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Border Patrol officers now have night vision and vehicles

Sep- 4-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

(TFO Press Release)

MOSUL, Iraq (Sep. 4, 2002) – Members of the Iraqi Border Patrol in Diyanah and Rabiyah, Iraq received 90 sets of night vision goggles and 55 new Jeep Libertys in recent handover ceremonies in Mosul, increasing the level of security along Iraq’s northern border.

Border patrol guards in the northern border city of Diyanah received 32 new Jeep Libertys this week in a handover ceremony at the Mosul Airfield. Border patrol guards from the northern city of Rabiyah also received 23 new Jeeps and 90 sets of night vision goggles. Forty-three additional vehicles are awaiting pick up by the Rabiyah-based border patrol unit at a later date.

Purchased by Multinational Corps-Iraq, the increased number of vehicles will allow border patrol units to conduct multiple patrolling missions along the borders simultaneously. Due to previous equipment shortages, border patrol guards were limited in the number of patrols that could be conducted at any one time.

“The vehicles will allow the Border Patrol Guards to move between the 23 look-out stations [on the border], enabling them to conduct operations more freely,” said 1st Sgt. Daniel Neary, Troop A, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) who was in charge of organizing the vehicle pick up for the Rabiyah-based border patrol unit.

The goggles, provided by Multinational Brigade-Northwest, headquartered in Mosul , were purchased from the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, a program that allows military commanders and Iraqi community leaders to identify key spending priorities in communities across northern Iraq . The total cost of the goggles was more than $400,000. Until now, the border patrol guards didn’t have access to night vision equipment, making it very difficult to monitor movement along the border at night.

“The [border guards] will now be able to detect movement along the border during low-visibility time periods,” said Capt. Adam Cronkhite, MNB-NW Provost Marshall’s Office.

Iraqi government officials have long recognized Iraq ’s border regions as the entry point for terrorists, weapons and money funding terrorist activities across the country. Increasing the border patrol guards ability to successfully monitor the border will decrease the number of terrorists and smugglers entering the country illegally.


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