This Week in USBP History, Vol. 87

April 30 - May 6

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Intro

Good morning,

Welcome to another This Week in USBP History! ​

I hope you don't mind getting this a day early.  I'll be on a plane tomorrow morning and would rather be early than late.

I am always looking to improve the blog to provide a better experience for the reader and to encourage greater participation.  Recently, I've initiated two improvements:

1. I've started a new section, "Throwback Photo of the Week" where I'll share a photo and point out interesting aspects that it contains.
2. We've upgraded our commenting system to Disqus for a more engaging, user-friendly experience.  Please comment!

*** News Flash ***

On Friday, three BORTAC agents were honored with the Newton-Azrak Award for their exceptional bravery and dedication to duty in the face of grave danger. These courageous agents, along with two accompanying sheriff's deputies, entered classroom 111 at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. Upon entering, they were met with gunfire and quickly responded, bringing a tragic school shooting to an end. Unfortunately, the incident claimed the lives of 19 innocent individuals.

Newton-Azrak Award Recipients

Warren Becker III
Border Patrol Agent (BORTAC)

Paul Guerrero
Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (BORTAC)

Christopher Merrell 
Border Patrol Agent (BORSTAR)

The Newton-Azrak Award Medal

The awards ceremony in which those agents were presented Newton-Azrak Awards occurred at the Del Rio Sector, led by Chief Patrol Agent Jason Owens. Many other awards were presented at that ceremony, including a Purple Cross. I believe the Purple Cross was presented to Border Patrol Agent (BORTAC Operator) Wayne Jackson, who received multiple wounds during the room entry at Robb Elementary School, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News. There were also approximately 30 USBP Commendation Medals awarded for both exceptional meritorious achievements and extraordinary heroism. There were also well over 100 USBP Achievement Medals awarded, including approximately 10 to a group of agents for their service at Robb Elementary School.

It is common knowledge that the law enforcement response to Robb Elementary School was as bad as can be imagined. The numerous investigations into the response will assign responsibility, and officers will be held accountable. However, the many faults that occurred do not erase the instances of heroism and accomplishments that did occur. It is important for the Patrol and its leaders to provide affirmation to the agents that did well, even in the face of a tragedy where so much went wrong.

I commend the U.S. Border Patrol leadership who risk public scrutiny “…to take care of those in their charge,” as Simon Sinek recommends.

After the Del Rio Sector’s awards ceremony, I received a flood of emails, messages, and phone calls from thankful agents telling me of the recognitions they had received. At a time when the Patrol and its workforce are struggling, this focus on the workforce was needed and deserved.This compelled me to put pen to paper, and I wrote the following USBP leaders an email:

• Raul Ortiz, Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol
• Matt Hudak, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol
• David Bemiller, Chief of the Law Enforcement Operation Directorate
• Kathleen Scudder, Executive Director of the Mission Support Directorate
• Jason Owens, Chief Patrol Agent of the Del Rio Sector

​My motivation was to express gratitude for the awards ceremony, encourage leadership, and foster appreciation within the agency. I also aimed to support them by providing positive feedback while showing that I can acknowledge positive actions despite past criticisms.

The Email

Dear Chiefs,

As leaders, we often find ourselves on the receiving end of criticism, and I must admit I have been among those critics at times. However, today I am writing to express my gratitude and admiration for your exceptional leadership in recognizing the achievements of the Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents. I have received numerous phone calls, messages, and emails from agents of all ranks expressing their joy and appreciation for the acknowledgment they received during today's awards ceremony.

The event saw three agents awarded the Newton-Azrak Award, one agent the USBP Purple Cross (with "V" device?), 30 USBP Commendation Medals, and over 100 USBP Achievement Medals. Recognizing the service, accomplishments, and heroism of our workforce is of utmost importance. It is essential for leaders to demonstrate their appreciation for employees who embody the organization's values through such awards.

Acknowledging outstanding performance not only provides affirmation to employees that their efforts exceeded expectations, but it also offers reassurance even when the outcomes may not have been ideal. The agents who responded to Uvalde take solace in the fact that their leadership and the Patrol have officially recognized their actions as commendable.

On behalf of the hundreds of agents who may not have the opportunity to express their gratitude directly, I extend my heartfelt thanks to you and your teams for a job well done. Your efforts to value and appreciate our workforce have made a significant impact.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend!

