The Sun Lakes Republican Club will feature “U.S. Border Security” with Ronald Colburn, former National Deputy Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at its monthly meeting Tuesday, March 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Arizona Room of the Sun Lakes Country Club, 25601 N. Sun Lakes Blvd., Sun Lakes, AZ 85248. The public is invited and encouraged to attend this important presentation on the status and history of our border security!
Ron Colburn has one of the most extensive backgrounds in border security in the world today, having served in critical operational positions in the field and at the headquarters of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency for over 30 years. In his role as National Deputy Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Chief Colburn helped to lead a workforce of over 20,000 individuals charged with the mission of protecting, defending, and enforcing America’s borders between lawful ports of entry and helped to lead the Border Patrol during a time of unprecedented scrutiny of America’s border security operations.
Chief Colburn previously served as Chief Patrol Agent of the Yuma Sector area of responsibility (AOR). At the time of his arrival in 2005, Yuma Sector was considered the most violent and dangerous stretch of the border. Chief Colburn oversaw the rapid deployment of additional manpower, National Guard support, tactical infrastructure and cutting-edge “smart border” technology. In less than two years under his direction, Yuma Sector was the stretch of national border with the most significant improvement in “operational control.”
Prior to leading the Yuma Sector, Mr. Colburn was the Senior Associate Chief of Southern Border Operations at U.S. Border Patrol Headquarters. From 2002 to 2003, he served a special tour of duty at the White House, serving as the Director of Law Enforcement at the Homeland Security Council (HSC) where he was responsible for developing policy and crafting the implementation of Homeland Security and national law enforcement initiatives. He is a founding member of the U.S. Border Patrol’s national special weapons and tactics unit known as BORTAC and completed the first-ever basic tactical operations training course in May 1984.
Currently, Mr. Colburn is a national security consultant with Command Consulting Group and has appeared on national news programs in that capacity. He currently resides in Peoria, AZ with his wife and represents one of four generations from his family with extensive Border Patrol experience. His grandfather patrolled the border in the early 1900’s with a Mounted Guard horse patrol unit. His father served nearly 30 years in various Border Patrol and INS positions and retired in the early 1990’s. Chief Colburn’s youngest son is currently a Supervisory U.S. Border Patrol Agent.
AZ State Rep. JD Mesnard will offer a brief update on the current AZ Legislative Session. For more information, visit our web site at www.slgop.org or contact Mike Tennant at 480-802-0178.