Open Letter to the President of these United States

The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC

Dear Mister President:

As a retired Colonel of the U.S. Army, I was gratified to hear that you are moving forward with your plan to properly utilize our military to assist in gaining control of our Southern border. That decision is a correct one.

I write to respectfully make a suggestion regarding the most appropriate categories of military commands in order to provide you with the immediate effectiveness you seek.

The management of tens of thousands of illegal alien detainees requires the U.S. to house and feed, and to provide security, medical, and other support. Directing our military to provide administrative and logistical support for that effort would free DHS/CBP/ICE to focus their attention on actually finding, apprehending and deporting those who should not be here.

It is often the default response of the U.S. military to send in a combat unit when called to assist the President.

The military, however, as you are likely aware, also has elite transportation and logistical support management units. I respectfully suggest that you select that kind of command for the military portion of your border operation, with the commander reporting directly to the senior DHS /CBP/ICE official in charge of the overall operation.

Fortunately, the U.S Army has such a unit uniquely organized to accomplish this mission. With high level experience myself in the Haiti relief operation, I am writing from experience. But I am not seeking a job for myself nor any remuneration (I would respectfully decline remuneration if offered).

Background:

A Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) is an Army logistics headquarters commanded by a 2-Star General.  When augmented with the appropriate subordinate commands, it is capable of providing logistical support to over 300,000 personnel. Support provided can include: Shelter, Food, Medical, Security, Fuel, Supplies, Engineering, Finance and Postal Operations along with Administrative Support, to name but a few.

The premiere example of such a unit is the 377th Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) located at Belle Chase Joint Reserve Base, across the river from New Orleans,  Louisiana.

The 377th is a multi-component unit, with Active, Reserve and Civilian members. It can also serve as a Joint Force headquarters when augmented with members of the other branches of our Armed Forces.

It has a storied history. During operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the 377th and its subordinate commands, deployed to Southwest Asia and grew to a peak end strength of over 47,000 personnel from all branches of the U.S military and with civilian and Coalition Force members. The command operated in more than 15 countries and four different continents to support over 300,000 US and Coalition service members and civilians.

The 377th was later activated to provide logistical support for U.S relief efforts in Haiti, following an earthquake that took hundreds of lives.

Whereas a combat unit could also be deployed if, for example, cartels mounted large scale attacks, your immediate needs at the border as our Commander in Chief require a different skill set than combat units.

I was assigned as the Chief of Staff for the 377th TSC and saw this truth unfold during the Haiti relief operation. The Joint Chiefs sent the 18th Airborne Corps Headquarters as its initial response, instead of immediately sending a senior logistics headquarters. Only later was a Theater Sustainment Command established. Much time was lost regarding what that kind of command has to offer.

The good news for the border crisis is that the necessary parts of such a logistical headquarters are already aligned in the proper command relationships.

The 377th TSC is already in a support/command relationship with U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) which is the senior headquarters responsible for major military efforts in the United States. This simplifies matters greatly. Here is an overview of how this might work:

Assumptions:

1. Military will not be used in a law enforcement capacity.
2. Military will be used as a supporting entity for administrative, logistics and limited, local security functions.
3. The senior military commander will report to the senior DHS /CBP/ICE official in charge of the overall operation.

Recommendations:

1. The President of the United States, through the Secretary of Defense, should direct the activation of a planning cell from the 377th TSC to determine, in conjunction with DHS/CBP/ICE, the logistical support requirements for the operation at the Southern Border.
2. Following those determinations the SECDEF should direct the activation of appropriate units as determined by the planning cell and place them under the command and control of the 377th TSC.
3. DHS/CBP/ICE should embed a senior representative, who has decision-making authority, in the 377th TSC forward headquarters. This representative should have direct access to the 377th Commander and the DHS/CBP/ICE official in charge of the overall operation. Finally, this representative should be a political appointee commissioned by the President to preclude any misinformation or confusion about your mission and intent for use of military personnel at the border.

I sincerely believe the framework suggested above (to be further fleshed out by your advisors) offers you fast results and sustainable results with a minimum of vulnerabilities to naysayers in the media.

I will accept no remuneration, but I humbly offer my services to explain further any of the information above and to suggest additional personnel experienced in this type of operation, for you to seek planning advice from.

Respectfully,

Michael A. Ford
Colonel
U.S Army, Retired

Mike Ford~ is a retired Infantry Officer who writes mainly on Military and Foreign Policy, while occasionally dabbling in Political and Economic matters. He has widespread experience, ranging from military, local law enforcement and developing technology solutions for special operations applications. He was assigned as the Chief of Staff of the 377th Theater Sustainment Command during its deployment to Haiti in support of earthquake relief operations.