On January 20, 2025, the president of the United States issued Executive Order 14165 directing the Secretary of War to “deploy sufficient personnel along the southern border of the United States to ensure complete operational control.” The resulting action sent the equivalent of an Army division to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in controlling the U.S. southern border, a 1,954-mile-long border with Mexico. Sustainment operations in the homeland look very different than in other combatant commands (COCOMs) due to the reduced distance between the tactical and strategic levels. As defined by Field Manual 3-94, Armies, Corps, and Division Operations, a division’s frontage is typically 11 to 17 miles. In other COCOMs, divisions typically have a narrow frontage with a multi-tiered sustainment infrastructure reaching back to the joint logistics enterprise (JLEnt). In contrast, in the continental U.S. (CONUS), Joint Task Force–Southern Border (JTF-SB) uses a compressed sustainment infrastructure with direct connection to the JLEnt. The southern border mission presents numerous challenges different from other COCOMs, requiring a modular task organization, leveraging of commercial assets, employment of unique military capabilities, and innovation.
Task Organization
To accomplish this feat, the 10th Mountain Division Headquarters established JTF-SB, based out of Fort Huachuca, Arizona. JTF-SB consists of three brigade-sized maneuver elements tasked with direct support to CBP, supported by a general support aviation battalion, a division engineer battalion, a U.S. Marine Corps support battalion, and a division sustainment brigade (DSB). The internal task organization of the maneuver brigades is as unique as the missions they support. The military police brigade and the U.S. Army Reserve sustainment brigade deployed as general purpose brigades and do not have their full complement of organic equipment. Their subordinate battalions and companies are a diverse collection of active-duty, Reserve Component, and National Guard units that operate with mostly non-tactical vehicles and have no organic brigade support battalions (BSB). The Stryker brigade deployed with all its traditional capabilities and its organic BSB.
Strategically located in the center of the JTF-SB’s area of operation, the 101st DSB served as the JTF-SB’s sustainment headquarters with one combat sustainment support battalion consisting of a headquarters and headquarters detachment, a composite supply company, a support maintenance company, a composite truck company light, and a movement control team. These elements came from two corps and three divisions, and all combined into a single task force (TF), TF Desert Eagle.
Concept of Support
To support units operating along the border, the 101st DSB employs a hub-and-spoke model, deploying small tailorable teams for specific periods of time to conduct sustainment missions. The key hub remains at Fort Bliss where the 101st DSB’s equipment is located. Typical missions include deploying Class III retail fuel points, forward arming and refueling points (FARPs), maintenance contact teams, weapons maintenance teams, recovery teams, and bulk distribution.
To further streamline sustainment, the 101st DSB leverages Defense Logistics Agency direct deliveries of Class I ice, Class III bulk fuel, and Class IV barrier materials straight to supported units along the southern border. Due to the distance between federal installations, the 101st DSB also procures Class III bulk fuel through local municipal airports via air cards. Furthermore, terrain in these sectors range from heavily urbanized areas to flat desert, fast flowing rivers, and inaccessible mountains, all presenting unique challenges. To mitigate terrain restrictions, 101st DSB delivers supplies and equipment in certain areas via rotary wing aircraft.
Commercial Assets
To reduce the risk of driving, the 101st DSB relies on commercial line haul coordinated through local installation transportation offices and its commercial fleet (box trucks, buses, and refrigerated trucks) for distribution. 101st DSB only uses organic green assets in emergency situations. To date, TF Desert Eagle has facilitated over 220 intra-theater movements of military equipment in support of numerous operations. Additionally, the 101st DSB procured a substantial white fleet through short-term rental contracts that provides immense flexibility in tactical distribution of commodities, especially in urban areas such as San Diego, California. Consisting of box trucks, refrigerated trucks, 30K forklifts, and 44-person buses, this fleet reduced the response time for sustainment requirements. The 101st DSB worked to expand the fleet to include 500-gallon commercial bulk fuel trucks and 500-gallon commercial bulk water trucks. The use of white assets is not standard for a DSB, and for distribution in other COCOMs such as U.S. European Command, units rely on organic green assets at the tactical level.
Unique Military Capability
Before the establishment of JTF-SB, CBP conducted limited operations in austere locations for extended periods of time. Currently, the JTF-SB employs unique military capabilities to support CBP, including air assaulting maneuver elements to austere locations, conducting mounted patrols with Strykers, using rotary aircraft for observation and medical evacuation, and employing engineers to build and reinforce barriers.
