Operation Jump Start

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Operation Jump Start is the name given to the deployment of United States National Guard troops along the United States–Mexico border. The missions entail enforcement of border security and construction of a border fence. The rules of deployment are defined in a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between officials in the Department of Defense and the governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

National Guard members are not involved in actual law enforcement activities. They are supporting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol agencies with administrative and civil engineering projects. By taking over these two areas from the USC&BP, they are freeing up sworn agents to field units.

Military operations with Operation Jump Start are primarily observe and report. The military is armed with the M-16/A2 or M-4 light weight, air cooled, gas powered, assault rifle and an option to carry a M-9 pistol. With dangerous drug runners and desperate MS 13 groups running across the border it puts US troops in harm's way. Some locations are so remote that troops are sometimes flown in by helicopter. The US military is put at specific location to spot UDA's (undocumented aliens). Some have forward looking infrared (FLIR) systems or the ARSS ground based Radar system. There has been many of times where US military personnel have been targeted with force. The primary height of the fence is about 8 ft. tall.