Respectfully,
Clifford Gill

This week, we'll dive into the U.S. Border Patrol's history, starting with Frank Berkshire's 1918 proposal and the Commissioner-General's letter on German activity. We'll explore the establishment of the Senior Patrol Inspector position, the story of Paul L.D. Calloway, the first African American Border Patrol Inspector, and the 1956 border fence cost analysis. Join us as we uncover these fascinating stories and much more!

​There are no Newton-Azrak Award anniversaries for the week.  However, there are several actions for which the date is unknown.  I will highlight some of those below.  In 1982, three of the 26 non-USBP Newton-Azrak Award recipients received their recognitions.

​We remember Nathaniel A. Afolayan on the anniversary of his death.

Enjoy and have a great week!

​Cliff
PS - 

• As an open and continuous invitation to current and former USBP employees, I am always accepting photos to post in the USBP Photo Galleries and in the Upholding Honor First pages.  I sure would appreciate you visiting those pages and sending me anything that you think I could post (just send them to cliff@honorfirst.com).
• As always, make sure to explore all of the hyperlinks to the documents and pages.
• Finally, please forward this blog to whomever you think may enjoy it.

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​ESPRIT DE CORPS

The workplace climate resulting from a combination of organizational pride and employee morale.

• Organizational pride is the positive feeling experienced by employees from being part of a meaningful team that is rich in history, tradition and culture.
• Employee morale is the feeling experienced by employee based in part on their perception of:
  • Being valued by the organization,
  • Fairly compensated, and
  • Performing meaningful work.

 
Esprit de corps is reinforced through the shared goals, mission and values of the organization and its employees.

The definition turns Esprit de Corps into a simple formula and defines parts that comprise organizational pride and employee morale.

Esprit de Corps = Organizational Pride + Employee Morale

Esprit de Corps is the key to a healthy organization and engaged employees.

​Honor First is foundational to the Border Patrol's organizational pride and integral to its Esprit de Corps.

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THROWBACK PHOTO OF THE WEEK

1936 - Two seasoned El Centro Sub-district Border Patrol Inspectors

This close-up photo, believed to be taken in 1936, features two seasoned El Centro Sub-district Border Patrol Inspectors. In 1936, the Patrol transitioned from wearing puttees or boots and riding breeches to pants. The inspector on the left dons two stars and a bar, signifying at least 12 years of service, suggesting he was likely one of the first Border Patrol Inspectors in 1924. Partially visible between them is another inspector with three-inch stripes on his sleeves. Based on his position in the group, these stripes are probably silver, indicating the rank of Senior Patrol Inspector.

Learn more about the Patrol's early rank insignia here.

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DOCUMENTS AND EVENTS

1918

• On April 29, 1918, after numerous discussions with the Commissioner-General, future Chief and Father of the Border Patrol Frank Berkshire (1870-1934) submitted a 9-page "Proposal to Establish an Immigration Patrol Service on the Land Boundaries."  This was his first proposal which recommended that a force of 1,608 men would be necessary to patrol the border.  The plan suggested patrolmen should be paid between $900 to $1,500 per year dependent upon whether the government provided a horse and equipment.  As the Supervising Inspector of the Mexican Border, his plan did not include staffing estimates for the Northern Border.  In addition, no records have been located to indicate a similar Supervising Inspector existed for the Canadian Border.
• On April 30, 1918, after having received Berkshire's Proposal to Establish an Immigration Patrol Service on the Land Boundaries a day earlier, the Commissioner-General wrote a 5-page letter to the Secretary of the Department of Labor.  The letter was to provide the Secretary information should he wish to bring the matter before the cabinet meeting that was scheduled to occur that day.  Further, and absent from Berkshire's proposal, the Commissioner-General provided that this initiative may be appropriate in dealing with the threat of German activity originating from Mexico:
  • ...Since the United States entered the war, although every government agency has cooperated and worked the best of its ability, it has been impossible adequately to control the passage of persons back and forth across the Mexican boundary. That information of military value has constantly been carried into Mexico and that the various laws having in view the protection of the United States against the machinations of the enemy have been extensively and repeatedly violated in that quarter has been demonstrated in many ways...

