DEL RIO, Texas – Four members of the Del Rio Sector Border Patrol Special Operations Detachment Dive Team traveled to Houston to train at NASA’s National Buoyancy Laboratory, Aug. 20.
the NASA National Buoyancy Laboratory
in Houston for a three-day training session.
Del Rio Sector BORSTAR (Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue) agents visited the NASA National Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston for a three-day training session, where they worked with U.S. and Russian astronauts to set up and participate in dive training scenarios. In addition, agents took advantage of the advanced features of the facility’s dive tank to hone their skills used to serve the community, such as underwater recovery operations.
BORSTAR provides specialized law enforcement search and rescue response from conventional to high-risk operations, Federal Emergency Management Agency mission assignments, national special security events, and specialized training support directed by the Department of Homeland Security for both domestic and foreign government agencies. The Del Rio Sector BORSTAR dive team are Public Safety Diving certified, which allows them to search and collect evidence for law enforcement.
“Our BORSTAR agents are trained in a wide range of capabilities which allows us to better serve our communities and to assist our law enforcement partners,” said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz. “The opportunity to utilize NASA’s world-class facilities comes rarely, if ever, and I wish to thank those at NASA and the NBL for allowing us to send our agents to train with them.”