TUCSON, Ariz. - On day two of Operation Guardian Shield, National Guardsmen deployed to the US-Mexico border did not head to the border right away.
The Guardsmen took time to organize and train before heading to their assignments.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey's been talking up the plan to send National Guard troops to the border including with an appearance on Fox and Friends.
There he said, "To secure the border, to stop these illegal drugs, the stop the human trafficking we're going to need technology, we're going to need that physical barrier. We're going to need a wall in different place, boots on the ground and people that are there observing with cameras so that we can stop this flow of illegal traffic that's coming into our state and into our country."
But National Guard boots did not hit the ground right away.
They've been in planning and training sessions to prepare for the mission.
Some of that has been happening on the edge of Tucson International at the home base for the 162nd Wing of the Air National Guard.>
Photos and video shot by the 162nd’s Public Affairs staff show briefings for the Guard members, including a talk with Colonel James Thompson. He is Chief of Staff of Joint Task Force-Arizona which handles defense support to civilian authorities.
One training slide titled Restraint and Respect urges Guardsmen to ..."treat all civilians and officials with courtesy, dignity and respect. (even if you perceive yourselves to have been disrespected.)”
We are learning more about the Guardsmen involved in the mission. They are all volunteers---a mix of part-time Guard members and some who work for the Guard full time.
They are deploying as individuals, not entire units and it's still being worked out exactly what they will do and where they will be.
