SAN DIEGO - The chief of the National Guard Bureau visited the Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen of the southwest border mission here Dec. 14.
Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, along with a handful of other key leaders from NGB and Joint Forces Headquarters in Sacramento, came together to discuss the future of the operation, as well as get some face-time with the troops.
“It was a great experience. I never met a general face-to-face,” said Army Spc. Christopher Eade, who works as an entry identification Soldier at a mobile radar truck in Point Loma.
“It was great that he came out and he wanted to know what we were doing on the front lines, instead of just staying back and talking about it. Now he’s got a first-hand look at exactly the things that we are doing.”
Eade was coined by McKinley at his worksite, the first four-star-general’s coin he has received.
The lasting impression of having the National Guard’s top officer actually come out and visit one of the 17 Entry Identification Team sites manned by California National Guardsmembers and see him test the equipment he uses daily in support U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents is enormous to his career as a Guardsman, Eade said.
“I came out to California to meet with the adjutant general this morning, but more importantly to get out and meet with the Soldiers and the Airmen who are performing this very vital mission for our national security,” McKinley said from a coastal EIT site during his tour.
He emphasized that he is “most impressed” with the work he saw from the California National Guard troops on the mission.
During his visit, McKinley also met with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials, U.S. Coast Guard representatives and Joint Task Force Sierra leadership.
“We’ve seen a bunch of interagency partners today… it’s great to see the collaboration,” McKinley said. “This whole mission of assisting our law enforcement agencies is very important to the National Guard.”
After receiving several briefings on statistics of apprehension-assists – at more than 1,200 apprehensions in less than four months time – and smuggling contraband discoveries – including more than 50 tons of marijuana found through the Tunnel Task Force just in November – McKinley joined JTF Sierra Commander Col. William “Rudy” Arruda for an aerial tour of the border and manned EIT sites along land and coastal routes.
“It was just wonderful having the chief of the National Guard Bureau come out here and see the ground-based operation of what Joint Task Force Sierra is all about,” Arruda said after the tour.
“Leadership visits like this always mean a lot to the men and women serving in the California National Guard.”
This visit comes at the heels of a similar visit from Dennis McCarthy, the assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs earlier this month.
McKinley said their opinions of the California National Guardsmen mirrored those he witnessed during his tour – superior motivation and excellence.