Thread by @VeraMBergen

5 of the 39 units deployed to the border are public affairs units - public relations officers, photographers, media support staff. In less than a week, the Defense Department has posted more than 420 photos and videos of "Operation Faithful Patriot." buzzfeednews.com/article/verabe…

So far the US military is showcasing a burst of activity in 100s of photos/vids - troops arriving, building tents, stringing concertina wire.

Will be interesting if/when DOD's rate of media production slows to a crawl once initial work is done- the rest won't be very photogenic

Almost comical how many photos DOD posted of US troops stringing up concertina wire (not sure what that does to "defend" against migrants seeking asylum at points of entry). But then:

“I saw that beautiful barbed wire going up. Beautiful sight.” - Trump at rally on Saturday

Footnote: Last week the NORTHCOM chief told us the Pentagon has already has sent 22 miles of concertina wire to the border and has enough to cover 150 more. The US-Mexico border stretches more than 1,954 miles buzzfeednews.com/article/verabe…

According to the photos on DOD's media site, it looks like a good amount of time has been spent briefing troops about the conditions of their deployment to the border, complicated by how limited they are in what they can do.

When you see these images of US soldiers looking tough at the border, remember:
- no ground combat units
- not allowed to detain/arrest anybody
- barred from enforcing immigration/criminal law
- can't interact with migrants, go on patrol, man checkpoints buzzfeednews.com/article/verabe…

Some of the "Operation Faithful Patriot" b-roll videos posted by the US military are...odd.

Like this one of US troops putting up wire along the Rio Grande that includes footage of some poor random man washing himself? dvidshub.net/video/637240/a…

When Trump first deployed National Guard troops to the border in April, they soon found themselves without much to do, and were actually feeding and shoveling manure for Border Patrol horses.

"We fix flats" they told @BryanDBender politico.com/magazine/story…

Former DOD officials say National Guard at least could use border deployment for training purposes. Little for active duty troops to do "faced w migrants asking for asylum, or checking radars & using binoculars to call out 20 people coming in to find work" buzzfeednews.com/article/verabe…

And more "beautiful barbed wire" (in the words of the president) photos posted by the Pentagon

"You’re taking people who have been deployed over and over again, to Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, & and asking them to spend holidays away from their families unnecessarily. It’s miserable on a human standpoint, knowing your orders are silly to begin with.” buzzfeednews.com/article/verabe…