{"id":11639,"date":"2018-11-01T23:37:03","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T23:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/01\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:14:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:14:01","slug":"border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/11\/01\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\/","title":{"rendered":"Border mission doesn\u2019t fit Mattis\u2019 focus on \u2018lethality\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left no doubt that his top priority as leader of the military is making it more \u201clethal\u201d \u2014 better at war and more prepared for it \u2014 and yet nothing about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/30\/the-5239-troops-headed-to-the-border-is-just-the-beginning\/\" target=_blank>the military\u2019s new mission at the U.S.-Mexico border<\/a> advances that goal. Some argue it detracts from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The troops going to the border areas of Texas, Arizona and California are a small fraction of the military\u2019s roughly 1.3 million active-duty members, and the mission is set to last only 45 days. But many question the wisdom of drawing even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/11\/01\/heres-the-list-of-military-units-headed-to-the-border\/\" target=_blank>several thousand away from training<\/a> for their key purpose: to win wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral and former head of U.S. Southern Command, said the troops should be preparing for combat and other missions, &#8220;not monitoring a peaceful border&#8221; for the arrival of a migrant caravan of several thousand people on foot, still about 900 miles away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It sends a terrible signal to Latin America and the Caribbean as we unnecessarily militarize our border,&#8221; Stavridis, who also served as the top NATO commander, said Thursday. &#8220;It places U.S. troops who are fundamentally untrained for the mission of border security and border enforcement into an area of operations, which could cause incidents of a negative character. If we need more border patrol agents, hire them.&#8221;<\/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\/11\/01\/equating-rocks-with-rifles-trump-proposes-radical-new-rules-of-engagement-for-troops-along-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=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rock1.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\">Equating rocks with rifles, Trump proposes radical new rules of engagement for troops along border<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The president said if migrants try to throw rocks at U.S. troops, &quot;we would consider that a firearm.&quot;<\/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\">The first 100 or so active duty troops arrived at the border on Thursday, making initial assessment at the McAllen, Texas, crossing. Overall, there are about 2,600 troops at staging bases in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">David Lapan, a retired Marine colonel who is a former spokesman for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Department of Homeland Security, said that taking troops away from training and from their families to play a supporting role in border security is unwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It just doesn&#8217;t make any sense,&#8221; said Lapan, now a vice president of communications at the Bipartisan Policy Center. &#8220;This caravan, this group of poor people, including a lot of women and children, doesn&#8217;t pose a threat \u2014 not a national security threat.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"825\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18305620205994.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18305620205994.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18305620205994.jpg.jpg?resize=300,206 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18305620205994.jpg.jpg?resize=768,528 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18305620205994.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,704 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Migrants hitch rides in the back of trucks as the thousands-strong caravan of Central Americans hoping to reach the U.S. border moves onward from Juchitan, Oaxaca state, Mexico, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Thousands of migrants resumed their slow trek through southern Mexico on Thursday, after attempts to obtain bus transport to Mexico City failed. (Rebecca Blackwell\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In line with the Pentagon&#8217;s national security strategy, Mattis has been focused on improving the combat readiness of a military worn down by the recent years of congressionally imposed budget cuts and the grind of 17 years of war in Afghanistan. This includes reorienting training from that required for the smaller wars the U.S. has fought since the 9\/11 terrorist attacks to a &#8220;great power&#8221; struggle with Russia and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That context may explain why the Pentagon itself seemed caught off-guard by President Donald Trump\u2019s abrupt order to dispatch active-duty troops; the Customs and Border Patrol, which requested Pentagon help, has struggled to define <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/10\/31\/deployed-border-troops-are-preparing-for-militias-stealing-their-gear-protester-violence-documents-show\/\" target=\"_blank\">details of the mission<\/a> and explain its scope.<\/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\">&#8220;That this is a security threat is preposterous and not supported by the evidence,&#8221; said Derek Chollet, former senior policy adviser at the Pentagon. &#8220;If you&#8217;re sitting in the Pentagon and worried about implementation of the national defense strategy and worried about the threats from China and Russia, this is not at the top of your list.