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Strykers scope out border crossers

Nov-17-2005 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

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The Associated Press and News Tribune staff

COLUMBUS, N.M. – The Border Patrol says a monthlong mission with Stryker brigade troops from Fort Lewis doing round-the-clock reconnaissance was a success in helping deter people coming into the country illegally from Mexico.

The presence of the soldiers helped turn back about 1,000 would-be border crossers and moved others away from the mission’s patrol area between Columbus and Hachita, N.M., Rick Moody, agent in charge of the Border Patrol’s Deming, N.M., station, said this week.

The mission began in mid-October and is ending this week. Hundreds of soldiers from the Army’s 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment from Fort Lewis helped catch 1,922 people who crossed the border illegally and seized more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana, Moody said.

The soldiers, using Stryker vehicles equipped with long-range surveillance equipment, find people crossing the desert, then direct Border Patrol agents by radio to the location.

Soldiers are not involved in pursuits, apprehensions, detentions or arrests, said Lt. Col. Jeff Peterson, the squadron commander. “Our sole purpose is to observe and report,” he said. [...]


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