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Local News
And a small city of tents and trailers aboard Marine Corps' Cannon Air Defense Complex in Yuma supports them. Guardsmen like Cpl. J'harv Tull, with the Washington National Guard, will be calling the oasis in the sand home until his unit pulls out Sept. 27 — only to be replaced by another rotating unit. "This is the Hilton," Tull said. "I've spent time at a lot of (forward operating bases). It's good to have a place to be able to relax and get your mind straight." Maj. Byron Hobbs, who had recently returned from a tour in the Middle East, said the mass of tents and trailers supports the roughly 300 soldiers living in the small base within a base when they are not out in the field. "This is real similar to what they're living in in Iraq and Afghanistan," Hobbs said. "They live here, sleep here, and then they go to the border." As part of Operation Jumpstart, Bush promised to send up to 6,000 Guardsmen to help secure the border while the Border Patrol hires and trains new agents. The Guardsmen are tasked with supporting the Border Patrol by building infrastructure and helping with surveillance intelligence in forward operating bases along the border. The temporary home is not like the G.I.-green-military-style tent city one would see in television shows like “M*A*S*H.” The air-conditioned "tents" are more permanent structures with four walls and a tent roof. And technology rules here. "Everything here is self-contained," Nelson said. Generators provide electric power, water is trucked in while sewage and "grey water" from the showers and laundry facilities is shipped out. And there's entertainment. Inside the air-conditioned mess hall, a group of soldiers were watching comedian Carlos Mencia on a big screen television.
"During their off time we try to make sure the soldiers have something to do," Nelson said. "A busy soldier is a happy soldier." Another tent doubles as a chapel, TV room, and a "tactical operations center" located behind a divider with signs warning "authorized personnel only." Behind the curtain, soldiers conduct logistical and administrative duties. Surrounded by computers, radios and other equipment, commanders direct the observation mission from behind this thin divider. There are 52 Entry Identification Team points along the U.S.-Mexico Border along the Colorado River facing Algodones, and also in the desert in and around San Luis. In the field, away from the forward operations base, the points are not much more than a tent of camouflage netting. Equipped with binoculars and armed with M-16 rifles, the soldiers pull 24-hour shifts and conduct observation. They report any activity to the Border Patrol. Pfc. Corey Lecuyer said he is proud to be a part of the mission and that he is learning a lot from the Border Patrol. Out in the field, Lecuyer said he has seen anything from groups of illegal immigrants moving in the darkness, and once a crosser in distress came to their post asking for water. "We just kind of keep on our toes out there," he said. In the civilian world, Tull, 33, works as a mechanic in his hometown of Oak Harbor. But the experience of being part of the operation and being on the border has had a profound effect on him, he said. Tull is one of Entry Identification Team leaders, and he said things can get a little strange out in the darkness in the field. "It's pretty wild being out there. Intense," Tull said. "It's kind of creepy at night," he added. "A shadow can look like it's moving." Tull added that his team bunks together and that has helped maintain morale because they support one another. "This is a hard job," Tull said. "It's tough on the border. It's lonely, it's stressful."  |
‘This is the Hilton’
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