Post-Election Day, Pentagon drops name for border support mission

By LUIS MARTINEZ ELIZABETH MCLAUGHLIN Nov 7, 2018, 2:25 PM ET

The day after a mid-term election in which President Trump played up the Pentagon's mission to provide logistical support along the southern border, the Pentagon said Wednesday it will no longer publicly refer to the mission as Operation Faithful Patriot. Instead, the deployment of active duty troops will be referred to as what it's always been: a border support mission.

“We are not calling it Operation Faithful Patriot, we are calling it a border support mission,” said Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

The name had been used by U.S. Northern Command for the 45-day deployment of more than 7,000 active duty personnel to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the border ahead of the arrival of migrant caravans making their way to the border from Central America.

A U.S. official said the change occurred Tuesday at the request of Defense Secretary James Mattis. It was unclear if the timing of the request was tied to Election Day or if it was merely coincidental.

Two other officials said that the military can still use Operation Faithful Patriot internally, but not in public communication. One of the officials said this was being done to highlight that the military was not the lead for the mission, but was providing support to CBP along the border.

-snip-