'100% Operational Control': Hegseth Ordering 3K Troops, Stryker Combat Vehicles to US-Mexico Border

1LoverofGod · Mar 1, 2025

"Promises kept" has been one of the themes of the new Trump administration, and there was more than a hint that another slogan might be emerging--at least at the Pentagon--with the announcement on Saturday of the US military beginning to beef up forces at the border with Mexico. I'll get back to that stirring phrase later.

The Washington Post broke the story, reporting on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's approval of the deployment in the coming weeks of up to 3,000 troops--and some unique machinery along with them:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered about 3,000 active-duty troops to the southern U.S. border, including soldiers from a motorized brigade equipped with 20-ton armored Stryker combat vehicles, defense officials familiar with the effort said.

The defense secretary approved the orders Friday, said two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal Defense Department planning. The soldiers are primarily from the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado, and will be joined by soldiers specializing in engineering, intelligence and public affairs, the officials said.

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About 2,400 soldiers will deploy with the Stryker brigade and an additional 550 will go will [sic] with the aviation unit, said another defense official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. A handful of others will join them.

Hegseth has ordered the deployment of a Stryker brigade combat team and a helicopter unit to “reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,” the statement said.

The troops will arrive in coming weeks, underscoring the Defense Department’s “unwavering dedication to working alongside the Department of Homeland Security to secure our southern border and maintain the sovereignty, territory integrity, and security of the United States under President Trump’s leadership,” the statement added.

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