Fort Bliss Monitor

3-2 ADA Batallion Helps Secure the U.S., Canada Border

Story by 1st Lt. Sabrina M. Smith, 31st ADA Bde. Public Affairs
Photos by 1st Lt. Nicole Kuhne, 3-2 ADA

Second Lt. Jack Miller of Delta Battery, 3-2 ADA, threads a strap on the palletizing net through a buckle to ensure safe transport of 3-2’s baggage to Washington.

A 3-2 ADA Soldier carefully checks the alignment on the transport veh-icle of the truck he is ground-guiding.

In response to a request for Department of Defense assistance submitted by the U.S. Border Patrol, Blaine Sector, the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery recently deployed on a Joint Task Force-North homeland security mission along the U.S. and Canada border in Washington state.

As one of the two Patriot battalions assigned to 31st ADA Brigade, 3-2 employed its ground-based air surveillance radar, an integral part of the Patriot air defense system, in a way it had never been used before – as a means of tracking both airborne and seaborne threats to the security of the United States.

Using the radar, 3-2 Soldiers identified and reported the movement of aircraft and ships crossing the U.S. and Canada border to the Border Patrol and several other federal law enforcement and border security agencies. The information provided by the Soldiers enabled the law enforcement agents to quickly determine the legal status of the suspected aircraft.

Much to the pride of the Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. James Jenkins, the 3-2 Soldiers proved their state-of-the-art equipment was most definitely an invaluable asset that can be used to help secure the homeland against transnational threats.

“The mission from my perspective was extremely successful,” said Jenkins. “It’s the first time ever that a Patriot unit has done this. One of the things I negotiated for was to have two complete Minimum Engagement Packages with the battalion headquarters, so we could actually do some training. I will tell you that not a Soldier has returned that is not better trained than they were before they left.”

During the deployment, the Soldiers not only spent time training on their system, but they also created ways to improve how the radar could do its job. The end result was that they were able to pick up tracks that the radar might normally miss.

A group of 3-2 ADA Soldiers spread a pal-letizing net over a large collection of baggage du-ring preparations for deployment in support of Joint Task Force-North’s mission.

A group of 3-2 Soldiers conduct a Combat Lifesavers Course while deployed to Washington State in support of Joint Task Force-North.

“We had to do some interesting tab settings to ensure that we could pick up these low-flying aircraft over water and also see a few boats here and there. We had quite a lot of suspicious tracks that were pursued by the Border Patrol,” Jenkins added.

Lt. Col. Michael Hunter, JTF-North senior mission planner, said, “This mission offered us the opportunity to develop common tactics, techniques, and procedures among the different interagency participants. It also opened the lines of communication that will enable JTF-North to further develop into a truly efficient and effective operational level facilitator and broker of Department of Defense counter transnational threats support.

“The processes and procedures established during this operation provided lessons learned that will be applicable to any future homeland security threats targeting the Pacific Northwest Economic Zone and future bi-national events,” added Hunter.

The homeland security mission proved to be professionally rewarding for the 3-2 Soldiers; most noteworthy was the sense of accomplishment that came from being the first to employ the ground-based air surveillance radar in a homeland security role.

“I thought it was great training; we had a chance to do some training with international groups like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. Border Patrol, and Joint Task Force-North. It was a really good effort across the board,” said Warrant Officer Chris Ridenour.

Staff Sgt. Melissa Brooks added, “We had an opportunity to work together with other units and help them out. Overall it was a great job by everyone and it was beneficial.”

In the future, the radar could potentially be used at all borders to the detriment of terrorists, illegal aliens and those perpetuating the drug trade.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	June 28, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	3-2 ADA Batallion Helps Secure the U.S., Canada Border Story by 1st Lt. Sabrina M. Smith, 31st ADA Bde. Public Affairs Photos by 1st Lt. Nicole Kuhne, 3-2 ADA Second Lt. Jack Miller of Delta Battery, 3-2 ADA, threads a strap on the palletizing net through a buckle to ensure safe transport of 3-2’s baggage to Washington. A 3-2 ADA Soldier carefully checks the alignment on the transport veh-icle of the truck he is ground-guiding. In response to a request for Department of Defense assistance submitted by the U.S. Border Patrol, Blaine Sector, the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery recently deployed on a Joint Task Force-North homeland security mission along the U.S. and Canada border in Washington state. As one of the two Patriot battalions assigned to 31st ADA Brigade, 3-2 employed its ground-based air surveillance radar, an integral part of the Patriot air defense system, in a way it had never been used before – as a means of tracking both airborne and seaborne threats to the security of the United States. Using the radar, 3-2 Soldiers identified and reported the movement of aircraft and ships crossing the U.S. and Canada border to the Border Patrol and several other federal law enforcement and border security agencies. The information provided by the Soldiers enabled the law enforcement agents to quickly determine the legal status of the suspected aircraft. Much to the pride of the Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. James Jenkins, the 3-2 Soldiers proved their state-of-the-art equipment was most definitely an invaluable asset that can be used to help secure the homeland against transnational threats. “The mission from my perspective was extremely successful,” said Jenkins. “It’s the first time ever that a Patriot unit has done this. One of the things I negotiated for was to have two complete Minimum Engagement Packages with the battalion headquarters, so we could actually do some training. I will tell you that not a Soldier has returned that is not better trained than they were before they left.” During the deployment, the Soldiers not only spent time training on their system, but they also created ways to improve how the radar could do its job. The end result was that they were able to pick up tracks that the radar might normally miss. A group of 3-2 ADA Soldiers spread a pal-letizing net over a large collection of baggage du-ring preparations for deployment in support of Joint Task Force-North’s mission. A group of 3-2 Soldiers conduct a Combat Lifesavers Course while deployed to Washington State in support of Joint Task Force-North. “We had to do some interesting tab settings to ensure that we could pick up these low-flying aircraft over water and also see a few boats here and there. We had quite a lot of suspicious tracks that were pursued by the Border Patrol,” Jenkins added. Lt. Col. Michael Hunter, JTF-North senior mission planner, said, “This mission offered us the opportunity to develop common tactics, techniques, and procedures among the different interagency participants. It also opened the lines of communication that will enable JTF-North to further develop into a truly efficient and effective operational level facilitator and broker of Department of Defense counter transnational threats support. “The processes and procedures established during this operation provided lessons learned that will be applicable to any future homeland security threats targeting the Pacific Northwest Economic Zone and future bi-national events,” added Hunter. The homeland security mission proved to be professionally rewarding for the 3-2 Soldiers; most noteworthy was the sense of accomplishment that came from being the first to employ the ground-based air surveillance radar in a homeland security role. “I thought it was great training; we had a chance to do some training with international groups like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. Border Patrol, and Joint Task Force-North. It was a really good effort across the board,” said Warrant Officer Chris Ridenour. Staff Sgt. Melissa Brooks added, “We had an opportunity to work together with other units and help them out. Overall it was a great job by everyone and it was beneficial.” In the future, the radar could potentially be used at all borders to the detriment of terrorists, illegal aliens and those perpetuating the drug trade.