Photo By Sgt. Logan Ubaldo Lechuga | U.S. Army Spc. Mauranson Louis and Pvt. Collis Carswell, with the 877th Engineer...... read more read more
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SAN ANTONIO—U.S. Soldiers assigned to Joint Task Force-Southern Border assisted in a U.S. Border Patrol deep-water rescue involving two civilians at Amistad National Recreation Area, Aug. 11, 2025, near Del Rio, Texas.
Spc. Mauranson Louis and Pvt. Collis Carswell, both with 877th Engineer Company, Georgia Army National Guard, identified a capsized sailboat near Amistad Dam and immediately reported it to Border Patrol, enabling Agent Jose Nevarez to recover the civilians from the water safely.
“Moments like these demonstrate how our soldiers’ presence, training and character contribute to a broader responsibility: protecting our homeland in ways that transcend operational checklists,” said Capt. Kyle Bailey, commander of the 877th Engineer Company. “These experiences continue to shape our identity not only as mission enablers, but as guardians of life, safety and national trust.”
Bailey believes his soldiers’ positive impact on the southern border goes beyond protecting the territorial integrity of the United States and its assets. He said moments like this, when soldiers can directly assist Border Patrol to ensure the safety of American citizens, are beyond the statistics and data that usually quantify his unit’s success.
“While we may measure success in reports and metrics,” said Bailey, “the true impact of our service often lives in the lives we touch and the moments that define us.”
Louis and Carswell agreed, stating that their mission with Border Patrol is important to them. The soldiers operate a mobile surveillance camera vehicle at a site along U.S. Highway 90 that overlooks the water. From their site, which sits approximately two miles from the dam running between Texas and Mexico, the soldiers use the MSC to observe possible illicit activity in the area and report their findings to Border Patrol.
Louis marked Aug. 11 as an especially hot day and remembers looking up from grabbing ice-cold water from his cooler to see something resembling a “giant beach ball” on the lake at approximately 12:40 p.m. He’d never seen anything like it in the water before, so he became suspicious and went to discuss it with Carswell, who was manning the MSC.
Carswell had already noticed the anomaly and was focusing the camera on it. He discovered the beach ball was, in fact, a multi-colored sail and that a sailboat had capsized in the water. He observed two people in the water near the vessel.
According to him, he and Louis called Border Patrol over the radio, and Agent Jose Nevarez of the Comstock Border Patrol Station responded in under five minutes.
Nevarez usually works the Rio Grande River as a commander on an airboat, which is designed for shallow water. However, that day he was conducting annual seamanship proficiency training on a Secure All-around Flotation Equipped Boat, or SAFE Boat, a vessel that Border Patrol operates in deeper water.
He arrived to find a 16-foot sailboat capsized in water 136 feet deep, and two civilians without lifejackets were struggling to right the vessel and get out of the water.
He recovered the civilians from the water, and noted that they were highly fatigued and did not have the energy to bail enough water from their boat to return it to Diablo East on their own. He then assisted the civilians to right the vessel and towed their boat to the nearest boat ramp.
Nevarez stated that small sailboats are not ideal for that lake because wind gusts are common and can easily catch sails and overturn them. The couple operating the boat told Nevarez they were conducting a sea trial on the recently purchased boat, but they were not from the Del Rio, Texas area.
Nevarez also emphasized the importance of water safety, advising boaters to always wear lifejackets. He interacts with the public often while on duty, but he said this incident was his first time encountering civilians in distress on the lake from a capsized vessel.
Louis and Carswell said it was also their first encounter of that kind, but they were grateful for the opportunity to assist Border Patrol in saving lives. From their angle and distance, they didn’t realize how much distress the couple was experiencing, but when Nevarez told them the civilians were really struggling and at risk, they were glad they’d called Border Patrol in time to help.
“It feels good that we were able to respond quickly enough to get Border Patrol there to give them assistance,” said Carswell. “It does feel really good to know we made a difference. To know we helped them get home safely.”
Nevarez appreciates the soldiers working with Border Patrol. Without sufficient manpower to patrol the entire lake, they can rely on soldiers to keep a watchful eye on the water near the border.
“If these guys are out here keeping a good visual, it’s great,” said Nevarez. “It improves our response time. And overall helps Border Patrol tremendously.”
Carswell said it’s his second deployment to the southern border, and he feels Border Patrol agents he works with appreciate his efforts.
“Border Patrol is very appreciative of us, from my experience with them,” said Carswell. “Sometimes they stop by when we’ve reported something and say, ‘good eye,’ or something along those lines, just to let us know we’re doing a good job actively searching their AO. It helps.”
For the Department of War’s southern border mission, the 877th Engineer Company operates under the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 724th Engineer Battalion, which is the battalion responsible for "Task Force Badger," the task force partnered with the Del Rio Border Patrol Sector. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Bryan Huebsch, expressed his appreciation for Louis and Cardwell.
“Our soldiers take an oath to defend the Constitution and, inherently, the citizens of the United States,” said Huebsch. “It is a rare occasion when they are put into a situation where their actions directly save lives. I am proud of the two soldiers from our task force who rose to the occasion to take lifesaving actions to defend our citizens.”
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.11.2025 17:13 |
| Story ID: | 547884 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 432 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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