Joint Task Force Southern Border Soldiers Innovate to Reinforce Barriers

Soldiers with the 62nd Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, assigned to Joint Task Force Southern Border in support of Operation Ardent Vanguard, recently reinforced a challenging section of the southern border barrier. 

The soldiers emplaced two strands of concertina wire and one strand of razor wire atop 7-foot Hesco barriers in National Defense Area 2 near Fort Hancock, Texas. The reinforced barriers disrupt climbing attempts and enhance persistent detection, monitoring and rapid response along high-risk border corridors.

“Barrier reinforcement operations represent more than physical infrastructure; they showcase the technical ingenuity and skill of our service members,” said Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commander of Joint Task Force Southern Border and the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, Texas. “For the last 14 weeks, our great soldiers have been out here day and night developing innovative solutions to stop human trafficking in our own territory.”

In May, the Navy and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began installing 10 miles of barriers under orders from the War Department and U.S. Northern Command. Within about 30 days, they constructed 10 miles of barriers, including site preparation, mobilization, environmental clearance, receiving barrier sections from overseas, and transporting more than 90,000 cubic yards of fill material.

On average, constructing 10 miles of Hesco barriers takes approximately 28 days when crews work 12-hour shifts. However, this timeline does not include mobilization, land clearing or compaction.

During the recent reinforcement operation, soldiers assigned to the 591st Combat Engineer Company-Infantry, 62nd Engineer Battalion, maintained a demanding pace as they reinforced barriers from Santa Teresa, New Mexico, to Fort Hancock, Texas.

“When we work on border reinforcement operations, we typically start in the morning, and then we work until around midafternoon,” said Army 2nd Lt. Jonah Posada, a Sapper platoon leader with the 591st. “And then, we’ll return to Fort Bliss and prepare for the next day; we try to continue at that pace for the whole week.”

To address site conditions and avoid the Texas summer heat, the company adopted an offset work schedule: one platoon began work in the early evening; another relieved it and worked until late morning.

The elevated work surface and limited workspace made installing razor wire on the Hesco barriers difficult. Additionally, the soldiers could not use metal stakes, which are generally used for support, because they would place compressive stress on the barriers. Instead, they used boom lifts as work platforms to emplace razor wire atop the concertina wire.

The final 300-meter section presented another significant challenge: soft, uneven terrain prevented the boom lifts from reaching the area and attempts to move the equipment left them stuck. Rather than leave the section unfinished, the 591st soldiers developed a solution using equipment already available.

“We devised a plan using tent poles and rope that we had in our high-angle mountaineering kit,” Posada said. “Using those ropes, we stretched [the section of wire] out and kept tension on the razor wire.”

Soldiers on the ground used camouflage-net poles to lift the razor wire while teams atop the barrier secured it in place. A carabiner attached to a rope helped lift the wire from the ground, enabling the soldiers to complete the final section without relying on boom lifts.

The solution was the latest in a series of adaptations soldiers developed as they transitioned between traditional barrier work and reinforcing Hesco barriers.

The Hesco barriers introduced additional challenges because the razor wire configuration was not standard for the engineers.

“The actual obstacle that we emplaced on top of the Hesco [barriers] is not normal,” Posada said. “We had to figure out how to best overcome that. The terrain by the Hesco was a big hindrance on the mission as well.”

The company also developed techniques to prevent injuries. In one method, the soldiers attached a wooden post to a boom lift and used it to position the wire across the barrier.

The completed work reinforces the barrier with additional obstacles intended to deter unauthorized crossings and support the broader border-security mission. Posada said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents appreciated the efforts and noted that the additional barriers helped limit crossings.

The operation underscores the role of combat engineers in providing practical solutions when terrain, equipment and mission requirements intersect.

For the soldiers conducting the work, the operation demonstrated the importance of adapting established engineering practices to conditions on the ground. Posada said he shared the techniques that his platoon developed with other platoon leaders in the company so they could apply the lessons learned to similar missions.