OPERATION: ICE STORM
THREE POINTS, ARIZONA

After Action Report: Sandy Doty

January 14, 2008         

 

Click for related Video from American Border Patrol

 

Minutemen & Supporters:

Another eventful border operation has now ended and old and new friends are now safely in their warm homes, recounting their adventures to family and acquaintances. Operation Ice Storm again proved that the illegal human movement into this state and country is unabated in the Tucson sector.

The Patriots Border Alliance had the support and assistance from The American Border Patrol which supplied manpower and night vision equipment as well as their unique Gully Watcher thermal camera mounted on top of a jeep, to assist with the night watches on Friday and Saturday nights. As dark as it was on those two nights, this equipment was a great help.

On Friday night, five illegal aliens were sighted close to midnight; and on Saturday, 22 IAs were sighted. In both instances, there was no border patrol assistance due to heavy traffic south and west of our location with large groups to contend with. So we feel sure that at least 27 more aliens have successfully melded into our society, having escaped detection at our entry points. We heard from Border Patrol and local residents that the human traffic is as heavy, or heavier than ever. On Friday night, they sighted over 90 in one group moving north in this area.

For those interested in the animal life in southwestern Arizona, a large Mountain Lion was sighted on Friday night with the night vision and later the thermal vision equipment. When the animal moved in front of Line Leader, Lone Ranger, he at first thought it was a Javalena but quickly realized Pigs don’t have long ropey tails. As he watched, it sprang from the road, across a culvert and over a bush in a long leap. The Thermal vision operator picked him up and observed him doing natures duty and what he produced was the brightest white object in his scope due to its intense heat. Needless to say, the rest of the night, everyone was trying to watch on all sides and around themselves in addition to looking south for the IAs.

The original Minuteman spirit was truly exemplified in our volunteers this weekend. 26 Minutemen showed for this weekends events coming in from 4 States. Radar, from New Mexico, had not intended to come but a friend paid him back $40 owed him, so he took that as a sign, that he should fill up his car and drive to Arizona to help out. Good thing he did, too, since he is a crack communications technician and the repeater broke on Friday. Radar, with a bit of antennae, duct tape and magic boxes, created an even better reception system for the PBA radios.

Magnum44 and his lovely wife came despite her recent painful hand surgery that really made her most uncomfortable. But supportive as she is, both to her husband and to PBA, she left the comforts of home to join with the hail and hardy who were able to conduct the border watches. How much easier it would have been for her to stay in a nice warm house with easy access to ice and comfortable surroundings.

Everyones favorite Line Leader, the Lone Ranger, came all the way from Missouri to help scout out the area and establish the areas for watching. There were lay ups and many heavily used trails discovered. He and Pineapple 6 knew the terrain well by the time the rest of the volunteers arrived and had it all well mapped out, with the busiest traffic areas pin pointed.

Warthog, another great Line Leader, led the day shifts out. Despite some recent health issues, he came to help out. His first night, the heater in his small trailer broke and it was really, really cold that night. He spent a miserable night. But did he go home? NO! Fortunately, some other volunteers were able to spare him a really warm sleeping bag so that Saturday night wasnt as bad. But another intrepid Arizona volunteer (and former Marine) slept in an open tent on the ground, despite the cold and threat of the sighted Mountain Lion just a few miles from camp. What troopers!

The Caballo Loco Campgrounds were very nice and offered a lot of amenities we have not experienced before: hookups; electricity; showers; a laundry; and lots of friendly residents who threw a great breakfast for us on Saturday morning! Needless to say, we delayed going out that morning to partake of their kindness. And was it great! If your a 'camper-type', we highly recommend them for your family vacation time.

We need to continue working on improving our administrative processes to save our volunteers valuable time when they make the effort and go to the expense to come to our events. That is one of our goals in 2008! We just hope all our volunteers know how very much we appreciate their great patriotic spirits and the many sacrifices they make to try to assist us in knowing just what is happening on our borders. We must keep this issue at the forefront as we approach the Presidential elections to ensure that our next President knows how vulnerable our borders are and how much more is needed to protect them and our citizens.

Thanks to all who came and all who helped support the operation this weekend, especially Glenn Spencer’s crew. Special thanks to our newest Minutemen volunteers who spent their first border operation with us this weekend! We may not have deterred any illegal aliens, but we gained the knowledge that the human trafficking problem continues to grow to share with our elected officials and candidates. Best of all, we welded strong bonds of friendship working together toward a higher purpose. We stand in awe of our great Minuteman patriots. Looking forward to our next operation in Three Points soon!

 

Sandy Doty

Minuteman Board of Directors, Secretary

www.PatriotsBorderAlliance.com

ferretgal@wbhsi.net

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