Edge of Battle

and large craggy features, wearing camouflaged forest hunting clothes, a Camel-Bak water bottle in his pack, and a web utility belt with a sidearm holster, flashlight, and other gear.

“Thank you for allowing The Bottom Line to accompany you on this mission, Herman. My first question is obvious: if your information is so accurate, where is the Border Patrol? Why aren’t they in on this?”

“Thank you for being here tonight with us, Mr. O’Rourke,” Geitz said. “To answer your question, the Border Patrol is here. The closest unit is down the trail about ten miles away at the base of the mountain, probably patrolling Route 83 and the Coronado Trail Road. The Border Patrol has about thirty agents that work in three shifts to patrol southwest Cochise County and half of Santa Cruz County, roughly between Nogales and Bisbee up to Interstate 10.”

“And how much territory is that?”

“That’s about a hundred and sixty square miles, Bob.”

“One hundred and sixty square miles of some of the most rugged, inhospitable, and dangerous land in the United States,” O’Rourke said. “Ten agents—basically one agent for every sixteen square miles.”

“It’s actually two agents per patrol,” Geitz corrected him, “so it’s five units plus a roving supervisor per shift for the entire patrol area.”

“How do they do it, Herman?” O’Rourke asked. “How is it possible to cover that much territory with only ten men per shift?”

“Like most small tactical units, Mr. O’Rourke, the Border Patrol relies on intelligence information and sensors, whether they be ground vibration alarms or helicopter patrols using infrared sensors,” Geitz replied. “In essence, the patrols position themselves according to the latest information they receive; and they respond to alarms, like a private security company patrolling a large gated community. Unfortunately, in this case, the ‘gated community’ is very large and very rugged, and there are no gates—the illegals can cross the border anywhere within twenty to thirty miles from where we’re standing, and if the Border Patrol’s not close by when they trip an alarm, they can make it without getting caught.”

“Sounds like an impossible task.”

“They’re backed up with two helicopters assigned to the Tucson Border Patrol sector, and they can call on local law enforcement and even Army soldiers from Fort Huachuca if necessary.”

“Ever see soldiers out here helping the Border Patrol, Herman?”

“I’ve seen one Army helicopter used to medevac an agent when he rolled his Ramcharger,” Geitz replied.

“How about the sheriffs’ department?”

“They help transport any detainees and provide the lockup until the Border Patrol transports prisoners to Tucson for processing.”

“So in essence it’s just five patrols and a supervisor to patrol this entire mountainous area…”

“And the Watchdogs,” Geitz said proudly. “We have almost a hundred volunteers out here patrolling the Coronado National Forest tonight. Stand by.” Geitz swung one microphone away from his lips, spoke quietly into another headset microphone, then brought O’Rourke’s mike back. “One of our patrols has made distant contact with a very large group of individuals moving through the Khyber Pass. Looks like our information is right on.”

O’Rourke’s voice quivered in excitement. “What’s the Khyber Pass, Herman?”

“As you know, Bob, the real Khyber Pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan is an important and well-used route of travel, used for centuries as a link between central Asia and the Indian subcontinent,” Geitz said. O’Rourke nodded impatiently as if he knew all about what Geitz was saying. “Alexander the Great used the Khyber Pass three hundred years before the birth of Christ to invade India. Centuries of traders, soldiers, smugglers, and travelers used that route freely because there was virtually no way to patrol or regulate it. We call this particular trail over the mountains the Khyber Pass because it is by far the busiest route for illegals to travel between the state of Sonora in Mexico and southern Arizona. The Watchdogs have made dozens of intercepts on this trail since our formation two years ago.”

“What do the Watchdogs do up here, Herman?”

“We sit, wait, observe, and report, sir,” Geitz replied. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

“So you spot someone walking on this trail. There’s nothing illegal about that, is there?”

“No, sir, there isn’t, and we don’t treat everyone we encounter up here as illegals,” Geitz said. “Only the ones we definitely know traveled across the border are classified as illegals.”

“And how do you do that?”

“Most times, it’s just watching,” Geitz said. “We station ourselves along the border, which is carefully surveyed and verified, and watch them come across with our own eyes. Sometimes we have Fido observe them coming across.”

“‘Fido?’ What’s that? A dog?”

“Our unmanned reconnaissance drone,” Geitz said. “It’s actually a war surplus Pioneer drone used by the U.S. Navy and Marines during Operation Desert Storm to pick out artillery and shore bombardment targets. The Iraqi soldiers knew the Pioneer drones were used to spot artillery targets and actually surrendered to the drones in very large numbers. It’s been invaluable help in telling us where and when a group will come across. When we see activity, we’ll go out to make contact.”

“But when you make contact, you don’t actually know for sure they’re illegal immigrants, do you? How do you know they’re illegals?”

“Most times we actually see them cross the border—we have it carefully surveyed and mapped relative to our observation positions, so there’s never any doubt,” Geitz explained. “Anyone who crosses the border at other than a border crossing point is in violation of the law, no matter what their nationality is—even natural-born Americans can’t legally do it. But it’s not our job to know or to find out if they’re illegal or not. Only law enforcement has the right to stop them, ask for identification, and ascertain their citizenship or immigration status. Again—and it’s the main point that so many of our critics miss—all the American Watchdog Project does is observe and report. We help the Border Patrol do their job.”

“So when you come across a group of illegals…?”

“We photograph them with our infrared and low-light cameras, send the images to a relay van down on Route 92 to upload our contact images to the Internet, and have the guys in the van contact the Border Patrol. The control unit will then relay any instructions received from them to us.”

“Instructions? What do they tell you to do?”

“They usually tell us to leave the illegal migrants alone, Mr. O’Rourke,” Geitz replied.

“Leave them alone? Let them just stroll into the United States?”

“That’s right, sir,” Geitz said. “We report their location, numbers, general physical description, and any other information we can gather. Sometimes we’ll follow them; many times, if we feel they’re dangerous or if we recognize them as repeat offenders, we’ll escort them all the way down the mountain and try to have the Border Patrol rendezvous with us.”

“You said ‘try’ to have the Border Patrol meet up with you?”

“They just don’t have the manpower to respond to us every time—and frankly, I don’t think they always have the desire,” Geitz said. “Simply put, we make them look bad sometimes. We’re a bunch of volunteers that intercept just as many illegals as they do—that doesn’t look very good in the press.”

“So you’re out here doing intercepts and surveillance and reconnaissance—sounds like a military operation to me,” O’Rourke said. “You call yourself ‘Watchdogs’ but you do a lot more than just observe. Bottom line: aren’t you all just a bunch of vigilantes?”

“No more than a neighborhood watch group would be—our ‘neighborhood’ just happens to be popular immigrant smuggling routes in the mountains and deserts of America,” Geitz replied. “Vigilantes take the law into their own hands, the entire law—they become the police, prosecutors, judge, jury, and sometimes the executioner. We don’t do any of that. Think of us as a neighborhood watch program: we observe and report, nothing more.

“But this is our home, so we act like neighbors as well. We live here, but this is also public land, and anyone can travel through these parts. Outsiders are not treated like intruders or criminals unless we observe and know they are breaking the law—merely walking through this area is not illegal, and we