About 500 additional 10th Mountain Division soldiers will be deploying to the U.S. southern border to support a mission to secure the area and “protect the territorial integrity” of the border with Mexico as called for by President Donald J. Trump, the post announced Wednesday.
The soldiers will join an unknown number of servicemembers with the 23rd Military Police Company who deployed from Fort Drum in January, according to a statement from U.S. Northern Command.
The statement says that the 10th Mountain Division will serve as a Joint Task Force headquarters charged with overseeing units from across military services in support of the Southern Border Surge, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
The unit will operate under the direction of U.S. Northern Command, which is working in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection. Units from multiple installations across the Joint Force will fall under the 10th Mountain Division Headquarters and report directly to them, while physically located in various parts of the southern United States, according to the statement.
“The 10th Mountain Division stands ready to deploy our Soldiers,” Lt. Col. Sarah J. Ray, the 10th Mountain Division spokesperson, said in the statement. “Under the direction of U.S. Northern Command, the 10th Mountain Division will deploy ready forces to support the effort to take operational control of the southern border.”
The Fort Drum soldiers join about 1,600 active-duty personnel from the Army and other services who deployed to the southern border earlier this year, augmenting the about 2,500 service members who were already supporting Customs and Border Protection’s southern border mission.
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