I am retired after 32 years of service in the military. I am working full time, clearing my land and getting a house built.
Counter-Drug Operation Jump Start (US Border)
From Month/Year
May / 2006
To Month/Year
June / 2008
Description Operation Jump Start was a military operation to aid U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, announced by President George W. Bush in May 2006. The mission entailed the deployment of United States National Guard troops along the Mexico–United States border for purposes of enforcement of border security and construction of a border fence. The rules of deployment were defined in a memorandum of agreement between officials in the Department of Defense and the governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas as well as Mexico.
National Guard members involved in the operation were not involved in law enforcement activities due to the political aspect of the US military on the US/Mexico border. They were supporting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol agencies with administrative, observational and intelligence gathering capacities, and civil engineering projects. By temporarily taking over these functions from the USC&BP, they freed up sworn agents to field units.
Military operations with Operation Jump Start were primarily to observe and report. The rules of engagement for the operation was very restrictive and only allowed escalation to lethality when met with an equal amount of force from another. The US military set up entry identification team sites to spot undocumented aliens. Many of the areas of operation were in desolate locations; some locations were so remote that troops were sometimes flown in by UH-60 helicopter.
