View Full Version : New Mount for the Texas Rangers
The TEXAS DPS - New 36 ft. Patrol/Gunboat [pictured at the Homer Garrison Law Enforcement Academy , in Austin ]
As many know, we here in Texas have a border problem. Lake Falcon is a lake that borders Texas and Mexico. Last year several boaters were killed by drug cartel folks from the other side. We are now aware that the automatic weapons used in the killings were probably from "Fast and Furious". When Texas joined the Union as a sovereign nation in 1836 we retained the right to have a Navy to ward off the Mexicans since the United States refused to protect us. This is our first Naval vessel of this century, small but potent. It will soon be safe to fish and boat on the Lake Falcon this summer. Just about every Texan is prepared to be in a gun fight, and you can't have enough guns.
Designed and built to patrol Falcon Lake . . . The armaments on board Include 5 - static mounted [2 dual & 1 single] FN M240B 7.62×51 mm NATO Light machine guns, 2 - Barrett .50 BMG Sniper Rifles, and other assorted 5.56 rifles, 9mm sub machine guns, and grenade launchers.
Is that Lt JG Purple in the foreground??? :D
Streck-Fu
02-13-2012, 09:27
This is our first Naval vessel of this century, small but potent.
It seems Texas needs it's own CAS aircraft as much as a boat. ;)
They belong to the Highway Patrol's Tactical Marine Division and are called 34-foot shallow water interceptors. The DPS has ordered six of them at a cost of around $600k each to be used to patrol the Rio Grande River, international lakes (Lake Falcon is one), and the Intracoastal Waterway. They will be named in honor of fallen DPS officers killed in the line of duty in each of the state’s six regions.
Lots of controversy around the state over the last couple of years over the need and cost of these boats.
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Badger52
02-13-2012, 10:09
Triple-Mercs; no power-loading at your mom & pop boat launch. I want one.
They belong to the Highway Patrol's Tactical Marine Division and are called 34-foot shallow water interceptors. The DPS has ordered six of them at a cost of around $600k each to be used to patrol the Rio Grande River, international lakes (Lake Falcon is one), and the Intracoastal Waterway. They will be named in honor of fallen DPS officers killed in the line of duty in each of the state’s six regions.
Lots of controversy around the state over the last couple of years over the need and cost of these boats.
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
It's good Texas has it's own oil resources.. Dem is thirsty puppies..
..........Lots of controversy around the state over the last couple of years over the need and cost of these boats.
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Hmmm, those that don't live near fire danger areas don't want to kick out the money for more fire trucks - and now those that don't use the water don't want to pay for patrol boats.
They should just get some Federal Grants for the boats - then they would be "Free".
mojaveman
02-13-2012, 11:15
Americans citizens in Texas being attacked by Mexican cartel members?
I suport the idea completely and hope that the next time those banditos try to hurt our folks the Texas DPS blows them out of the water.
Those boats look like a smaller version of the PBRs that were used by the USN on the Mekong River during the Vietnam War.
RichL025
02-13-2012, 11:33
...We are now aware that the automatic weapons used in the killings were probably from "Fast and Furious". ...
Not to be overly nit-picky, but if they came from "Fast and Furious" I doubt they were automatic weapons, unless the federal laws regarding full auto are different in Texas?
Semi-automatic perhaps, or, if the weapons used against US citizens were indeed fully automatic, perhaps they came from the southern border of Mexico from one of the states awash in full auto AKs after their insurgencies...
Apologize if I sound overly nit-picky, but the blurring if this distinction is something the mainstream media does too much on its own...
Great looking boat and a great idea! Maybe this will let the cartels know we are getting serious.
Oldrotorhead
02-13-2012, 17:59
It seems Texas needs it's own CAS aircraft as much as a boat. ;)
Texas Has CAS of sorts.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/18/americas-war-texas-mounts-counterinsurgency-effort/
“I never thought that we’d be in this paramilitary type of engagement. It's a war on the border," said Captain Stacy Holland with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Holland leads a fleet of 16 state-of-the-art helicopters that make up the aviation assets used by the Texas DPS to fight Mexican drug cartels.
Texas DPS troops in chopper
Mexican drug traffickers w machete
Mex drug traffickers point weapon
Related Stories
America's Third War: National Guard's New Mission
Related Video
Securing the Border With Mexico
U.S. battle against Mexican drug dealers
In recent years, the cartels have become bolder and more ruthless.
