The motorized 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team now can patrol the Mexico-United States border, accompanying and transporting U.S Customs and Border Protection agents, who will carry out any required law enforcement duties. U.S. ARMY
THE WATCH STAFF
The motorized Stryker brigade, deployed this year to the Mexico-United States border, now can conduct patrols along the 3,145-kilometer border. A March 20, 2025, order from the U.S. Department of Defense authorized the brigade to transport U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBC) agents on patrols to reduce the flow of illegal migrants, drugs and other contraband. Previously, the 2,400 Soldiers — members of the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colorado — were confined to stationary positions.
The latest order increases security along the southern U.S. border, enabling more rapid movement to interdict illegal crossings and smuggling. The brigade’s “enhanced detection and monitoring” activities are designed to more effectively seal the border, which already has seen a marked decrease in encounters over the past several months.
“The unique military capabilities and equipment such as 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s Stryker armored vehicles can be more effectively utilized by Joint Task Force – Southern Border (JTF-SB) while working with CBP to achieve operational control of the border,” according to a U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) news release.
The Stryker brigade arrived in Arizona in early March 2025 as part of a surge of active-duty troops to the border. About 10,000 troops are now at the southern frontier, including troops from the following units:
- 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
When the brigade was ordered to the border, U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Stryker troops and an accompanying helicopter battalion would “reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,” according to a Defense Department news release. Hegseth later posted on the social platform X that the U.S. government was “dead serious about 100% OPERATIONAL CONTROL of the southern border.”
Strykers are eight-wheeled vehicles that can carry up to 11 people and reach a top speed of 96.6 kilometers per hour, according to the Army. Some variants include a remote weapons station for a .50-caliber machine gun or MK19 grenade launcher. The Soldiers aren’t allowed to carry out law enforcement activities, such as arresting people, according to the USNORTHCOM release. “Any law enforcement actions to apprehend individuals suspected of illegal entry must be conducted only by non-DoD law enforcement personnel and National Guard personnel in a non-federalized status accompanying these patrols,” the release states. Troops have been trained to follow the law when they encounter illegal activity. USCBP agents will be charged with performing any law enforcement duties, the USNORTHCOM release stated. The troops will be carrying their weapons, USNORTHCOM spokeswoman Marine Col. Kelly Frushour told Task & Purpose, a military-affairs news site. “If the tactical task prohibits carrying of a weapon, an armed overwatch position will provide protection,” Frushour said. “As always, U.S. forces retain the right to self-defense.”