New York Army National Guard dispatches helicopter and crew to Southwest border for law enforcement support

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Steven Petibone | Counterdrug’s aviation unit received two UH-72A Lakotas in June 2012. The Lakotas are equipped with forward-looking infrared cameras, giving pilots the ability to see clearly in both day and night. The unit supports local law enforcement agency in drug eradication and other aerial reconnaissance missions. (Photo by Army National Guard Sgt 1st Class Steven Petibone, Joint Force Headquarters- NY)  

LATHAM, NY, UNITED STATES

09.14.2015

Courtesy Story

New York National Guard

LATHAM, N.Y. -- The New York Army National Guard will send one of its two UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters-and an accompanying four-member aircrew-to the Arizona/Mexico border tomorrow.

The aircraft and crew will deploy to Marana, Arizona in support of the United States Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies to assist monitoring the Arizona/Mexico border.

The New Yorkers will fly aerial reconnaissance missions along the border, keeping watch for illicit drug and human trafficking as well as illegal immigrants. The four-man crew will be accompanied by a Customs and Border Patrol agent on all missions. The agent has the ability to make arrests if necessary and also knows the area the crew will be patrolling.

With infrared capabilities and a high-powered searchlight, the Lakota can easily track people on the ground and coordinate with Border Patrol agents. The skills the aircrew learn on the border -- working with law enforcement and conducting air search operations -- can be employed in New York during disaster response missions.

This is not the first time New York National Guard troops have deployed to the border with Mexico. In 2006-2008 more than 1,000 New York National Guard Soldiers deployed to the border as part of Operation Jump Start and New York aviators have supported Arizona and Texas aerial reconnaissance missions since 2012.

And nearly a century ago, in 1916, the New York National Guard sent 17,000 members of the "New York Division" to Texas as part of an 110,000-member force mobilized by President Woodrow Wilson to prevent repeats of a raid on Brownsville, Texas, by the Mexican Revolutionary Poncho Villa. The guardsmen served in Texas from July 1916 to February 1917.

New York Army National Guard Aviators will be available to reporters at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning at the New York National Guard headquarters in Latham, New York. The aircraft is scheduled to depart at 9:00 a.m. Interested media members should contact Maj. Al Phillips, New York National Guard Public Affairs Officer, at 518-786-4581.

• Date Taken: 09.14.2015
• Date Posted: 09.14.2015 17:05
• Story ID: 176015
• Location: LATHAM, NY, US