S.C. Guard balks at border patrol duty

State wants to keep troops fresh in case they are needed during a hurricane

By CHUCK CRUMBO

ccrumbo@thestate.com

South Carolina officials want the National Guard to reconsider a request for 150 troops from the Palmetto State to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border.

“‘Whoa, I think we’ve done enough,’” Maj. Gen. Stan Spears, the state’s adjutant general, recalled saying when he was called by the National Guard Bureau on Tuesday.

The request caught Spears and his commanders off guard because leaders of the National Guard Bureau had said earlier that troops from coastal states like South Carolina would not be tapped for the border duty during the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

“I think I can hold them off because a lot of adjutant generals around the country have said, ‘We’ve done enough,’” Spears said Wednesday at a state Republican Party gathering in Columbia. “We need some of these people at home, we need to recover.”

Since 9/11 about 70 percent of the S.C. Army National Guard’s 9,000 soldiers have been called up, with some of them pulling two tours of active duty. Currently, about 600 soldiers are on active duty, most serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

South Carolina would be willing to support the border patrol mission, but preferably after Nov. 30, said Col. Pete Brooks, Guard spokesman.

“We want to keep everybody focused on a potential hurricane hitting the coast of South Carolina,” Brooks said.

The state’s emergency plans call for deployment of at least 1,600 soldiers if South Carolina is hit by a destructive hurricane such as Hugo, which ripped into the state in 1989.

Commanders also are concerned about deploying soldiers to the border for what could be as long as a month, having them return, and then dispatching them again to a disaster area, Brooks said.

“We want to keep what we have ready and fresh coming into the hurricane season,” Brooks said. “We promise to send them once we get through.”

Given the situation, Brooks said South Carolina has asked the National Guard Bureau to “relook the tasking based on earlier statements” it made about not requesting troops for the border patrol from coastal states during the hurricane season.

Efforts to reach the National Guard Bureau were unsuccessful. The Associated Press reported the state’s request likely would be granted.

The border-bolstering effort is part of a federal plan to improve security and cut down on illegal immigration.

In May, President Bush proposed using up to 6,000 Guard members for up to a year to support the U.S. Border Patrol as it trains more members.

Guard members would rotate into the area for at least two weeks, not counting the time it takes to travel to and from the border, which could be as much as two more weeks, Guard officials said.

If needed, the Guard would contribute up to 3,000 troops for another year.

Overall, the National Guard has about 350,000 soldiers, with 71,000 currently deployed fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Staff writer Aaron Gould Sheinen contributed to this report. Reach Crumbo at (803) 771-8503.