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NACO, Ariz. - East Coast soldiers are working in the Southwest to strengthen the border fence separating this community and Naco, Sonora, Mexico.
Soldiers from two engineering units, one at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the other from Fort Benning, Ga., are constructing low-water crossings, improving a road along the international boundary and erecting steel fences east and west of the Naco Port of Entry.
To the west of the port are 27 members of the Assault and Barrier Platoon of Headquarters Company of the 307th Engineer Battalion of Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division. Those on the east side of the port are 57 soldiers from 63rd Engineer Company from the Georgia Army post.
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While the U.S. Border Patrol will obtain the benefit of labor and upgraded facilities, the soldiers get training that will help them if they are called upon to deploy - something both units expect to happen.
On Tuesday, members of the 307th were preparing a nearly football field length - specifically 290 feet - to put in a low-water crossing fence that includes a concrete pad.
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It's not a matter of digging a trench and putting in the fencing material. The border barrier has to be able to withstand an assault from the Mexican side of the line. In the past, people who were involved in illegal activities, such as smuggling people or drugs across the border, have torn down parts of the fence or cut through the material to make access points into the United States.
The new fencing material is stronger - tubes of steel embedded in from 4 feet to 5 feet of concrete and then filled with concrete. The spaces between the steel tubing are too narrow for a person, even a child, to get through. They will be wide enough to allow flowing water to pass.
Staff Sgt. John Frommeyer, a squad leader in the 307th's Assault and Barrier Platoon, said a 10-foot-by-20-foot section of the fence weighs 4,000 pounds.
In some of the water crossings, only 10-foot-tall steel tubes will be put in with 6 feet being above the ground on which old airfield metal matting will be welded to bring the height up, he said.
A steady breeze blew dust around and a light mist of water from trucks wetting the roadway created small pools of mud as the soldiers worked.
So far the project on the west end has been uneventful, Frommeyer said.
"I saw some snakes and roadrunners," he said, adding there have been no sightings of potential illegal activities trying to cross the line where the soldiers are working.
During the deployment, the noncommissioned officer expects his solders to learn many jobs that will help them when they are called upon to deploy. The deployment to Naco began the first of the month and ends the last day of April.
"It's a great work opportunity, a learning experience for the younger soldiers," Frommeyer said.
One of the 307th's missions is building airfields. The concrete work along the border gives the soldiers' hands-on experience, he said.
This is the first deployment for Spc. Brandon Rivard, who normally operates light equipment. Like other GIs in the unit he is learning different jobs, such as pouring concrete.
"I'm also learning to weld a little bit," Rivard said.
With slightly less than two years service, he said learning what others do allows he and others "to put my two cents in."
The platoon members are staying in area motels. Their work days are about 12 hours long, six days a week.
Sunday is the day off for both teams. Rivard said he does his laundry and catches up on sleep and golf on that day.
While the 307th GIs have the luxury of motel rooms, the soldiers from Georgia are staying at the Army National Guard Armory in Douglas. Their days are 12 hours long, too.
When pouring concrete, the soldiers' day starts at 3 a.m. Other days it doesn't begin until 6 p.m.
Capt. Holli Bennett, the company commander, said a third of her unit arrived the second week in April and will be staying until about mid-May.
On Tuesday, the company soldiers were constructing three concrete pads, a total of 281 feet long using 192 cubic yards of concrete.
The 63rd's mission is constructing combat roads and trails. Part of their operation also is "digging tank ditches and tank fighting positions," Bennett said.
Although she wasn't with the unit in 2003 when it deployed to Iraq, she will be taking the company back to Iraq this fall.
The captain, like Frommeyer, sees the border construction project as good training for soldiers.
"It helps prepare everyone," Bennett said.
Pvt. Jesse Sellers, who has been in the Army since last August, said he looks at the construction mission along the border as good preparation for when he deploys to Iraq.
A truck driver, Sellers is learning other jobs. He, like Rivard, had mud and concrete splattered on his uniform on Tuesday.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Evans Adkins, a Seabee, was another person whose uniform had tell-tale signs of mud and concrete.
Adkins is the quality control head for the two projects. He also acts as the liaison between the civilian engineers and the Border Patrol.
The Navy Reservist has been called to provide assistance along the northern and southern border areas, and has worked the fence in the Naco area before.
As for the Naco fence project, there have been changes in design along the border fence, making construction better as new information is obtained, he said.
The west part of the current project between the two Nacos is hilly. On the east side, the terrain is basically, the Seabee said.
As problems pop up and slight changes have to be made, "we all put our heads together," Adkins said.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter
Bill Hess can be reached
at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Ezai I. Martinez wrote on Jun 24, 2009 7:58 PM: