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National Guard stands ready if called to border
Posted 5/26/2010 Updated 5/26/2010
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by Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau
5/26/2010 - WASHINGTON -- If elected and appointed civilian leaders decide to include the National Guard in a broader mission on the southwest border, the Guard stands ready, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said here Tuesday.
"The president and the secretary of defense will tell me when the time is right, when the conditions are right, whether they need [Guard members] or not," Gen Craig McKinley told a gathering of about a dozen journalists who cover the military. "Based on this magnificent force ... I don't think there'll be a problem finding a force if authorized to help. But I'm not out looking for a mission."
About 6,000 Guard members were on the southwest border for two years, starting in 2006, in the Operation Jump Start (OJS) mission to support the Border Patrol while it boosted its own force, recruiting and training new agents.
Today, a small number of National Guard troops continues to provide border support through the Counterdrug program.
However, any new mission would likely be much different from OJS, perhaps focused on preventing the spillover of drug violence across the border, Guard officials said.
"President Calderon and President Obama will meet later this month," McKinley said. "Let's let the presidents of the two countries decide ... We will do what we're asked to do. Many of the southwest border governors have asked for National Guard forces, but those decisions will be given to me by my leadership when the time is right." |
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