In response to growing concerns that “transnational criminal organizations seek to exploit any vulnerability in border security without constraints to geographic or physical boundaries,” the top officials of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies in San Diego and Imperial County, California have formalized an official “charter” of cooperation between called the California Corridor Unified Command (CCUC).
The task of the CCUC, according to its charter that was provided to Homeland Security Today, is “to fuse operational intelligence and integrate planning to enhance mission integration within the corridor and CBP to better disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat transnational threats that are exploiting the border region within our area of influence.”
Known as the California Corridor Campaign, or C3, the CCUC “acknowledges” that “border security does not begin or end at the border” and that “border security requires an integrated whole of government approach that starts with an integrated team within CBP.”
The CCUC’s mission is to “secure the border against all threats while ensuring mission effectiveness, the safety of personnel and facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. We will do this by integrating our strategic, operational, and tactical planning and operations in the most effective and practical means possible,” the charter stated.
“Accordingly, it is the intent of the Unified Command to provide the leadership, passion and commitment necessary to achieve and sustain effective leadership while demonstrating excellence and professionalism in our adherence to the Customs and Border Protection mission and its core values of vigilance, service and integrity,” the charter states.
Made up of Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector and San Diego Sectors, the San Diego Field Office, Office of Field Operations and the San Diego Air and Marine Branch, Office of Air and Marine, the charter, which was signed August 1 by the “DHS Senior Guidance Team,” states that “the leadership [jointly] recognized the need to further its efforts at mission integration by adopting a unified command structure and by engaging in joint campaign planning for the California Corridor.”
According to its charter, CCUC “will focus efforts on achieving the following goals:
- “Engagement at all levels of management and personnel;
- “Utilization of a standardized planning process;
- “Directly linked to higher headquarters’ guidance;
- “Flexible and adaptable;
- “Communication using the same language;
- “Accountability throughout the planning process and during operations;
- “Identify and support traditional and non-traditional intelligence development and fusion opportunities;
- “Coordinated actions to disrupt, dismantle and defeat targeted transnational threats by leveraging all appropriate means available in a risk based approach;
- “Eliminate duplication of effort;
- “Maximize limited resources in operations and mission support functions through enhanced communication, clearly delineated roles and responsibilities and prioritizing mission above self, group or unit;
- “Transparency; we must be open and inclusive, internally, externally and internationally;” and
- “Do what is right regardless of who will get credit.”
“We are establishing a solid foundation by integrating our planning, intelligence, and operational processes to help foster a safer and more secure border environment," said San Diego Sector Chief, Patrol Agent Paul Beeson, one of the signatories of the charter, in a CBP produced news story. And “as such, we will work together to dismantle the criminal organizations that threaten the safety of our communities.”
Collaborative planning will also be a key component of CCUC’s southern California border security enforcement strategy.
“Our planning effort will be supported by integrated bi-weekly intelligence meetings that will facilitate the sharing of information between CBP components," San Diego Director of Field Operations, Christopher Maston, another signatory of the charter, was quoted saying in CBP’s November 4 news release. “The integrated approach to intelligence and operations will assist CBP to target and remove transnational threats while securing and expediting the lawful movement of people and goods within the California Corridor.”
According to the CCUC charter, “meetings shall occur no less than quarterly but can be called by any senior executive member at anytime to address an emerging threat or issue,” and that “each meeting will be called to order by the facilitator and will include an operations and intelligence briefing followed by discussion and appropriate decisions and or operational guidance for planning teams …”
“Our objectives are many and this includes our ability to improve upon processes and efficiencies and incorporate best practices from our collective CBP components,” said San Diego Director of Air and Marine Operations, William Raymond, also signatory to the charter.
“Through enhanced communication, clearly delineated roles and responsibilities, and prioritizing missions within CBP, this will allow us to maximize limited resources in operations and mission support functions,” Raymond said.
According to the charter, “the Unified Command has designated an integrated planning team consisting of members designated from each commander’s office. The integrated planning team is responsible for documenting Commander’s Intent and Guidance into a unified product. The integrated planning team will also be responsible for using the Department of Homeland Security Integrated Planning Process to achieve the following tasks in a sustainable fashion:
- “Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment;
- “Mission Analysis;
- “Course of Action (COA) Development;
- “COA Analysis;
- “COA Comparison and Decision;
- “Development and Transition; and
- “Operational Order Development”
The other charter signatory, El Centro Sector Chief, Patrol Agent Jeffrey Calhoon, said “the establishment of this unique unified command will enhance the sharing of information within CBP and with our strategic law enforcement partners,” and “will ensure we are all collectively responsible for the outcome and accountable for reaching a satisfactory resolution. This collaboration ensures that each piece of information is utilized to form the larger intelligence picture.”
“I guess after ten years, the powers that be decided that three agencies under CBP should work together [to] share info amongst each other,” a veteran Border Patrol agent familiar with the San Diego border region commented to Homeland Security Today.
Congress’ investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, earlier this year criticized the lack of intelligence and other information sharing between CBP and other federal agencies with responsibilities for enforcing the security of America’s northern border.
The veteran Border Patrol agent said “the biggest problem the three [CBP] agencies have is being allowed to do their jobs.”
“The three [CCUC] agencies can do all the handshaking they want, but the bottomline is nothing will change as far as border security until we have Immigration and Customs Enforcement [agents] doing the job they were hired for … until CBP officers are allowed to do their job and are not under pressure to flush traffic through for political reasons,” and “when agents are allowed to use their authorities in the entire area they are authorized to work in to fulfill their mission,” the agent observed.
Other Border Patrol and CBP officials told Homeland Security Today that the CCUC initiative “is a good idea that ought to be replicated in other areas along the southern border,” such as in Texas where Mexican cartel cross-border narco-smuggling and violence is escalating, one of the officials said.
While the official declined to respond to the critical comments made by his colleague, the official said he’s “surprised that this kind of collaborative effort [the CCUC] hasn’t already been put in place by CBP – it makes perfect sense to me.”
