Florida National Guardsmen return from SW border mission

An LUH-72 helicopter from the Florida Army National Guard's B Company, 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment (Security and Support), returns to Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville, Dec. 7, 2012, following a 10-month deployment to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. The unit conducted aerial reconnaissance and security operations as part of Task Force Liberty’s Southwest Border Security mission. The unit was supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Texas. Photo by Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 7, 2012) – Fourteen Soldiers from the Florida Army National Guard’s B Company, 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment (Security and Support), returned to Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville, today following a 10-month deployment to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. 

The Florida National Guard Soldiers left for the mission in early February 2012. Using LUH-72 Lakota helicopters, the unit conducted aerial reconnaissance and security operations as part of Task Force Liberty’s Southwest Border Security mission. The unit was supporting U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Texas. 

 “This was a great mission for this command,” said Maj. Don Baker after arriving in Jacksonville. “It was perfect for a (Security and Support unit). We were out supporting the Border patrol, and it was very much a traditional Army mission – the Border patrol just happens to be like the Infantry…we spotted things along the border, reported them to (Border Protection agents) and they’d go and make the apprehensions.” 

This Florida National Guard unit was one of the first Security and Support units to deploy in support of a domestic mission. The unit conducted more than 259 missions in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and safely flew more than 1,000 hours. The efforts of B Company resulted in 2,619 apprehensions and during the last 10 months the crews were responsible for the confiscation of more than 10,000 pounds of illegal drugs with an estimated street value in excess of $9 million, according to Florida Army National Guard State Aviation Office. 

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