National Guard border deployment may cost the Pentagon $1.2 billion
By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Special Correspondent
The first of 6,000 National Guard troops headed to the Southwest border in June to back up the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency and bolster the United States’ porous border with Mexico. But much of the money to pay for the deployment apparently will come out of the hides of the Navy, Marine Corps and Army, rather than the CBP or its federal parent, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency responsible for border security.
The National Guard deployment will provide approximately $1.9 billion worth of assistance to the CBP’s Border Patrol. The federal government promised Arizona, California, Mexico and Texas it would cover the costs of the deployment. But no promises have been made to the Department of Defense that it will be fully reimbursed for the mission, called Operation Jump Start.
Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said DoD will conduct the operation on a reimbursable basis, but the timing and source of much of the reimbursement remains uncertain. Congress took the $1.9 billion to fund border security enhancements, including the Guard initiative, out of DoD’s 2006 emergency supplemental.
Funding for the Navy’s C-130 modifications and Hellfire missiles was cut, as was funding for the Marine Corps’ night-vision equipment, according to a report in the Washington newsletter, Congressional Quarterly. Army programs suffered the largest cuts, and included funding reductions for the Joint Network Nodes, Ground and Airborne Radio system and Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, the newsletter stated.
To pay some of the Pentagon’s costs, Congress appropriated $708 million in an emergency supplemental. However, reimbursement of the remaining $1.2 billion is an issue for discussion by the Defense Department comptroller’s office and the Office of Management and Budget, said Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
McHale said the official National Guard commitment will be for up to 6,000 military forces on a rotational basis for a period of up to 12 months. Military support will not exceed 3,000 personnel during a possible second year of deployment.
However, some in Congress question whether the deployment is truly necessary. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, has called for more funds to be spent to enhance border security rather than operations. Gregg considers the National Guard deployment optional.
In addition, some Pentagon officials doubt DHS will be able to stand up its Secure Border Initiative program by the time the two-year National Guard mission ends.
The Secure Border Initiative is the administration’s plan to improve control of the borders through deterrence, detection, apprehension, detention and removal. For instance, the president wants to increase the number of Border Patrol agents, and use unmanned aerial vehicles and cameras on the border.
The program will employ improved infrastructure, technology, personnel and rapid response. For example, it envisions an additional 6,000 Border Patrol agents by the end of 2008, which would bring the total to 18,000.
The National Guard is being deployed to the border to work on the infrastructure portion of the project, including the operation of surveillance systems, intelligence analyses, the installation of fences and vehicle barriers and provide training, according to the conference report (H. Rept. 109-494). The National Guard will not be involved in law enforcement.
During Operation Jump Start, the National Guard will operate under Title 32 of the U.S. Code, which allows guard members to remain under state control while being paid with federal funding, H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard bureau said May 16.
Blum insisted that the National Guard is equipped to provide border assistance as well as be available in the event of a major hurricane or other disaster. But some warn of relying too heavily on the military at the borders.
“While the use of military forces on a temporary basis is appropriate, it is not a long-term solution to border control,” Heritage Foundation senior fellow James Jay Carafano wrote in a May 16 WebMemo. “America needs a military that is prepared to perform all of its vital national security missions. It also needs persistent border security. Over the long term, more efficient and effective assets can be used at the border, thus freeing up the military for the missions only it can do.”
However, this is not the first time the Guard has performed similar missions on the borders. In San Diego, the National Guard worked on the Border Infrastructure System, and in Arizona, the guard built roads for Border Patrol to use, David Aguilar, Border Patrol chief, told a Congressional panel May 24.
