Elite Border Patrol unit trains at YPG

The undeveloped desert around the Mexican-American border is a harsh and merciless place.

The same attributes that make it desirable for testing and evaluating armaments in an extreme environment make it deadly for the unlucky individual caught in its expanse without water. Yet Yuma Proving Ground now helps train the individuals charged with rescuing those in this unfortunate situation.

Boasting highly honed tracking skills, specialized instruction on rescuing individuals from waters with fast currents and emergency medical technician certification, the elite agents of the U.S. Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue Team (BORSTAR) are well equipped to rescue those stranded in the desert.

The five-week training course to become a BORSTAR agent is rigorous, with intense emphasis on discipline and physical fitness. Fewer than 200 of the Border Patrol's approximately 20,000 officers are active BORSTAR agents and less than half of each academy's cadets graduate.

To help prospective cadets succeed in this challenging training, local Border Patrol officials on Aug. 17 sent four agents to YPG to undergo a pre-training to ensure their land navigation skills are sharp prior to attending the BORSTAR academy the following week.

This was the first such training at YPG, and officials from the Training and Exercise Management Office (TEMO) hope to eventually host the academy program at the proving ground.

“YPG has been good for us,” said Border Patrol Agent Rod Taylor, who led the training. “The training facilities are great for familiarizing the agents with the actual BORSTAR course and giving them a little advanced training in the field.”

Remarkably, the impetus for the training occurred entirely by happenstance.

“We met at a public display the Border Patrol had downtown, and I informed them of the facilities we have here,” said Luis Arroyo of YPG's TEMO.

Similar encounters led to the use of YPG's training facilities by the Yuma County Sheriff's Office and the Yuma Police Department.

During their afternoon at YPG, the prospective BORSTAR agents used the proving ground's vast range space for a land navigation exercise that simulated searching for a lost individual in the desert. The agents were given coordinates and allowed to use only a map and compass to locate their objective.

Split into two pairs, the agents set out on foot across the sweltering, scrub-dotted desert, all the while well-aware that they must conduct the operation both swiftly and tactically, for assailants could be lying in wait as their simulated victim lay dying in the desert.

Under these harsh conditions, the agents had to meticulously count off each step they took and avoid obstacles typical of what they would experience in their actual duty sector. If they made a mistake in their calculations, their only help came from their partner and map.

Both pairs reached their objective point but received no accolades. Success under harsh conditions is mandatory for a BORSTAR agent, and the prospective cadets left only with the reward of achieving an aspect of the intense training they are about to undergo.

YPG officials hope to continue contributing to the success of domestic law enforcement agencies as part of their training-support efforts.

Mark Schauer writes for The Outpost, Yuma Proving Ground's newspaper.