All Four Border Governors Mobilize Troops

The Governor’s Press Release from Texas says that all four border Governors have signed orders mobilizing the National Guard. According the Air Force Times, in fact, Texas was last to announce. Yesterday’s AP report out of California says Gov. Schwarzenegger has declared a “firm end date” of Dec. 31, 2008. From the Air Force Times

June 02, 2006

Governors agree to send up to 1,800 troops to border
Guardsmen to be on duty for up to a year

By Michelle Tan
Times staff writer

Governors from three of the four states that border Mexico have signed agreements to send troops to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in a mission dubbed Operation Jump Start.

Leaders in California expect to send as many as 1,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, although not all of them will be from the California Guard.

The soldiers and airmen will be on duty for up to a year at a time, a shift from an earlier proposal by the National Guard Bureau to rotate troops based on their two- to three-week annual training schedules.

The agreement signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will end Dec. 31, 2008, or when federal authorities have enough manpower to staff the border, whichever comes first.

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico authorized up to 500 troops for border duty, while Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano authorized 300 soldiers for border duty.

The 300 Arizona guardsmen volunteered to stay on border duty for up to a year.

It was unknown at press time if Texas had signed the agreement or was calling up troops for the border mission, but the troops likely won’t arrive at the border until mid-June.

This newest mission for the Guard is part of President Bush’s proposal for sweeping immigration reform, which calls for up to 6,000 soldiers and airmen to be sent to help the U.S. Border Patrol secure the 2,000-mile border until the agency can hire and train more agents.

The troops will help in areas such as surveillance, intelligence, construction and training so that federal authorities can focus on border security.

Bush has asked Congress to include $1.9 billion for border security in the supplemental spending bill now pending on Capitol Hill. That amount likely includes money to pay for the troops’ border duty.

Soldiers and airmen deployed to the border will be in Title 32 status, which means they will remain under the control of their governor but be paid with federal dollars. They also will be eligible for federal benefits and compensation, and they’ll earn retirement points, said Lt. Col. Mike Milord, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau.

Each southern border state already has troops stationed along the border to conduct counter-drug activities. That long-standing mission is separate from this new border duty, officials said.

Most of the men and women who will serve along the border are expected to be from the border states themselves, but any state can contribute.

There are 444,000 soldiers and airmen in the National Guard. Those who have just completed tours overseas won’t be tapped for border duty for at least six months after coming home.

About 50 soldiers from the 116th Construction Equipment Company of the Utah Guard were scheduled to arrive in Arizona the weekend of June 3 to work on fences and other projects, The Associated Press reported. The soldiers are not being sent as part of Bush’s plan but as part of a long-standing program between the states.

The Wisconsin Guard has said nearly 7,000 of its troops are available for duty along the border if needed, but the state hadn’t received any requests from the border states as of May 26, according to the Associated Press.