Prior to 9/11 the Department of Homeland Security did not exist. But in its aftermath this civilian-based federal agency has gained a strong presence at Selfridge Air National Guard Base with an umbrella of agencies that once never existed and enhancing the size of others.
“Right after 9/11 we had to quickly decide how we were going to operate,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Randy Gallegos said.
Gallegos said the U.S. Border Patrol was fully mobilized within 36 hours of the attacks; but the Department of Homeland Security, established on Nov. 25, 2002, did not become fully developed until about two years later. [...]
With a vulnerable northern border, one that didn’t receive much attention until after 9/11, Gallegos said such a strategy was needed. To reinforce this strategy the number of Border Patrol agents in the agency increased from 10,000 to about 21,000 from 2002 to now, he said. At the Great Lakes sector of the agency, which now includes Selfridge, Marysville, Gibraltar, Sault Ste. Marie and Sandusky, Ohio locations, has seen its ranks swell from 125 to about 500 employees.
“We are the largest sector in the northern border,” Gallegos said. “The resourcing has been refocused up here to a certain degree. At least the mindset has changed since 9/11.” Read more here.
