Bush Weighs Deploying Guard to U.S. Border
[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]May 12, 11:02 PM (ET)
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, trying to build momentum for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, is considering plans to shore up the Mexican border with National Guard troops paid for by the federal government, according to senior administration officials.
One defense official said military leaders believe the number of troops required could range from 3,500 to 10,000, depending on the final plan. Another administration official cautioned that the 10,000 figure was too high.
The officials insisted on anonymity since no decision has been announced.
The president was expected to reveal his plans in an address Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. It will be the first time he has used the Oval Office for a domestic policy speech - a gesture intended to underscore the importance he places on the divisive immigration issue.
.... the rest of the story .... http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060513/D8HIKOU00.html
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This is not without precedent. One of the reasons I thought the current situation interesting was a comparison of the tepid response today to a massive northward "migration" with the much more aggressive 1916 response when another President mobilized the National Guard in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. This mobilization was in response to the relatively small cross-border raid @ Columbus, NM, by some 500-600 Villaistas. Six months later more than 110,000 Guardsmen were deployed along the US-Mexico border.
A list of some of the junior officers deployed reads like a "who's-who" of the US Army in the 1900's:
One of the new 2LT's sent to the border was Omar Nelson Bradley, 14th Infantry. From September 1915 to May 1916, he was at Douglas where he lived "in absolutely miserable circumstances." He kept busy operating the target range, coaching the regimental baseball team and "participated in an epic experimental 300-mile 'motorized hike' with a convoy of trucks." He was moved to Nogales from July to September 1916, and then to Yuma from September 1916 to 21 May 1917. He said: "Duty at Yuma was miserable
. Clearly there was to be no war with Mexico; the official camp duties were routine and boring, Yuma was primitive and dusty. Our major diversion was the tedious round of formal calls on superiors for tea or coffee. A few weeks after Mary and I settled in, I applied for a transfer.... Any place seemed preferable to Yuma, Arizona' " [Bradley, Omar N., and Blair, Clay, A General's Life, Simon and Schuster, NY, 1983.]
Other young officers who were to gain prominence and who were stationed along the border were: Matthew B. Ridgway (2d Lieut. At Eagle Pass, Texas, in 1917), Carl A. Spaatz (aviator with 1916 Pershing Expedition), Lucian K. Truscott (2d Lieut. with 17th Cavalry at Douglas in 1917), Jonathan M. Wainwright (Capt., 1st Cavalry, in 1916), Walton H. Walker (2d Lieut. in Texas in 1914), William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan (WHO WAS ASKING ABOUT "WILD BILL'S" MILITARY SERVICE ON ANOTHER THREAD ??? -- with NY National Guard during 1916 Pershing Expedition), Hugh A. Drum (aide-de camp to General Funston in 1914), George S. Patton, (8th Cavalry and aide-de-camp to General Pershing in 1916), Robert L. Eichelberger (Lieut. in 1911 with 10th Infantry, and in 1915 with 22d Infantry), Leslie J. McNair (with 1916 Pershing Expedition), George C. Marshall ( a 1st Lieut.. in Texas Maneuver Division in 1911), Alexander McCarroll Patch (1st Lieut. in 18th Infantry in 1910), and George E. Straterneyer (2d Lieut. 7th Infantry at Douglas in 1914).
Very heavy company, indeed. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]May 12, 11:02 PM (ET)
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, trying to build momentum for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, is considering plans to shore up the Mexican border with National Guard troops paid for by the federal government, according to senior administration officials.
One defense official said military leaders believe the number of troops required could range from 3,500 to 10,000, depending on the final plan. Another administration official cautioned that the 10,000 figure was too high.
The officials insisted on anonymity since no decision has been announced.
The president was expected to reveal his plans in an address Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. It will be the first time he has used the Oval Office for a domestic policy speech - a gesture intended to underscore the importance he places on the divisive immigration issue.
.... the rest of the story .... http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060513/D8HIKOU00.html
*****************************************************************************************************
This is not without precedent. One of the reasons I thought the current situation interesting was a comparison of the tepid response today to a massive northward "migration" with the much more aggressive 1916 response when another President mobilized the National Guard in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. This mobilization was in response to the relatively small cross-border raid @ Columbus, NM, by some 500-600 Villaistas. Six months later more than 110,000 Guardsmen were deployed along the US-Mexico border.
A list of some of the junior officers deployed reads like a "who's-who" of the US Army in the 1900's:
One of the new 2LT's sent to the border was Omar Nelson Bradley, 14th Infantry. From September 1915 to May 1916, he was at Douglas where he lived "in absolutely miserable circumstances." He kept busy operating the target range, coaching the regimental baseball team and "participated in an epic experimental 300-mile 'motorized hike' with a convoy of trucks." He was moved to Nogales from July to September 1916, and then to Yuma from September 1916 to 21 May 1917. He said: "Duty at Yuma was miserable
. Clearly there was to be no war with Mexico; the official camp duties were routine and boring, Yuma was primitive and dusty. Our major diversion was the tedious round of formal calls on superiors for tea or coffee. A few weeks after Mary and I settled in, I applied for a transfer.... Any place seemed preferable to Yuma, Arizona' " [Bradley, Omar N., and Blair, Clay, A General's Life, Simon and Schuster, NY, 1983.] Other young officers who were to gain prominence and who were stationed along the border were: Matthew B. Ridgway (2d Lieut. At Eagle Pass, Texas, in 1917), Carl A. Spaatz (aviator with 1916 Pershing Expedition), Lucian K. Truscott (2d Lieut. with 17th Cavalry at Douglas in 1917), Jonathan M. Wainwright (Capt., 1st Cavalry, in 1916), Walton H. Walker (2d Lieut. in Texas in 1914), William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan (WHO WAS ASKING ABOUT "WILD BILL'S" MILITARY SERVICE ON ANOTHER THREAD ??? -- with NY National Guard during 1916 Pershing Expedition), Hugh A. Drum (aide-de camp to General Funston in 1914), George S. Patton, (8th Cavalry and aide-de-camp to General Pershing in 1916), Robert L. Eichelberger (Lieut. in 1911 with 10th Infantry, and in 1915 with 22d Infantry), Leslie J. McNair (with 1916 Pershing Expedition), George C. Marshall ( a 1st Lieut.. in Texas Maneuver Division in 1911), Alexander McCarroll Patch (1st Lieut. in 18th Infantry in 1910), and George E. Straterneyer (2d Lieut. 7th Infantry at Douglas in 1914).
Very heavy company, indeed.
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