Border support operations, formerly known as Operation Faithful Patriot, are currently being conducted as a domestic deployment and civil contingency operation of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

at the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border trave ...

. According to the

United States Northern Command United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for non-military authorities in the U.S., and protect ...

, the operation is being conducted in order to prevent a potential border crossing of migrants from Central America. The existing National Guard ''Operation Guardian Support'' is also being reinforced.

Background

In early October 2018, several thousands of people fled gang violence from the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) on an overland journey north in three separate groups colloquially referred to them as "caravans". According to some in the caravans, their intention was to cross through

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and later into the U.S. border. In response to the northward migration, and according to ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

eventually made his decision to take a hard-line stance against

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

on the Mexican border.

Timeline

In April 2018, President Donald Trump ordered Operation Guardian Support, consisting of

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

forces voluntarily contributed by states, to assist the

United States Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States' Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing the borders of the United States. According to its web site in 2022, its mission ...

in ongoing border security efforts. In October 2018, what was then known as Operation Faithful Patriot was initiated to provide U.S. military assistance to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the

southwest United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

in confronting the approaching caravans. Trump ordered the operation on October 26, 2018, and

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The se ...

Jim Mattis signed the deployment authorization later that day. According to General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy of the

, the operation involves the deployment of federal troops "to harden the southern border" and augment the National Guard forces already involved in aiding the CBP authorities along the United States' southwestern frontier. By October 29, 2018, approximately 800 soldiers of the initial contingent had been deployed, with military officials confirming the remainder would be in place by the end of that week. Citing an unnamed source,

KQED-FM KQED-FM (88.5 MHz) is a NPR-member radio station in San Francisco, California. Its parent organization is KQED Inc., which also owns its television partners, both of which are PBS member outlets: KQED (channel 9) and KQEH (channel 54). Stu ...

reported the forces were being moved to marshaling areas in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and, from there, would respond to CBP positioning requests. In addition, the operation called for the supply of

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

-owned anti-riot gear to the CBP. On November 7, 2018, the Pentagon announced that the name Operation Faithful Patriot was no longer in use. Instead, the current deployment of troops will be simply referred to as "border support." Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordered the name change the previous day because the original name had "political overtones." The bulk of the troops arrived in Texas which is hundreds of miles away from the caravans arriving in Tijuana. Under the

Posse Comitatus Act The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (, original at ) signed on June 18, 1878, by President Rutherford B. Hayes which limits the powers of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic p ...

of 1878, federal troops are prohibited from carrying out

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

duties.. During border support activities, they are not allowed to detain migrants or seize drugs. They have assisted the Border Patrol by maintaining vehicles. Other duties have included using

military helicopters A military helicopter is a helicopter that is either specifically built or converted for use by military forces. A military helicopter's mission is a function of its design or conversion. The most common use of military helicopters is transpor ...

to carry border patrol agents to and from locations along the U.S.-Mexico border and operating cranes to install towering panels of metal bars. They have also strung

concertina wire Concertina wire or Dannert wire is a type of barbed wire or razor wire that is formed in large coils which can be expanded like a concertina. In conjunction with plain barbed wire (and/or razor wire/tape) and steel pickets, it is most ofte ...

and wrapped it around barriers to reinforce the border. On January 31, 2019, Acting Defense Secretary

Patrick M. Shanahan Patrick Michael Shanahan (born June 27, 1962) is a former United States United States federal government, federal government official who served as acting United States Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of Defense in 2019. President of the U ...

announced that additional troops, likely several thousand, would be deployed to the border. The deployment was expanded to roughly 6,000 troops, drawn from the Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy, and their stay was extended through September 2019. By March, a plan was being prepared to ask the Defense Department for more federal troops to help with migrant processing, transportation and medical care in high-crossing areas. The draft plan includes using Defense Department land to house migrants in detention sites. On March 23, 2020, in spite of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

across the U.S. and worldwide, Lt. Col. Chris Mitchell said that the Pentagon “has no plans to pull units off the border for coronavirus response” and the Defense Department confirmed that the troops at the border were authorized to stay there through September 30, 2020.

