Posted on Feb 15, 2019
Border wall: Should the Military be involved, or no?
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Unless you've been under a rock the past few months, then I'm sure you're all aware of the current political climate, our Commander in Chief - President Trump, has declared a national emergency to garner 8 Billion dollars to fund the Border Wall.
I'm naturally curious, political bias aside, what's everyone's stance on the border wall situation in regards to military involvement? Should the military send its engineers? Should they provide security or supplies/equipment? Should we be involved at all? Remember, this isn't a political debate, this is a question, to gather insight on how much do Service Members think we should be involved on a project like this, that's been deemed as a matter of securing our border. LEAVE YOUR POLITICAL AGENDA AT HOME PEOPLE. What's your take, vote, and why?
I'm naturally curious, political bias aside, what's everyone's stance on the border wall situation in regards to military involvement? Should the military send its engineers? Should they provide security or supplies/equipment? Should we be involved at all? Remember, this isn't a political debate, this is a question, to gather insight on how much do Service Members think we should be involved on a project like this, that's been deemed as a matter of securing our border. LEAVE YOUR POLITICAL AGENDA AT HOME PEOPLE. What's your take, vote, and why?
National Security
Engineer
Border Patrol Agent
3P: Security Forces
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 29
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Sounds like a core mission to me. All other countries maintain their borders often with noticeable heavily armed military presence. By the way there are 31 active National Emergencies in effect. Here is a list. https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/analysis/NEA%20Declarations.pdf
Page not found | Brennan Center for Justice
The Brennan Center for Justice is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on the fundamental issues of democracy and justice.
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Cpl Edward Conley
Isn't that a slippery slope? I have a cousin that is one of the main Intel guys for the Tucson sector, BP. He has been telling me for the past 15 years they find weapons caches containing automatic weapons, anti-tank weapons, RPGs, and other items associated with a potential military insurgency along with prayer rugs, Korans, and other various Islamic materials. This goes beyond just the simple "Illegal entry" This is actually an enemy incursion.
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Capt Gregory Prickett
Cpl Edward Conley - that's BS. It hasn't happened and is an internet meme/scare tactic.
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MCPO (Join to see)
Capt Gregory Prickett - Militaries around around the world assist in protecting their borders who are NOT at war with each other. Canada, for one, will use their military personnel, at times, to man their border stations (been through quite a few), and we are NOT at war with them, they are NOT enforcing any laws, just securing their border. Many of the Central American countries do the same. Not at war or enforcing laws with surrounding countries, just defending their borders.
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Capt Gregory Prickett
MCPO (Join to see) - and we've done the same. When I was in the Air Guard, I had a number of airmen on the border assisting Customs. They did no law enforcement work, did not locate or detain aliens, etc. That mission is acceptable. Putting military on the border to enforce laws is not. That's how an American teenager, herding his family's goats on the American side of the border was shot and killed by a Marine, who then left him to bleed to death. The Marines were there to stop drug smuggling, but ended up paying the teenagers family $1.9 million.
The military isn't trained to enforce the law, and should not be used in that role.
The military isn't trained to enforce the law, and should not be used in that role.
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Is the military’s mission to defend America?
Are these ‘caravans’ intending to overwhelm our current border enforcement forces and enter the US? SPC (Join to see)
Are these ‘caravans’ intending to overwhelm our current border enforcement forces and enter the US? SPC (Join to see)
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LTC Eugene Chu
SPC (Join to see) - National Guard previously deployed to southern border in support roles. Border Patrol still performed primary mission duties
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/04/08/what-happened-when-bush-obama-sent-troops-to-mexico-border/
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/04/08/what-happened-when-bush-obama-sent-troops-to-mexico-border/
What happened when Bush, Obama sent troops to Mexico border
Since he launched his run for president, Donald Trump has said things about immigrants and the U.S.-Mexico border that no other U.S. president has. But now he’s reached directly into his predecessors’ playbook by sending in the National Guard.
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I'll go counterpoint on this. At first blush, protect the border, yada yada yada. Problem is in actually doing it. The military doesn't build large projects, contractors do. So there'd have to be a substantial contract administration organization. That means diverting assets that you use to support military infrastructure and operations to something that doesn't. The only "push" I see would be if a very large chunk of the money comes out of military support, hence the contracts folks follows the money. That would be the double whammy on the MIL side. For stuff like this, you set up temporary contracting offices and staff with term employees, unless your slow-go and set up a long term deal. Many times the positions are finagled to a grade higher to entice the "better" folk. You see a lot of people jumping in because they're late in their career and are bumping up their High 3. That pulls the average skill level down elsewhere. Another Whammy. Stand by for even crappier base support services.
Let's Whammy this more. If DoD is doing the contracting, then the auditing is done by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). They are painfully slow in normal times so the impact of being later than ever on the other MIL contracts will be much worse. There'd be significant Executive pressure to set the priority to Wall support.
If the MIL side gets hung with this job, the Army CoE would likely be the where the booger lands. About the only possible positive relating to their programs would be if the wall and workload requirements can be glide sloped to match up to the ebb and flow of their core mission stuff. I doubt it because the Dam/Navigation/Flood Control and Civil Works sides aren't likely to have stuff that would be funded in chunks compatible with the wall stuff.
If another agency like DHS gets it, then they'd be pulling the good talent away from the MIL side. Good people do move around to move up and tend to get all the PCS bennies that goes with it. Bottom line, not a simple question to answer.
Let's Whammy this more. If DoD is doing the contracting, then the auditing is done by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). They are painfully slow in normal times so the impact of being later than ever on the other MIL contracts will be much worse. There'd be significant Executive pressure to set the priority to Wall support.
If the MIL side gets hung with this job, the Army CoE would likely be the where the booger lands. About the only possible positive relating to their programs would be if the wall and workload requirements can be glide sloped to match up to the ebb and flow of their core mission stuff. I doubt it because the Dam/Navigation/Flood Control and Civil Works sides aren't likely to have stuff that would be funded in chunks compatible with the wall stuff.
If another agency like DHS gets it, then they'd be pulling the good talent away from the MIL side. Good people do move around to move up and tend to get all the PCS bennies that goes with it. Bottom line, not a simple question to answer.
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