{"id":26490,"date":"2018-10-30T21:01:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T21:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/30\/the-5239-troops-headed-to-the-border-is-just-the-beginning\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:24:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:24:01","slug":"the-5239-troops-headed-to-the-border-is-just-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2018\/10\/30\/the-5239-troops-headed-to-the-border-is-just-the-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5,239 troops headed to the border is just the beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The number of troops who will deploy to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/28\/jersey-barriers-troops-headed-to-border\/\" target=_blank>the U.S.-Mexico border will rise<\/a> beyond the 5,239 personnel already on orders and expected to be in place within days, U.S. Northern Command chief Air Force Gen. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/29\/trump-orders-5200-active-duty-troops-to-us-mexico-border\/\" target=_blank>Terrence O\u2019Shaughnessy<\/a> said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Shaughnessy did not have a cost estimate for the rapidly-growing \u2014 and without recent precedent \u2014 mission of dispatching thousands of active-duty forces to Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California to counter a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/10\/29\/white-house-plan-to-send-5000-troops-to-the-mexican-border-catches-pentagon-off-guard\/\" target=_blank> caravan of an estimated 3,500 migrants <\/a>traveling from Central America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere will be an additional force, over and above the 5,239,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy said. \u201cThe magnitude of that difference, I don\u2019t have an answer to right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/29\/trump-orders-5200-active-duty-troops-to-us-mexico-border\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/44811061124_76dc4a37ea_k.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">President Trump orders 5,200 active duty troops to US-Mexico border<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Some of the active duty forces will be armed, the military says.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even though smaller numbers of active-duty forces have supported drug interdiction efforts on the border, they have not been the go-to to address immigration influxes, and certainly not in an order of this magnitude, border security experts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Responding to immigration influxes has typically been the purview of the National Guard, such as Operation Jump Start from 2006-2008 under former President George W. Bush, said William Banks, author of \u201cSoldiers on the Home Front: The Domestic Role of the American Military\u201d and the former director of the Institute for National Security and Counter-terrorism at Syracuse University\u2019s College of Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In that operation, according to the National Guard Bureau\u2019s historical services division, \u201cas many as 6,000 National Guard men and women at any one time participated in the operation &#8230; not to close the Nation\u2019s border with Mexico but to make it more secure for legal immigration and commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The use of military troops to secure the border has been tightly monitored since a 1997 incident where U.S. Marines assigned to the border to support drug interdiction ended up firing on and killing an 18-year-old, Esequiel Hernandez Jr., a U.S. citizen who was herding goats along the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, National Guard forces are under the control of their state governors, and in the spring, when President Donald Trump requested National Guard support to be sent to the Mexico border, several governors refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To date, only about 2,100 of the 4,000 National Guard billets authorized by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in response to the president\u2019s original request are filled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30595769897_a7f11f534e_k.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-75316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30595769897_a7f11f534e_k.jpg.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30595769897_a7f11f534e_k.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30595769897_a7f11f534e_k.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30595769897_a7f11f534e_k.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/30595769897_a7f11f534e_k.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">After a few weeks of training, Texas National Guard soldiers work in their sectors fulfilling administrative, surveillance and maintenance tasks in order to free up agents and assist in border mission efforts on May 1, 2018. (Army 1st. Lt. Nadine Wiley De Moura\/100th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This time, the president requested active-duty forces, and on Friday Mattis signed off on the new mission: Operation Faithful Patriot. The first 1,000 active-duty forces assigned to the mission are already in Texas, staging at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the end of the week, Texas should see a total of 1,800 active-duty troops pulled from seven bases across the U.S. who will first get training, then deploy south to positions along the border in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. More forces will quickly follow in Arizona, California and New Mexico to total the first 5,239 deployed, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of Monday, the caravan was still an estimated 1,000 miles away, traveling mostly on foot, a pace that would not bring those men, women and children to the U.S. border for weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The active-duty deployed forces will be under the command of U.S. Army North commander Lt. Gen. Jeff Buchanan, and are expected to handle primarily background supportive tasks such as medical, airlift and engineering support, O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those forces will operate under very specific rules of engagement, in case the deployed troops end up in situations with migrants instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/31\/federal-law-limits-what-us-troops-deployed-at-the-border-can-do\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"216\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/43719279910_60df80152b_k.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">This federal law limits what US troops deployed at the border can do<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The more than 5,200 active-duty troops being sent by President Donald Trump to the U.S.-Mexico border will be limited in what they can do under a federal law that restricts the military from engaging in law enforcement on American soil.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Shaughnessy said some of the troops will be armed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cU.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel are absolutely the primary and principle members that will be handling specifically the migrants,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in the case of \u201cincidental interaction,\u201d there will be very specific rules of engagement drilled into the forces, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis has \u201cmade it very clear that we are able to train, that we are able to ensure that every airman, soldier, sailor, Marine going in there fully understands the rules for the use of force,&#8221; O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That still leaves room for concern, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine who has focused on the military\u2019s border role as a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;If you start seeing soldier patrols, that is a problem,\u201d Cancian said. &#8220;Military soldiers, troops, are not trained in law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of sending active-duty troops, the government should hire more trained agents, if that\u2019s what\u2019s needed, Cancian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you need 5,200 more personnel on the border, you should go out and hire 5,200 more Border Patrol,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But this deployment isn\u2019t really about the military assisting in homeland defense, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis isn\u2019t a military activity. This is a political activity,\u201d Cancian said. \u201cAnd you have to see it through that lens. It\u2019s about politics and perception.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe president wants to make a political statement, and that\u2019s what people are reacting to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some of the troops will be armed but operate with specific rules of engagement, NORTHCOM says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":75315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3238],"class_list":["post-26490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"57XE7FQPP5DFVCUPGHYVGUVPIM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/30\/the-5239-troops-headed-to-the-border-is-just-the-beginning\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The 5,239 troops headed to the border is just the beginning - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some of the troops will be armed but operate with specific rules of engagement, NORTHCOM says.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 5,239 troops headed to the border is just the beginning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some of the troops will be armed but operate with specific rules of engagement, NORTHCOM says.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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