1924

• On April 30, 1924, the Action Commissioner-General sent a memo to the 11 immigration districts that were adjacent to the borders of the United States.  The memo indicated that funding was expected to be approved in the amount "...to effectively put a stop to all smuggling operations along the land boundaries..."  The memo instructed to the district heads to respond by telegram with the number of "guards or patrolmen" each district wished to receive.  They were instructed to follow the telegram with a written, more detailed response.  The memo also contains the telegram responses.
  • When I was conducting research at the National Archives, I assumed that there must have been a plan in existence to implement once funding was received to create the USBP.  The memo above and the corresponding telegrams clearly demonstrate that no such plan existed a mere three weeks before funding would be received.
  • Interestingly, once created and until 1941, the Border Patrol had more inspectors assigned to the northern border than to the southern border.  This occurred even though the southern border had requested staffing levels three times greater than that of the northern border. some my say that a greater number of inspectors were placed on the northern border in response to the ratification of the 18th Amendment and the passage of the Volstead Act, Prohibition. Further, many sources cite that the Border Patrol was created in response to Prohibition.  However, no official Immigration Service documents have been discovered in the National Archives that support that popular claim.

1926

• On May 1, 1926, Chief of the Border Patrol George Harris (1876-1941) wrote a memo concerning the importance of the "oral examination".  the most telling part of the memo is the following sentence:
  • The writer is sure the Bureau will thoroughly agree with him that the oral examination should be uniformly accorded to all patrol inspector candidates who have successfully passed the written test. In no other way is it possible so effectively to weed out obvious misfits and save the Service later trouble and expense.
• ​On May 3, 1926, a memo providing very general guidance for the position of Senior Patrol Inspector was issued by the Assistant Commissioner-General.  The position was newly created with the signing of General Order 61 on March 18, 1926.

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1929

• On May 3, 1929, General Order 132 was enacted.  This General Order was anchored to a March 4, 1929, "Act Making it a felony with penalty for certain aliens to enter the United States of America under certain conditions in violation of law."  That Act would be superseded in 1952, becoming 8 U.S.C. 1326, Reentry of removed aliens.

1931

• On May 1, 1931, Assistant Commissioner-General George Harris wrote one of the earliest memos found concerning Border Patrol Inspectors participating in shooting competitions.
  • An interesting aspect about this memo is that Harris had been one of the Chiefs of the Border 1926-1927 before he had promoted out of the position.  He would return to the Border Patrol as Chief 1932-1933 coming the first and only person to have served as Chief of the Border Patrol in non-consecutive terms.  Finally, it should be noted that when he first became "Chief", the position was called "Supervisor, Border Patrol".  His second time as "Chief" the position was called "Director of Border Patrol".
• On May 2, 1931, this collection of documents describes a gunfight occurred between Border Patrol Inspectors and alcohol smugglers in which suspect, Guillermo Rodriguez was killed.  The documents include a diagram and photographs of the international boundary between Cordova Island and the United States.  Patrol Inspectors involved in the shooting were
  • Patrol Inspector Raymond M. Dudley (1906-1983)
  • Patrol Inspector Richard L. Martin (1902-1996)
  • Patrol Inspector Henry Waxstock (1904-1995)

1939

• On May 6, 1939, the Buffalo Sub-district responded to the Central Office's January 18, 1939, memo to the field to inventory all badges and cap insignia for all positions.  Most notable Buffalo's response is the name, "Paul L.D. Calloway​" (1901-1960) who was the first African American Border Patrol Inspector.
  • Research indicates that Paul L.D. Calloway became a Border Patrol Inspector in the summer of 1924.  He retired from the Border Patrol in 1955.  He worked his entire career in the area of Buffalo, NY. See this 1929 roster (pg. 5).  See these photographs from 1932 and 1942.  Also, see this page from the 1930 Census. 

1955

• May 1, 1955 was the last day that suntan rough duty uniforms were authorized as per this memo.

1956

• On May 3, 1956, a multipage document was drafted to compare costs to build a border fence or to increase manpower (and associated costs) to address illegal entries. The proposed location for the fences were, Chula Vista, El Centro, Yuma, El Paso and Brownsville.  Spoil alert, it was project to be less expensive to build fences.

2003

• On May 1, 2003, Chief of the Border Patrol Gustavo De La Viña (1939-2009) signed a memo changing the criteria of the Newton-Azrak Award. This would be the award's second criteria.
  • In 2003, the INS was dissolved and the U.S. Border Patrol was transferred to the newly created U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The Newton-Azrak Award was carried over into CBP.  However, instead of providing the award criteria that had been in place since 1973 as implemented in the INS Administrative Manual the U.S. Border Patrol drafted a new criteria in the form of a memorandum from the Chief of the Border Patrol. Had the original INS criteria been implemented in CBP, all CBP law enforcement employees would have been eligible to receive the award.  However, with the change in criteria, only Border Patrol Agents could be recipients and only for acts of bravery or heroism.  Under the new criteria, CBP carried the Newton-Azrak Award as a Commissioner's award that could only be presented to Border Patrol Agents.

