Minuteman Project: September Muster

Several weeks before the September Muster I accompanied my father, Kent Lambert, and a Minuteman Sector Chief to Three Points. My father is running for State Representative in Colorado, and was interested in seeing some of the lay-up sites and trails through the desert. During the trip, I was asked if I wanted to be a "line leader" for the September Muster, and I agreed to give it a try.

Now the September Muster was largely a training session for October. It was also a way to test out a few new communications protocols and iron out the kinks.

The Sector Chief had to cancel out at the last minute. The Arizona Leader took over that role and helped me figure out everything I was supposed to do. I helped the new recruits with the rules, "set the line" (placed everyone at their posts), and walked the line all night to make sure everyone was awake, safe, and had a working radio.

You can see the list of posts on the table. Each post has a landmark associated with it and GPS co-ordinates that are given to the Border Patrol when a sighting is reported.

How many posts are manned depend on how many people we have any given night. It was my job to decide where to put which people. Sometimes that includes which person to put with which person!

Every hour to two hours Comms does a radio check. This makes sure that every post has a functioning radio, is in range, and has charged batteries. Our radios are our first line of defense in case of emergency. When we were not able to contact a particular post, it was my job to walk to the post and fix the problem.

On the first night, I was walking between two posts that were particularly far apart. I walked down into a very deep wash, one that we did not man that night. When I reached the bottom, I got a very strong nose-full of the unmistakable smell of something dead. My mind immediately remembered photos of a dead illegal alien that Minuteman volunteers had found the month before (I was not able to attend that muster). It's amazing how surreal everything suddenly seemed. I just wanted out of there- the last thing I wanted was to find a dead person by myself in the pitch black of night. I pressed on, keeping my eyes on the path only and made it to the next post, reality finally returning to normal. They were fine, so I went on to the next post where the Security Supervisor, "Montana," was posted. I told her about the smell and we decided to avoid the area and check it out in the morning. We both hoped that it was only an animal.

Later on that night I had made my way back to Montana's post. I was headed back to my car when I got a report from the next post over that we had a suspicious vehicle possibly picking up or dropping off drugs. I rolled tape and got closer to the vehicle. A quick discussion on the radio and we decided to pay attention, but not call Border Patrol or the police yet- there just was not enough to warrant a call.

It would move a bit and stop, then move and stop again, and every once in a while someone would get out.

I continued to get closer, and actually got close enough to get a plate (intentionally blurred in this photo). It became clear by how the car sounded and moved that it had major engine problems. Just as I got the photo, the post that had reported the car figured it out- it was just the paperboy, delivering the papers. But if delivering papers were illegal he would have been so busted!

Soon after the sun came up and the shift ended. I met with Montana to check out the smell I had found earlier. As we walked down into the wash Montana agreed with me that it was definitely something dead. We searched the area and finally found it- a dead deer by the side of the road. As odd as it sounds, I have never been more pleased to see a dead deer.

That night I slept in "Administration." It's a Winnebago. It was hot and uncomfortable, but far better than the back of my Jeep where I had been sleeping.






"Administration" in all it's glory! This is part of "working out the kinks," I guess!






That afternoon after getting some sleep I walked the line looking for signs of groups crossing. This is one spot that people sometimes cross, but I did not find any signs of recent crossing.





This is facing away from the drain. Again, no signs here.

I walked some more and saw a few possible spots and took notes on where I wanted to place people.




Before nightfall I was informed that the Arizona Leader had to go to Three Points. I was asked to take the role of Sector Chief, which meant training a new Line Leader, "Stallion." Stallion is also from Tucson, and is even younger than myself. After only one day of "Line Leader" experience, it was a little intimidating having to train someone else, but it worked out alright.

That night was uneventful. Just walking from post to post to post, adding to the blisters on my feet.

The next night we saw action almost right away. Six or seven illegals were seen across the highway. They were called in right away, but Border Patrol took almost an hour to get there and no one was apprehended. Again this is because they were picking up people elsewhere and JUST DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH AGENTS to respond.

Not very long after that six or seven vans left the Huachucas, heavily weighed down. Unfortunately due to communications problems including a broken radio, they were not reported to Border Patrol.

Much of the night was spent at Comms, where Stallion and I would take a break after walking the line.

After returning to Comms from a walk on the line, they told us that a car had driven up the Huachucas and had not returned. It was odd, but not worth a call.

Getting near morning, we returned to Comms after walking the line again. Comms pointed us at the Huachucas and we saw a car very slowly coming down the mountain. There were people camping across the highway, so while it was odd, it was still not worth a call.

The car would move a bit, then stop for several minutes.







Then move a bit, then stop for several minutes.

I had everyone stay out of sight, but our vehicles were right across the street from where the car would leave the Huachucas- they would see our vehicles for sure. I got my camera ready and positioned myself behind a bush out of sight.

As soon as the car got to the highway, I realized it was a white Volvo - one that we had seen entering the Huachucas on a regular basis late at night during April. This particular car was driven by a female, and we suspected her of running drugs out of the mountains. Catching her in the act would just make my day!

She sat there for quite a while across the highway, lighting up our vehicles with her headlights. She then started shining a high-power flashlight in our direction, apparently trying to see if any Minutemen were there. Suddenly she gunned the engine and took off down the road. Camera rolling, I tried to get her plate. I thought I had failed until I got home later and was able to freeze-frame through the tape. For some reason unknown to me I feel it necessary to blur the plate.

Literally minutes after the Volvo, we got a call from a post saying that they saw a "pick-up." Or was that a "pickup?" Anyway, it was headed our way. I was not able to get the plate, but it was a red "pickup." Over the confusion, Border Patrol was not called. Unfortunately, the reporting post did mean "Pick-up," as in illegals were "picked up."

In the morning it was clear that about 4 illegals had crossed under a culvert while we were distracted by the red pickup pick-up. There had been suspicions almost immediately, but footprints confirmed them.