CG cadets hear of possible border security role
U.S. Southern Command chief says service suited to deal with drugs, crime
Border threats that come from criminal networks run the gamut from “economically driven criminal networks to purely ideologically driven terrorists networks.”
New London — Coast Guard Academy cadets, with their expertise in both “classic military skillsets” and federal law enforcement, will be “supremely well suited and prepared” to deal with the threats posed south of the Mexican border by drugs, and in particular, criminal networks, said Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, head of U.S. Southern Command.
Tidd, who oversees U.S. military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Earl Anthony Wayne, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, spoke to the cadets Tuesday night about effective border security during a discussion moderated by retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who chairs the academy’s leadership institute.
While drugs, and specifically cocaine, are a big focus of U.S. military activity in the southern hemisphere, “if you could waive your hand and cocaine disappeared from the face of
earth overnight, the security threats would still exist,” Tidd said.
Those threats come from criminal networks that run the gamut from “economically driven criminal networks to purely ideologically driven terrorists networks,” he said. And more and more the lines between the two are getting blurred.
“It’s very common for us to see terrorist networks that engage in criminal activity in order to fund their illicit activities,” Tidd said. “We see for the right price, criminal entities wittingly or unwittingly supporting the efforts of terrorist networks.”
The military has “excellent capabilities” to detect these networks, but it also requires partnerships with U.S. law enforcement agencies, such as the Coast Guard, and law enforcement organizations from partner nations to go after these networks, Tidd said.
There are not enough ships in the Navy and Coast Guard combined to tackle the illicit drug problem in the region, so the U.S. must bolster relationships with partner nations, he added.
Wayne, the former ambassador, emphasized the importance of the U.S.’ relationship with Mexico, which he said is “greatly misunderstood” in the U.S., in dealing with the security challenges south of its border.
“They are growing in their willingness to play that bigger role in Central America, which has not traditionally been the case,” Wayne said.
When asked, during the question-and-answer portion of the lecture, about his opinion of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Wayne responded that it would be a waste of resources and money.
Most of the drug trafficking takes place near or across the formal border crossings, he said. And people are mostly now trying to illegally cross the border from the area south of the Rio Grande Valley. Wayne, however, acknowledged a wall makes sense in certain places.
“Where there are buildings right next to each other and you can hand things across or run across and hide, yeah, it makes sense to have a wall,” he said.
But outside of those areas, it makes more sense to have more mobile forces, sensors and better coordination with Mexico, he added. He also pointed to “a very interesting” proposal by several border congressman to build a smart wall using sensors and high technology.