Texas Gov. Rick Perry says National Guard 'tip of spear' guarding border

Gov. Rick Perry told National and State Guard troops headed to the border region that they would play a key role in protecting the U.S. against narco-terrorists who are “spreading their tentacles” into Texas and deep into the American heartland.

“You now are the tip of the spear, protecting Americans from these cartels and gangs,” Perry told a uniformed group of about 90 troops gathered Wednesday in a warehouse at Camp Swift, about 300 miles north of the border.

Perry, flanked by the leaders of the Texas National Guard and Department of Public Safety, noted that when he asked for 1,000 volunteers, he got 2,200. Troops are drawn from the Texas Army National Guard, which has 19,123 members; Texas Air National Guard, which has 3,107 members; and the State Guard, with 2,232 members.

The troops will aid the Department of Public Safety, which Perry and other Republican state leaders had ordered to beef up staffing and equipment in a state-funded border deployment.

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