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NEWTON-AZRAK AWARD
​ACTION ANNIVERSARIES

Follow this link to see examples of USBP employees Upholding Honor First.

• An organization’s values are codified in its awards system. Recognizing the achievements, service and heroism of employees is important.  It is critical for those in positions of leadership to value the workforce.  Awards are a fundamental manner for leaders to demonstrate appreciation to the workforce for upholding the organizational values. – U.S. Border Patrol Honorary Awards

The USBP Newton-Azrak Award Scroll

1982

Hipolito Acosta
Investigator
El Paso, Texas
Investigator Hipolito Acosta was recognized for his participation in several highly complex and dangerous undercover investigations resulting in the seizure of thousands of altered and counterfeit documents, and the arrest and convictions of the most notorious vendors of counterfeit documents ever encountered in the Chicago area.
 
Gary Renick
Investigator
San Antonio, Texas
Investigator Gary Renick was recognized for his efforts in gathering crucial evidence which aided the Drug Enforcement Administration in the seizure of five kilos of heroin, and which resulted in the arrest of a three-time convicted alien smuggler.  He was also credited with uncovering widespread corruption at the State of Illinois driver’s license facilities.
 
Richard Shuler
Investigator
Dallas, Texas
Investigator Richard Shuler was recognized for his courageous act in rescuing an individual from a burning building at risk to his own life.

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U.S. BORDER PATROL FALLEN 
ANNIVERSARIES

U.S. Border Patrol Badge with a Mourning Band

As of March 6, 2023 the U.S. Border Patrol has suffered 154* fallen.
Titles

• 3 Mounted Watchmen fell before 1924 and are carried as Border Patrol fallen
• 49 Border Patrol Inspectors fell between 1924 and 1970
• 101 Border Patrol Agents have fallen since 1970
• 1 Enforcement Analysis Specialist

​The names that appear below hold a place of honor. They have made the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to fulfill the oath each officer took to protect and defend the United States of America.
 
The facts regarding each officer are presented without major editing of the "language of the day" found in the reports detailing the circumstances of each event. This is done to provide the reader an association with historical timeframes.
 
Employees who died in the line of duty due to being exposed to deadly illnesses will not have the cause of death listed.
 
I will note that Border Patrol Agent John Charles Gigax is not recognized as officially fallen by Customs and Border Protection or the U.S. Border Patrol. The Border Patrol Foundation and the Border Patrol Museum also fail to recognize him. He is remembered by all except organizations containing "Border Patrol" in their title. He is remembered by the:

• National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial (see this link),
• Officer Down memorial Page (see this link), and
• Texas Peace Officer's Memorial (see this link).

 
The U.S. Border Patrol, the Border Patrol Foundation, and the Border Patrol Museum should fix their oversight. 
 
HonorFirst.com remembers and lists Agent Gigax among the fallen.

Agent Gigax is buried in Florida's 5th Congressional District.  I contacted Congressman John Rutherford for assistance in this case.  Please contact the Congressman Rutherford if you would like to help.

Fallen Border Patrol Agent John Charles Gigax's tombstone. Fallen Border Patrol Agent Jason C. Panides' tombstone is in the background.

2009

Nathaniel A. Afolayan
Date of Birth:                     March 26, 1980
Entered on Duty:               February 16, 2009
Title:                                    Border Patrol Agent (Trainee)
End of Watch:                    May 1, 2009
 
Details:
On April 30, 2009, newly hired Agent Nathaniel A. Afolayan collapsed during a physical training exam. Agent Afolayan had just completed the 1.5-mile run portion of his physical techniques final exam. After his collapse, he was transported via ambulance to Artesia General Hospital. Later that day, his condition worsened and he was taken via life-flight to Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas. Agent Afolayan died May 1, 2009. An autopsy concluded his death was accidental due to heat illness.
 
Agent Afolayan was a native of Nigeria. He was a member of the 856th Session of the Border Patrol Academy and was to be assigned to the Newton-Azrak Station in the San Diego Sector.

​Gravesite