A year on, Pentagon’s border mission investigation still missing
By Davis Winkie
Feb 16, 09:00 AM
More than a year after a major investigation into the National Guard’s federally controlled mission at the U.S.-Mexico border began, neither U.S. Northern Command nor Defense Department leaders can say when its findings will be released.
Weeks after a December 2021 Military Times investigation revealed systemic and organizational issues with the mission throughout fiscal 2021, NORTHCOM announced an internal administrative investigation into a “wide range of alleged issues” there. The federally-controlled border mission, requested by the Department of Homeland Security and run by Joint Task Force-North, then consisted of an estimated 3,000 Guard troops stitched together from nearly three dozen units mobilized piecemeal from 20 states.
The border force, known as Task Force Phoenix, experienced issues with alcohol and drug abuse that were compounded by command-and-control issues stemming from a hastily-assembled organizational structure. At least one cavalry troop operating in south Texas temporarily disbanded due to leadership problems, and an understrength battalion-level headquarters there needed additional manpower to control its more than 1,000 troops. Three died there.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2023/02/16/a-year-on-pentagons-border-mission-investigation-still-missing/
