United States Soldiers scan their sector at a known crossing point of the Rio Grande in Brownsville, Texas, on February 25, 2025. U.S. Northern Command is working with the Department of Homeland Security to augment U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the southern border with additional military forces. SGT. 1ST CLASS ANDREW SVEEN/U.S. ARMY
THE WATCH STAFF
The Pentagon has ordered about 3,000 additional active-duty troops to the Mexico-United States border, including Soldiers from a motorized brigade equipped with 20-ton armored Stryker combat vehicles and a General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB), in the latest expansion of the border mission. About 2,400 of the Soldiers are members of the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colorado, and about 500 are in the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Stewart, Georgia. The Pentagon announced the deployment in a statement March 1.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the deployment of the Stryker unit and a helicopter battalion to “reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,” Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell said in the statement. After news of the deployment, Hegseth said in a post on X that the administration is “dead serious about 100% OPERATIONAL CONTROL of the southern border.”
The announcement came just a day after U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) announced it was sending about 1,140 Soldiers to the border. “The additional tranche will provide sustainment support to the already announced Joint Task Force for southern border operations, including command and control of sustainment units and coordination of logistical support; field feeding support sites; and control of logistical movement,” USNORTHCOM said in a news release.
The units include:
- 101st Division Sustainment Brigade, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- Alpha Company, 189th Division Sustainment Support Battalion (DSSB), Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- Bravo Company, 68th DSSB, Fort Carson, Colorado
- Charlie Company, 129th DSSB, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 264th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- 70th Movement Control Team, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia
- 564th Quartermaster Company, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
About 9,200 U.S. troops already are at the southern border, The Associated Press reported, including 4,200 deployed under federal orders and about 5,000 National Guard troops sent by governors. The additional Soldiers announced on February 28 and March 1 will raise that to about 13,300 overall.
The Stryker vehicles are lightly armored, eight-wheeled attack platforms that can carry up to 11 Soldiers and usually are equipped with a machine gun or grenade launcher. They have been used in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Known for rapid deployment and versatility, the vehicles are capable of being transported by C-130 Hercules aircraft within 96 hours. Parnell said they are set to reinforce border operations “in the coming weeks.”
“Complementing this, the GSAB, with roughly 650 troops, brings aviation muscle — UH-60 Black Hawks for command and medical evacuation, and CH-47 Chinooks for heavy lift — enhancing operational reach and support,” the Pentagon statement said. “The Stryker’s design — lighter than tanks, yet more robust than light infantry — makes it ideal for the border’s vast terrain, while the aviation battalion’s air traffic control and lift capacity ensure seamless coordination.”
The vehicles will be sent to Arizona but also could appear in other states, an official told The Washington Post newspaper.