Tag Archives: Department of Homeland Security

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Co. – The Department of Homeland Security has requested the Department of Defense to provide a range of assistance, including planning, engineering, transportation, logistics and medical support to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

According to officials, this request for assistance will “enhance CBP’s ability to impede or deny illegal crossings and maintain situational awareness as it contributes to CBP’s overall border security mission.”

DOD forces in support of the DHS and CBP are under the command of U.S. Northern Command. The DHS support operations has been designated Operation Faithful Patriot.

The Secretary of Defense approved the following Title 10 (active-duty) forces and support in response to the DHS request.

• Military planning teams to coordinate operations, engineering, medical, and logistic support
• Helicopter companies to support the movement of CBP tactical personnel
• Engineer battalions to erect temporary vehicle barriers and fencing
• Deployable medical units to triage, treat and prepare for commercial transport of patients
• Temporary housing to support CBP and military personnel
• Light towers, barrier material, barbed and concertina wire, as well as cases of meals ready-to-eat

The following locations have been identified to serve as Base Support Installations (BSI). BSIs are DOD installations located near the operation area and serve as primary logistics hubs, during a response to a request for Defense Support to Civil Authorities.

Bases may be added or subtracted as operational planning continues.

• Arizona: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Fort Huachuca
• California: Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Naval Air Facility El Centro, Naval Base Coronado, Naval Base San Diego, Naval Base Point Loma
• Texas: Fort Bliss, Joint Base San Antonio, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Naval Operations Support Center Harlingen, Naval Air Station Kingsville,

The following military units have been identified to deploy to the southwest border in support of CBP.

The number of troops deployed will change each day as military forces flow into the operating area, but the initial estimate is that the DOD will have more than 7,000 troops supporting DHS across California, Arizona and Texas.

• Fort Bragg, North Carolina

o Headquarters & Headquarters Command, 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command
o 2nd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division
o Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 16th Military Police Brigade
o 51st Medical Company, 28th Combat Support Hospital
o 172nd Preventive Medicine
o 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion
o 329th Movement Control Team
o 403rd Inland Cargo Transfer Company
o Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment, 503rd Military Police Battalion

• Fort Carson, Colorado

o Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division
o Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division

• Peterson Air Force, Colorado

o Joint Enabling Capability Team and Aviation Planner from U.S. Northern Command

• Scott Air Force Base, Illinois

o Joint Public Support Element – Public Affairs

• Fort Meade, Maryland

o 55th Signal Company (Combat Camera)

• Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia

o 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade Headquarters, 3rd Infantry Division
o 90th Human Resources Company, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade

• Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas

o Defense Logistics Agency Contingency Contracting Team
o 4th Expeditionary Sustainment Command Assessment Team
o Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 505th Military Intelligence Brigade

• Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington

o 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, I Corps
o 87th Engineer Sapper Company, 555th Engineer Brigade

• Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina

o 1st Combat Camera Squadron

• Fort Bliss, Texas

o 24th Press Camp Headquarters, 1st Armored Division

• Fort Hood, Texas

o 89th Military Police Brigade, III Corps
o Headquarters, 62nd Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade
o 937th Engineer Sapper Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade
o 104th Engineer Construction, 62nd Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade
o 289th Quartermaster Company, 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade

• Fort Knox, Kentucky

o Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment, 19th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade
o 15th Engineer Company (Horizontal), 19th Engineer Battalion
o 541st Engineer Sapper Company, 19th Engineer Battalion

• Fort Campbell, Kentucky

o 887th Engineer Support Company, 101st Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade
o 372nd Inland Cargo Transfer Company, 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade
o 74th Transportation Company, 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division Sustainment Brigade

• Fort Riley, Kansas

o Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 97th Military Police Battalion, 1st Infantry Division
o 977th Military Police Company Combat Support
o 287th Military Police Company Combat Support
o 41st Engineer Company (Clearance), 4th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade

Author:  Tech. Sgt. Joe Laws – 

At least 5,200 military troops will be deployed to the U.S. border with Mexico by the end of the week, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense officials confirmed Monday afternoon.

