A task force of 500 U.S. Marines and sailors is working to construct new fortifications at Arizona’s southern border with Mexico, including adding barbed and concertina wire.
The new task force, called Task Force Forge, comprises personnel assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
The task force is currently at work within U.S. Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector in Arizona. This sector is monitored by Border Patrol agents tasked with securing 126 miles of the border from Arizona to California.
The force assumed its mission last month, taking over the efforts of the outgoing 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, known as Task Force Sapper.
Sapper laid the ground work for barrier reinforcement, which is now being built up by the succeeding unit. The service members with Task Force Forge completed surveys of border barriers and are currently working to strengthen them.
The additions to the barriers include prefabricated steel brackets, which will support the addition of barbed and concertina wire, according to the Department of Defense.
“Reinforcing the border barrier is a tangible way we assist our interagency partners to strengthen security and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,” said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Colin Graham, CLB 15 battalion commander and Task Force Forge commanding officer, in a Pentagon release.
In addition, the task force is also operating within the recently established Yuma National Defense Area to install signage and conduct road and terrain surveys.
The Arizona zone was the fourth National Defense Area established this year and is an extension of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. It lies adjacent to the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, which has long been a corridor for illegal cross-border smuggling activities.
Last month, the Pentagon moved to reallocate $200 million in funding for 30-foot-tall permanent barriers to prevent entry into the bombing range.
Zita Ballinger Fletcher previously served as editor of Military History Quarterly and Vietnam magazines and as the historian of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She holds an M.A. with distinction in military history.
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