The 101st DSB provides a robust set of unique military capabilities enhancing the JTF-SB’s ability to control the southern border, including aerial delivery, delivering sustainment packages in austere locations, and dedicated manpower. 101st DSB uses its mastery of aerial delivery operations to the border, using sling-load and air-drop capabilities to move observation trailers, containers, commodities, and supplies via air. To refuel the military aircraft in an austere operational environment, 101st DSB provides their unique home-station skills from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) to execute FARP activities. Additionally, the 101st DSB maintains the capability to deploy two multi-functional forward logistics elements that can provide sustainment for a Stryker battalion for up to 72 hours to maximize operational reach and extend endurance.
Lastly, the 101st DSB deployed a platoon-sized element to CBP garages to conduct operator-level maintenance on their equipment to increase their operational readiness rate. This increase in vehicle readiness enables CBP to respond quickly to illegal activity at the border. Performing these functions in CONUS at the current scale and scope alongside CBP remains an unparalleled and unique experience. DSBs in other COCOMs rarely work closely with intergovernmental agencies or provide direct sustainment support to their operations.
Innovation
Challenges presented by unique mission sets with non-standard equipment require pursuit of innovative solutions to solve complex problems through 3D printing, fabrication, and procurement of new equipment. 3D printing has advanced significantly over the past decade. Officially known as Battle Damage Repair and Fabrication, 3D printing is a U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command initiative to generate combat power as far forward as possible and to rapidly produce temporary parts in hours. Additionally, most parts cost pennies to 3D print, resulting in substantial cost savings. For example, procurement of a simple plastic part through the normal supply system costs an average of $5.00 and takes weeks to arrive. When 3D printed, the same part can cost as little as $0.40 and take only hours to print.
Leading the effort for the JTF-SB in 3D printing, the 101st DSB procured two UltiMaker S5 printers able to print in high temperatures and use over 280 filaments such as carbon fiber reinforced polylactic acid and high-performance plastics. This new capability enables the JTF-SB to manufacture Class IX replacement parts, specialty tools, aerial delivery components, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) frames, UAS replacement parts, and terrain model kits. Additionally, TF Desert Eagle is working to procure the metal expansion kit that allows these 3D printers to print components in stainless steel.
To support expeditionary FARPs, the 101st DSB explored the use of the Tactical Air-Ground Refueling System (TAGRS) during home-station training. 101st DSB is now requesting to purchase the TAGRS for JTF-SB operations. The TAGRS is a mobile trailer mounted with a 250-gallons-per-minute (GPM) fuel pump and filter separator. Designed for survivability on the battlefield, the 101st DSB can deploy the TAGRS via air to rapidly establish a retail fuel point for ground vehicles and aviation assets. Additionally, the 101st DSB is testing a wide variety of fuel equipment, including digital Aqua Glo kits, a sling loadable 450-gallon fuel tote with internal pump, and a new 150-GPM interchangeable pump. The 101st DSB is on the cutting edge of experimentation and acquisition of new sustainment capabilities, which could prove beneficial for other COCOMs.
Closing
Providing sustainment to a division-sized element across 1,954 miles, JTF-SB requires a modular task organization, commercial assets, unique military capabilities, and innovation to achieve mission success. While the capabilities of the 101st DSB (TF Desert Eagle) are standard, the nature of providing sustainment in CONUS partnered with another governmental agency is not a typical mission set for a DSB. The lessons learned at the southern border can apply to other COCOMs and theaters. Alongside the entire JTF-SB team, the 101st DSB once again demonstrates that “when the nation wants it done, they ask the 101.”
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MAJ Jared Peacock is currently serving as the 101st Division Sustainment Brigade support operations officer. His military career began in 2010 when he was commissioned from the ROTC as a second lieutenant in the Transportation Corps. His military education includes the Transportation Corps Basic Officer Leader’s Course, Combined Logistics Captains Career Course, Theater Sustainment Planners Course, Unit Movement Officer, Division Transportation Officer Course, Command and General Staff College, and Support Operations Course. He has a Masters in Operational Studies from the Command & General Staff College.
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This article was published with the winter 2026 issue of Army Sustainment.
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