Report: National Guard on border duty soon

WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense officials say the first 800 National Guard troops to assist with Mexican border security would be in place by next Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, the Guard's top officer, told the House Armed Services Committee teams would be made up of volunteers from California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas who will stay on duty for at least a year to manage other Guard members who will work 21-day rotations, Knight Ridder reported.

"This will be a temporary mission, as was airport security" after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Blum said. "We expect to work ourselves out of a job here as quickly as the Border Patrol and Customs, law enforcement agencies are able to assume the mission."

The deployment could last as long as two years while the Border Patrol trains 6,000 new officers, the report said.

On May 15, President George Bush said he wanted as many as 6,000 National Guardsmen to reinforce U.S. Border Patrol officers along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico boundary.