Invading Mexico

Early in my military career, I had the opportunity to go to Fort Huachuca, Arizona for some advanced training. If you don't know, Huachuca lies in southeast Arizona, not too far from the border of Mexico.

The training I attended was to qualify me to perform certain missions that were in a Blackhawk helicopter. So, I did a lot of flying.

During one of these missions, the pilots asked us if we wanted to fly into Mexico. As the terrain looked exactly the same everywhere (moutainous desert), I figured it did not matter. The bird we were in used advanced (for the day) navigation aids - which were required for our equipment - so we figured these guys knew where they were. We thought it would be pretty cool, so we in the back - all three of us - said, "Sure!" How many guys got to take this opportunity? What the hell, as they say...

So we continued to train on the equipment in the back, and after several minutes the pilots told us that we were in Mexican airspace. I knew that there was not going to be any kind of interceptor aircraft (My son's Webelos Den and I could take the entire Mexican
Army - even to this day), so we just continued having fun in the back of the bird, playing with the radios.

After about 4 minutes, the pilots decided to turn back. All tolled, we ventured about 7 miles into Mexico. Sometimes I wish I had the power to take care of the immigration problem; it might have begun on that day.

About 4 years later I was stationed at Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, right on the border with Juarez, Mexico. My friends and I used to joke about how easy it would be to go in and take a foothold of Mexico with just about 200 guys...

As I was in an Armored Cavalry unit, we had access to M1 Tanks, attack helicopters, Cavalry Fighting Vehicles; basically everything we would need... We talked a lot about it, and even thought about getting a map of the area and drawing avenues of approach, phase lines, and all the other aspects that make a successful miitary operation.

Only in America does its military trust all of its soldiers with knowing how to read a map. Initiative is a cornerstone of the American fighting soldier. If something is wrong, you are expected to fix it. One of my former Squadron Commanders (I was in the Cav; the Battalion equivalent is called a Squadron) used to say, "Always do the hard right over the easy wrong." That saying has always stuck with me, because it makes sense... But I digress...

So that was my 2 experiences with going into Mexico. Good thing that we were a group of happy soldiers...

EW Platoon, HHT 4/3 ACR - I'll drink one to you guys tonight!