[FedCom] Book Review/Information

[Ken]

Just finished reading "On The Line -- Inside the US Border Patrol" (Citadel
Press/ Kensington Publishing Company (http://www.kesingtonbooks.com ), 2004,
Eick Krauss & Alex  Pacheco).

The book basically looks at the history of the Border Patrol from its' start
to the present day challenges.

>From a radio communications standpoint:

1.  In the early days, there's was no radio communications systems at all,
so the patrol officer (many times just on horseback) was pretty much on his
own.

2.  World War II saw the introduction of radios in vehicles, albeit they had
to learn morse code.  An example given was that the radio frequencis they
were using wasn't that good for short range communications, so that mobile
comms from texas wouldn't be heard by the patrol station in TX but would
have to be relayed back from patrol station New Orleans LA.

3.  The book didn't really get into the modern day comms systems used by the
patrol, but did mention that they were a testing bed for various
manufacturers' sensors, remote cameras, night vision devices, etc..

4.  Another interesting point in the book is the allegations that the
Mexican military had been aiding drug smuggling rings in crossing the border
to include incursion onto US soil.

5.  The book also addresses some of the special operations team that are now
in place as well as some of the past joint operations teams that were used
to deter violence, rescue illegal immigrants, and prevent illegal border
crossings.

6.  The books further mentions about how some drug smugglers use a scout
vehicle (looking for patrol roadblocks/checkpoints) ahead of the drug
transportation vehicle and uses radios to communicate back to the
transporation vehicle.  Additionally it mentions that smugglers use very
sophisicated equipment now including SUV's, night vision devices, etc...

7.  The book concentrates primarily on the Arizona, California, & Texas
border areas, but does some limited coverage on the Washington & Florida
areas...

I would imagine now that the Border Patrol radio communications systems are
now becoming more encrypted than before...

Ken
Springfield MA Monitoring area