California National Guard

EL CENTRO, Calif. – The day isn’t complete until Sgt. 1st Class Alan Travelstead’s band of hands completes its dirty deed.

The platoon leader for the California National Guard’s motor pool unit based here for Operation Jump Start speaks positively about Joint Task Force Vista’s assistance to the California Customs and Border Patrol. Travelstead oversees a gung-ho crew of motor vehicle mechanics, a crew that has earned notoriety since June’s inception for the southwest border mission.

“It’s like every day we’re put to the test. And every day we come through,” Travelstead said. “As far as putting vehicles back on track, we’ve been successful. And we have the facts to back that up.”

Thirty-one Guardsmen rotate duties with Customs and Border Patrol mechanics to keep services going. Pending the extent of damages, vehicles return to the field as quickly as they come in for repairs. Vehicles aren’t restricted to Hummers and sport utility vehicles, CBP’s bread-and-butter desert transportation units. Guardsmen also repair all-terrain vehicles, quadrunners, motorcycles and off-road buggies.

“They’ve just been giving us a tremendous helping hand,” said Edgar Jime, CBP shop supervisor. “Overall, the product we’re getting is a lot better with them here than without them.”

Travelstead said the “undisclosed” goal is to avoid having CBP vehicles sent to an outside contractor for repairs. “It depends on the damage,” he added. “But if we can fix it, we’ll fix it. And we’ll probably do it better than if it did go somewhere else.”

Four to eight working bays at El Centro’s Sector Fleet Garage are regularly stuffed with vehicles. Routine maintenance, such as oil changes and tune ups, are done daily. There are special cases such as damaged underbody frames and broken suspensions when more than one Guardsman gets his hands dirty working alongside a CBP mechanic. But no vehicle returns to the field unless it is safe and cleared for operation.

“One of the biggest jobs is air-conditioning,” Travelstead explained. “Sometimes we’d have to go inside the vehicle and pull the entire dashboard out. It’s a lot of work, but has to be done.”

Since June, the Guard has dramatically assisted in dropping CBP’s vehicle repair expenses. In one critical week in September, Travelstead said the motor pool serviced 70 vehicles, 15 ATVs and repaired 70-plus tires. Again, nothing returns to the field unless it is safe and operable.

“They’ve been excellent. They’ve been extremely helpful.
Through their success, there are plans to extend the Guard’s repair services to bus operations, Travelstead noted. There’s an adjacent shop strictly for buses that come in for services. No Guardsmen currently works there.

“But who knows,” Travelstead said. “It’s only October. We may end up there. You never know.”