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is another version of the parade,\u201d Chollet said, referring to Trump\u2019s demand earlier this year \u2014 eventually withdrawn \u2014 that the military spend millions to stage a parade in Washington, D.C. \u201cThis is not a good use of U.S. military resources at this moment. Trump was frustrated in his effort to build a physical wall on the border, now he\u2019s trying to build a human wall by using the U.S. military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis has rejected assertions that the military is being leveraged by the White House as a political stunt in advance of the midterm elections. &#8220;We don&#8217;t do stunts,&#8221; he said Wednesday, but neither has he argued that sending thousands of active-duty soldiers to help secure the border is his preference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gen. Terrence O&#8217;Shaughnessy, who as head of U.S. Northern Command is commanding the military operation, dubbed &#8220;Operation Faithful Patriot,&#8221; has argued that the caravan is a potential threat, although he has not fully defined that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think what we have seen is we&#8217;ve seen clearly an organization at a higher level than we&#8217;ve seen before,&#8221; O&#8217;Shaughnessy said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve seen violence coming out of the caravan and we&#8217;ve seen as they&#8217;ve passed other international borders, we&#8217;ve seen them behave in a nature that has not been what we&#8217;ve seen in the past.&#8221;<\/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\/11\/02\/here-are-the-rules-of-engagement-for-troops-deploying-to-the-mexican-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=\"206\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18305620205994.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\">Here are the rules of engagement for troops deploying to the Mexican border<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The president said troops could fire on migrants who throw rocks. But the unit-level ROEs are more complicated.<\/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\">One concern raised by other defense officials is that the caravans are largely male-dominated, and that one of them used violence when crossing the border into Mexico. But Associated Press journalists traveling with the largest group say it includes many families, including hundreds of children, and it has been orderly and peaceful, with no sign of any danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The military says it is deploying 7,000 troops to Texas, Arizona and California, and while it has left open the possibility that the number could grow by another thousand under current plans, the scope of the mission has grown in recent days. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he would send as many as 15,000 troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a letter to Trump on Thursday that his administration has given the committee no evidence that migrant caravans pose a direct security threat to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;This is not a military problem; it does not warrant a military solution,&#8221; Reed wrote. He said the administration should disclose the cost of the military&#8217;s border mission &#8220;and what impacts it will have on military readiness and the overall budget.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With his eyes squarely on Tuesday&#8217;s election contests, Trump has rushed a series of immigration declarations, promises and actions as he tries to mobilize supporters to retain Republican control of Congress. His own campaign in 2016 concentrated on border fears, and that&#8217;s his focus in the final days of the midterm fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has railed against illegal immigration, focusing on the migrant caravans that have been going on for several years but received little attention until now. The largest at the moment consists of about 4,000, down from a high of about 7,000, and is still in southern Mexico. Several smaller groups, estimated at a combined 1,200 people, are farther away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left no doubt that his top priority as leader of the military is making it more \u201clethal\u201d \u2014 better at war and more prepared for it \u2014 and yet nothing about the military\u2019s new mission at the U.S.-Mexico border advances that goal. Some argue it detracts from it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26731,"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":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2484,1354],"class_list":["post-11639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ECDSDYOZFBDRBFCJO34HNP2JVY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2018\/11\/03\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\/","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>Border mission doesn\u2019t fit Mattis\u2019 focus on \u2018lethality\u2019 - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left no doubt that his top priority as leader of the military is making it more \u201clethal\u201d \u2014 better at war and more prepared for it \u2014 and yet nothing about the military\u2019s new mission at the U.S.-Mexico border advances that goal. Some argue it detracts from it.\" \/>\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=\"Border mission doesn\u2019t fit Mattis\u2019 focus on \u2018lethality\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left no doubt that his top priority as leader of the military is making it more \u201clethal\u201d \u2014 better at war and more prepared for it \u2014 and yet nothing about the military\u2019s new mission at the U.S.-Mexico border advances that goal. Some argue it detracts from it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/11\/01\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-01T23:37:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T05:14:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Burns, The Associated Press, Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Burns, The Associated Press, Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Border mission doesn\u2019t fit Mattis\u2019 focus on \u2018lethality\u2019\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-11-01T23:37:03+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T05:14:01+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 1111,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP18305726203044.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\",\n\t                \"Your Navy\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Border mission doesn\u2019t fit Mattis\u2019 focus on \u2018lethality\u2019 - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/your-navy\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/01\\\/border-mission-doesnt-fit-mattis-focus-on-lethality\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP18305726203044.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2018-11-01T23:37:03+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T05:14:01+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has left no doubt that his top priority as leader of the military is making it more \u201clethal\u201d \u2014 better at war and more prepared for it \u2014 and yet nothing about the military\u2019s new mission at the U.S.-Mexico border advances that goal. 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