More restrictions placed on travel to Mexico - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

More restrictions placed on travel to Mexico

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The top commander here has ordered that all Marines, including officers and senior enlisted Marines, must have their unit’s permission before traveling to Mexico.

Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, I Marine Expeditionary Force commander, issued the tighter rules only a few weeks after he and other senior Marine Corps and Navy regional commanders clamped down on travel south of the border, where escalating violence between warring drug cartels is blamed for the deaths of nearly 6,000 people last year.

Recent media reports have suggested that Tijuana specifically is off limits, but a closer look at Helland’s updated Mexico travel policy shows that’s not exactly right.

“All I MEF personnel traveling to Mexico on leave, liberty or official business [must] possess a liberty chit signed by the first O-5 or higher in the traveler’s chain of command,” Helland’s policy states. I MEF includes West Coast-based infantry, aviation and logistics units.

The previous policy, adopted Dec. 24, required liberty chits only for staff sergeants and below.

In recent months, Mexican military personnel and police have confronted drug-trafficking organizations using automatic weapons, grenades and rocket-propelled grenades, officials have said.

“Due to the degree of prolonged, escalating violence, I MEF will extend the current liberty policy to a standing policy for all travel to Mexico,” the new policy states. “This is a prudent step in addressing the real threat to our personnel by ensuring a baseline level of oversight for any travel into the area. I MEF will continue to assess the situation and relax or tighten these procedures accordingly.”

The policy also applies to Marines and I MEF sailors whose immediate families live in Mexico.

Unit commanders can order stricter rules for their personnel, and since the Dec. 24 regional order, some units already were requiring liberty chits for all Marines and sailors who want to go to Mexico.

Under that broader policy, troops traveling to Mexico must:

• Use the “buddy system” with an approved liberty buddy.

• Receive a security brief.

• Complete the “Level I” anti-terrorism training class within the past 12 months.

• Register with the U.S. consulate in Mexico at http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/registration/registration_1186.html.