Units assigned

As of October 29, 2018, a full list of units participating in border support operations had not been released, but activated forces were said to include

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

, in addition to combat aviation,

combat engineer A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tas ...

, medical, and civil affairs units totaling approximately 5,000 U.S. soldiers and 2,000 National Guard troops who are already deployed as part of the existing Operation Guardian Support. A surge force consisting of an additional 7,000 troops had been placed on "24-hour notice" to reinforce the frontier if those personnel proved inadequate.

U.S. military

1st Engineer Battalion The 1st Engineer Battalion is a unit of the United States Army with a record of accomplishment in both peace and war; an organization that provides sustained engineer support across the full spectrum of military operations. The 1st Engineer Batt ...

* 41st Engineer Company

16th Military Police Brigade The 16th Military Police Brigade is a military police brigade of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This brigade has the only airborne-qualified military police units in the U.S. Army, outside of the 82nd MP Com ...

* 503rd Military Police Battalion (ABN, -65th Military Police Company -108th Military Police Company * 91st Military Police Battalion -563rd Military Police Company

36th Engineer Brigade

* 62nd Engineer Battalion

89th Military Police Brigade The 89th Military Police Brigade is a military police brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Hood, Texas. It is a subordinate unit of III Armored Corps. Activated in Vietnam in the midst of the Vietnam War, the unit provided mi ...

* Headquarters and Headquarters Company * 287th Military Police Company 591st Military Police Company * 977th Military Police Company

63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion The 63d Expeditionary Signal Battalion is headquartered and located on Fort Gordon, however relocating to Fort Stewart, Georgia and is a subordinate unit of the 35th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade. On order, 63d Expeditionary Signal Battalion ra ...

30px *Charlie Company

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade The Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division is the Combat Aviation Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division of the United States Army based at Fort Stewart. History The original predecessor of the Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Divi ...
(Hunter Army Airfield)

2nd Battalion 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Fort Bragg, NC, Alpha/Charlie Air Assault Assault Companies, D Co Aviation maint support 2nd Battalion Bravo General Support 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne DIV

National Guard

The existing National Guard mission being reinforced is Operation Guardian Support. The National Guard mission is operating in four task forces: Task Force Anzio, Task Force Salerno, Task Force Defender, and Task Force Aviation. The National Guards of Arizona, Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi have contributed forces to the operation. Virginia, an early contributor to the operation, withdrew its forces in June 2018 on the order of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ralph Northam Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

. 285th Aviation Regiment (Arizona) * 2nd Battalion Alpha/Bravo Air Assault Assault Companies

72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Texas)

* 536th Brigade Support Battalion (elements)

114th Aviation Regiment (Mississippi)

* 1st Security and Support Aviation Battalion (elements)

133rd Field Artillery Regiment (Texas)

* 3rd Field Artillery Battalion (elements)

151st Aviation Regiment The 151st Aviation Regiment is an aviation regiment of the U.S. Army, primarily provided by the South Carolina Army National Guard. Structure * 1st Battalion (Attack Reconnaissance) "Ghostriders" at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, Eastover ** ...
(South Carolina)

* 2nd Security and Support Aviation Battalion (elements)

Service medal

The

Armed Forces Service Medal The Armed Forces Service Medal (AFSM) is a military award of the United States military that was created on January 11, 1996, by President Bill Clinton under . The AFSM is a deployed service medal that is presented to those service members who ...

will be awarded to troops who have deployed to the border. The AFSM may be awarded to service members who have participated, as members of U.S. military units, in a designated U.S. military operation deemed to be a significant activity and encounter no foreign armed opposition or imminent hostile action.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faithful Patriot, Operation Non-combat military operations involving the United States Northern Triangle refugee crisis October 2018 events in the United States Immigration policy of Donald Trump Presidency of Donald Trump Articles containing video clips