The honor guard, says Merriam, "was formed with the idea of first and foremost having a trained ceremonial team available to render final honors to a fallen officer." The honor guard also provides the agency with a professional, disciplined unit available to represent the organization in a wide variety of events, such as celebrations, ceremonies and memorials. But also, he says, "it's a great tool to conduct outreach in the community, which is especially important as CBP is trying to build our brand as a professional law enforcement agency."

"Border Patrol has done a very good job in San Diego in terms of getting out into the community," says Merriam. "Go to any local parade, and there's Border Patrol rolling down the street with four wheelers, horse patrol, and so on. We recognized the need for CBP's Office of Field Operations to do a better job of getting out into the community."

The honor guard has spent the past year performing at local parades, celebrations and sporting events. Recently, the honor guard performed at the San Diego September 11 memorial with local first responders. The highly trained volunteer officers and agents take great pride in their appearance, discipline and professionalism.

Merriam notes that with legacy Customs, there was an initiative 5-6 years ago to train and deploy honor guards out in the field. Many were stood up and continue to this day, most notably in Laredo. However, since 9/11, nothing formal has been approved to support and keep the honor guards going nationally in the Office of Field Operations. So locally, in San Diego, Director of Field Operations Adele Fasano approved formation of an honor guard representing them.

What is unique about San Diego's honor guard is that it is integrated with the San Diego Sector Office of Border Patrol. They train together and perform either separately or in unison as appropriate. It was Merriam's idea to bring them together. For training, he reached out to the San Diego Sector, whose honor guard had a "great reputation." Before the OFO unit actually formed, they got together on a few occasions to put performances together on short notice, such as to conduct a funeral. Since the formation of the OFO team, Merriam and San Diego Sector Honor Guard Commander Robert Soto and A-Chief Mike Gregg continue to seek out opportunities to promote CBP with joint OFO-OBP Honor Guard performances.

What is it like to have OFO and Border Patrol working together on the same honor guard? Merriam says, "we're much better together than separate. I'm a very big proponent of a unified workforce, and I see this as just one more step in that direction."

Working together on the honor guard, Merriam says, "has paid so many dividends. I can just pick up a phone and reach out to Border Patrol agents for mission support or assistance because of relationships started within the honor guard." He adds, "I'm trying to promote this attitude, to break down the walls out there, and this is one great way to do it."

Merriam says that the officers and agents became so close that they moved into one honor guard office in San Diego. Further, most performances are together. They went together to headquarters in May 2006 and performed in the CBP Valor Memorial ceremony, as well as many national law enforcement ceremonies in Police Week. However, they did also compete separately in the National F.O.P. Honor Guard Competition. To support the Honor Guard and Police Week activities, OFO and OBP uniform program personnel coordinated the design and issuance of new OFO Honor Guard uniforms.

The first joint academy took place at the end of October, with both OFO and Border Patrol representatives training officers and agents to become part of the honor guard. Again, says Merriam, "what's unique is that it's a joint academy, which will wind up performing together."

Merriam notes that the agency is taking the concept one step further, expanding into the Imperial Valley, including the Calexico and Andrade ports of entry and the El Centro office of Border Patrol. In addition to the planned expansion, a drummer has been added to the team and plans are underway to recruit and train bagpipers as well.

"Once you get blue and green working together in this environment, they can work together in other environments," says Merriam. He recalls working post-Katrina in New Orleans as one of the operations chiefs, putting agents and officers together in support missions. "It was such a positive experience, and left me with such a strong impression about the potential," he says. "I think it should be a model for the field offices and the sectors. The more people see what we're doing, the more they'll come on board."