Posted: 7/6/06
Minnesota National Guard troops to be deployed to New Mexico to assist in safeguarding U.S.-Mexican border
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
Minnesota National Guard troops will be deployed to New Mexico within several weeks to assist in safeguarding the U.S.-Mexican border.
ìIím very comfortable with it,î said Gov. Tim Pawlenty of sending a contingent of the Guard.
The deployment is in response to a request for troops by the U.S. Department of Defense and Homeland Security for ìOperation Jump Start.î
On a volunteer basis, National Guard troops will be deployed to New Mexico for up to six months ó Minnesota troops could serve as additional eyes, scanning the border from high ground with binoculars, explained Minnesota National Guard Adjutant General Larry Shellito explained on Wednesday (July 5) at a Capitol press conference.
They could provide engineering, logistical services, he pointed out. The troops will not be engaged in actual hands-on law enforcement, Shellito explained.
Some 200 Minnesota Army and Air Guard troops have volunteered for duty along the border. Other troops in rotation could be deployed.
Besides the volunteers, guard troops that otherwise are scheduled for training will be used in the southern border deployment.
According to the administration, 10 other states ó including neighboring Wisconsin ó already have agreed to participate in the operation and have begun sending troops.
The troops are to assist in border security for up to two years while the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency hires and trains thousands of new agents.
The federal government will pick up the cost of the troop deployments.
With about 10,000 Army and Air National Guard troops still in Minnesota, Pawlenty believes thereís enough available to handle emergencies.
About 3,000 Minnesota troops are deployed in the Iraq War.
The governor depicted the level of security existing along the U.S.-Mexican border at crisis level. ìIt has been for years,î he said.
Pawlenty will keep command of the Minnesota troops being deployed to New Mexico.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. border patrol is expected to double in size to about 18,000 agents within two years.
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