They cross the border with AK-47s on their backs, wearing military camouflage. They recruit in prisons and schools on the American side. Spotters sit in duck blinds along the Rio Grande and call out the positions of the U.S. Border Patrol.
To combat the cartels, the Texas Department of Public Safety is launching a counterinsurgency.
Tactical strike teams send field intelligence they gather to Austin to a joint operation intelligence center, or JOIC in military terminology.
“It certainly is a war in a sense that we’re doing what we can to protect Texans and the rest of the nation from clearly a threat that has emerged over the last several years,” said Former FBI prosecutor Steve McCraw, who runs the undeclared "war."
And now that there is added pressure on the cartels, the drug runners are employing new techniques, known as a splash down. When the heat is on, they attempt to return to Mexico with the drugs, often times in broad daylight. And because the Texas law enforcement’s authority ends at the border -- in this case the river -- they even have time to put on their life jackets.
“The cartels may be ruthless, they may be vicious, they may be cowardly ... but they’re not stupid,” said McCraw. “They’ll adapt their tactics and recently they’ve adapted their tactics to utilize smaller loads, cross with rafts, stolen vehicles on our side.”
President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have recently said the Mexican border is more secure now than it has been in 20 years, but some along this border strongly disagree.
"To suggest the southwest border is secure is ridiculous," said Holland
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/18/americas-war-texas-mounts-counterinsurgency-effort/#ixzz1mJEU2wrr
Red Flag 1
02-13-2012, 18:22
Great looking boat and a great idea! Maybe this will let the cartels know we are getting serious.
Very nice start. I did not see any radar, sure hope they equip them with every bell and whistle out there. You can be sure the cartels wil use everything they can get.
Go get 'em Texas, good on ya.
RF 1
Double Duty...
Texas also has a huge problem on its lakes with boaters drinking and boating. Last I heard the safety / captains boating course was free yet fewer than 10% or so of boaters take the course.
I'm sure there might be some time for additional maritime enforcement duties.
Peregrino
02-14-2012, 20:58
Great looking boat and a great idea! Maybe this will let the cartels know we are getting serious.
Not so sure about the "we" part, but maybe Texas is. Good on them. Would be nice if the feds could be counted on to do their Constitutional duty.
The Reaper
02-14-2012, 21:19
Not so sure about the "we" part, but maybe Texas is. Good on them. Would be nice if the feds could be counted on to do their Constitutional duty.
Not this year.
Maybe next, if we all do our duty and we get a little luck.
TR
With the latest SCOTUS decision on the Arizona laws, The Texas Navy gets some PR coverage..
(CBS News) DALLAS - One of the central issues in Monday's Supreme Court ruling on immigration was whether states can police their international borders. In Texas, they've decided to defend themselves from drug smugglers -- and authorities are using a surprising new weapon to combat the cartels.
Supreme Court strikes down part of Ariz. law
Arizona Supreme Court decision: A mixed bag for Obama
Video from Texas State Police shows them chasing a pick-up truck, its bed loaded down with drugs destined for sale in the U.S.
The drug runners, once cornered, race back to the border to escape capture.
"They do not care who they run over," said Lt. Charlie Goble, who patrols the Rio Grande Valley. "They do not care how many felonies they commit while they're doing so, their goal is to get away from law enforcement."
The cartels' latest escape technique is something called a "splashdown."
"They just splash their vehicle right into the river," Goble said. "We have seen them jump off 30-foot cliffs into the river."
continued:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57460103/texas-navy-fights-drug-traffickers-escapes-on-the-rio-grande/?tag=stack
Let's hear it for the TDPS.. :D:lifter:D:lifter
I hope Texas doesn't use these boats in the Red River Shootout. Boomer Sooner:D
greenberetTFS
06-26-2012, 06:57
Look's to me like a damn good idea...........:D:D:D
Big Teddy :munchin
A little bit more video of some of the first to start patrolling Texas waters.
I like how smooth the wake is.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/03/texas-rolls-out-gunboats-to-combat-violence-spilling-over-river-border-with/#ixzz1zd22Mxhp
Stargazer
07-04-2012, 07:20
I hope the border states that are gateways and hardest hit by the flow of illegal immigrants (unauthorized) continue to raise awareness of the problems and costs.