The troops are in addition to the 2,000 National Guard members who have been in place since April. They are being sent in response to the caravan of Central American migrants that are slowly making their way to the United States after crossing Mexico’s southern border earlier this month.

“Make no mistakes, as we sit right here today, we have 800 soldiers that are on their way to Texas right now,” said Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the chief of U.S. Northern Command, during a press conference.

O’Shaughnessy said that number could change, depending on whether the situation dictates a change in strategy. O’Shaughnessy foretold of an operation that is likely to be very different from the current National Guard activity, which mainly happens behind the scenes and assists federal Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol agents.

In addition to the boots on the ground, the country’s military is also preparing to deploy three helicopter companies that can transport CBP officials in a moment’s notice. Mobile command and medical units are also at the ready, as is enough barbed wire to build up to 22 miles of makeshift barrier, with another 150 miles still available.

“We have combined command posts where our operational commanders will be working side by side to integrate our efforts and make,” O’Shaughnessy.

The military build-up, which was first reported by Reuters Monday morning, comes as President Donald Trump moves ahead with the notion that criminals and Middle Easterners have infiltrated the caravan, which started out with more than 7,000 migrants but has reduced in size this month. He has presented no evidence to support that claim.

The American Civil Liberties Union immediately blasted the move as nothing more than a costly and unnecessary political ploy.

“Sending active military forces to our southern border is not only a huge waste of taxpayer money, but an unnecessary course of action that will further terrorize and militarize our border communities,” Shaw Drake, the policy counsel for the ACLU Border Rights Center in El Paso, said in a statement. “ Military personnel are legally prohibited from engaging in immigration enforcement, and there is no emergency or cost-benefit analysis to justify this sudden deployment.”

Author: JULIÁN AGUILAR – The Texas Tribune

A team of computer science faculty from The University of Texas at El Paso has been awarded a highly competitive $3.9 million Scholarship For Service (SFS) grant from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security.

The funding will give scholarships to 28 bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. computer science students over the next five years.

The project’s goals are to increase the number of qualified students who complete advanced degrees with a specialization in cyber-security. Graduate students will enter the workforce with the ability to transfer state-of-the-art cyber-security techniques and approaches into practice.

“The project will open significant opportunities to UTEP students with an interest in software engineering and cyber-security, particularly in areas such as defense, energy, communication, transportation and manufacturing,” said UTEP Vice President for Research Roberto Osegueda, Ph.D.

The UTEP grant team, led by Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Science in Software Engineering Program Salamah I. Salamah, Ph.D., includes Ann Q. Gates, Ph.D., professor and department chair; Assistant Professor Christopher Kiekintveld, Ph.D.; and Associate Professor Luc Longpré, Ph.D.

Each student will be funded for up to three years and will receive a stipend of $34,000 (graduate students) and $22,500 (undergraduates), $4,000 for travel and professional development, $2,000 for books and supplies, and $3,000 for medical insurance. Tuition and fees also will be paid for these students.

Students will commit to work for two years in government positions that utilize their knowledge and capabilities in cyber-security.

 UTEP is one of six universities to be awarded an SFS grant in this funding cycle. It is now one of only 63 universities nationwide that are part of CyberCorps, which was established by the SFS program in 2000.

Pictured above are  John Robinson, acting senior cyber security advisor to the deputy under secretary for cyber security &  communications at the Department of Homeland Security National  Protection and Program Directorate (NPPD); Ann Q. Gates, Ph.D.,  professor and chair of the UTEP computer science department; Associate  Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Science in Software  Engineering Program Salamah I. Salamah, Ph.D.; Joan Ferrini-Mundy,  Ph.D., assistant director, directorate for education and human  resources, National Science Foundation; Clifton N., Triplett, senior  cyber and information technology advisor, U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Photo courtesy of the National Science Foundation.

Author: UTEP