stem the flow of illegal immigrants across the border.

It was not clear whether the initial influx of Guard members would come from the four border states or from other units across the country. Blum said the Guard troop that will be deployed longer than three weeks are volunteers.

[oldbill]

"6000 troops are nothing!"

It's not 6000. With 3 week tours and one week overlap, there will be 150,000 Guard personnel sent to the border the first year alone.

They will have only one productive (and misplaced) week of effort when you exclude travel, in-briefings, training, set-ups, etc.

Since this is domestic tasking, prior and recent service in Iraq does not mean anything.

It is a waste of time, money, and skills, and will have a negative impact on recruiting.

Remember, The Guard Bureau leadership in Washington are Title 10 active duty personnel who report to the SecDef and DoD, and are somewhat indifferent to what the little Guardsman in Dubuque who owns a gas station or is a cop on a 10 man force has to go through with each call up. They are looking for their next 4 year tour or promotion, and have to do it the comapny way.

[AmeriBrit]

Bookmarked

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

Yeah, and are they gonna keep on going once they get there...

[JennysCool]

By most accounts, the Minutemen did an excellent job of discouraging border-crossers, without the use of firearms.

6,000 more pairs of eyes on the border can't hurt.

[Arrowhead1952]

I'm waiting for the orders, if I am one to go. I have some people working with me, that went the legal route. They are po'ed at the amnesty issue.

I did burn a mexican flag in my driveway on "stinky de Mayo" day.

[waverna]

Nothing compared to the outrage when some dishwasher gets shot and killed trying to cross the border. I don't think troops are the answer unless they are allowed to act like troops, which I seriously doubt.

[garbageseeker]

Have they decided who is going to pay for the troops there? The state or federal governmen?. I heard, from the kindnes of a Freeper, that the federal government is going to pay but the states are paying a substancial portion of the bill. If the states pay, how are they going to pay if many states(including California) are in poor financial health?

[floriduh voter]

The NG are sitting ducks, sad to say.

Now McCain is upset with Limbaugh, Savage and Dobbs for imo telling the truth:

http://www.observer.com/20060529/20060529_Jason_Horowitz_pageone_newsstory1.asp

[wolfcreek]

"there will be rules of engagement"

Hope it's the same as overseas.

[Thunder90]

The ACLU is already filing lots of lawsuits over the Guard being placed at the border.

[Wolfie]

Year 1 6000 Year 2 3000 Year 3 1000, intermittantly Year 4 American people fall back asleep....

My guess is it stops the first Wednesday in November.

[moehoward]

"People around here make it sound like the USA is sending unarmed troops to the border to do nothing but supporting roles when apparently that is not quite true."

This gives some indication

""PHILLIPS: Tell us, I want to hear it from you, the rules of engagement for these National Guard men and women."

BLUM: Well, the rules of engagement and the rules for use of force will be universal between California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. We are working with our states' attorney generals to make sure that there's no contradiction amongst the rules of engagement in each of those states, and we'll build upon the time-proven rules of engagement we've used for the counter-narcotics program that we've had on the southern border for about 20 years now. "

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/17/cnna.blum/index.html

[hawkaw]

Thanks

[Hop A Long Cassidy]

"there will be rules of engagement"

In addition to the tinker bell draped around their necks to warn illegal "bears", could we also issue a 12 gauge shotgun for some recreational shooting. Cheney likes the hunting down there. In case they ran into some MS-13 gang members, they could click the gun's safety and then ring their tinker bell three times loudly.

[alarm rider]

Please thank your husband and son for their service.

[AmeriBrit]

.............Some committee members echoed complaints from critics who have suggested that the border plan would overburden a National Guard that is already stretched by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. But Blum said the border program, coupled with the approximately 71,000 Guard members deployed overseas, still leaves more than 350,000 Army and Air Guard available for other homeland defense or disaster assistance.................

---

Your ignoring the fact that the NG is made up of ordinary citizens who have civilian jobs and only spend 1 weekend a month and two weeks a year in uniform. Having to uproot them and use them in Iraq is already an upheaval to their families who are not prepared for them to be away from their homes or jobs for any length of time. You also forget about rotation in Iraq which means there are in actual fact more used, prepared and ready to deploy than the figures say.

[GretchenM]

Some committee members echoed complaints from critics who have suggested that the border plan would overburden a National Guard that is already stretched by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. But Blum said the border program, coupled with the approximately 71,000 Guard members deployed overseas, still leaves more than 350,000 Army and Air Guard available for other homeland defense or disaster assistance.

Is it a requirement to get into Congress, that one must pass third grade math?

No Congressman Left Behind!

[oldbill]

Actually, the Posse Commitatus only applies when in Federal duty status. It does not apply in state status. Complainers in Chief Napolitano and Richardson could have called out their state Guard anytime to enforce laws.

[bert]

Well you guys...... how do you like your crow.

You'll be eating it before long.