TUCSON, Ariz. - There's still a lot of detail we don't know about the President's plan to put National Guard troops on the border--- but Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is already saying he's using his authority as commander of the Arizona National Guard to deploy 150 Guardsmen.
Arizona has close to eight thousand National Guardsmen.
Some serve full time but about 90 percent step away from civilian jobs, do their military duties, then return to jobs bosses are required to hold open for them.
Most descriptions of this border deployment have the President simply requesting state governors to activate Guardsmen under state authority.
Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier says he's waiting to hear details of the plan.
"I think our concerns over the appearance of the militarization of the border and we've been assured by the Governor's office that that's really not the intent. And let's keep in mind that the Bush Administration and even the Obama administration put military assets on the border previously so this is not unprecedented."
The Sheriff expects troops stay clear of face to face law enforcement to free more Border Patrol agents for work in the field.
Guardsmen can apply a wide range of skills. This video shows an engineer unit doing flood control work near Nogales.
When previous Presidents called for National Guard on the border, some used their engineering skills to build border fence or create roads so Border Patrol Agents can patrol more effectively.
The most likely work will be surveillance, perhaps monitoring what drones see with their cameras and sensors, or simply staffing observation posts, to direct Border Patrol Agents to smugglers or immigrants.
