This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Following his campaign promise to "seal the border on Day 1," President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 22 to "suspend the physical entry of aliens engaged in an invasion of the United States through the southern border."

Then calling upon the U.S. military to help fulfill his promise, over 9,000 U.S. troops were deployed at the southern border. But on March 1, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also ordered the deployment of a Stryker Brigade Combat Team and General Support Aviation Battalion to the southwestern border of the United States. According to Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, these forces will "reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States."

Each Stryker Brigade Combat Team is a mechanized infantry force comprising approximately 4,400 soldiers. The aviation component of the deployment will bring about 650 additional personnel to the region, along with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for command and medical evacuation, and CH-47 Chinooks for heavy lifting.

"These forces," said Parnell, "will arrive in the coming weeks, and their deployment underscores the department's unwavering dedication to working alongside the Department of Homeland Security to secure our southern border and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the United States under President Trump's leadership."

WorldNetDaily spoke to Ben Varlese, a global security expert and former Stryker brigade sniper. He described each variant of the eight-wheeled armored vehicle as "phenomenal," noting a number of different variants, ranging from mortar carriers to reconnaissance or infantry carrier vehicles.

Close-up view of the M1126 Stryker and its capabilities:

Most standard Strykers, he told WorldNetDaily, house a crew of 11, to include a driver, vehicle commander and two fire teams. "While I don't think we're calling for fire, mortars or artillery quite yet at the southern border," he noted, "the Stryker is definitely a force multiplier."

While operating from Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq in 2004-2005, Varlese was able to experience the tremendous value of the armored fighting vehicle. "A lot of the terrain was very similar to the southwest U.S.," he said, explaining, "they offer great mobility platforms for not only desert-type environments, but also for urban operations."

What's more, he told WND, "It's a big green beast, and there's no denying what it is or what it's capable of doing. Its presence alone is a passive deterrent."

With regard to its capabilities, said Varlese, "They often have a free mounted weapon system like a 50-caliber machine gun, Mk 19 (pronounced Mark 19) 40-mm automatic grenade launcher, or a videogame-like Remote Weapon System." Additionally, some also feature the long-range advanced scout surveillance system, or LRASSS, with standard or thermal viewing. And according to Varlese, "You could read somebody's name tape from a kilometer away."

"Remarkably, they're really quiet, too," he added. "We used to be able to pretty much park right in front of somebody's front door, and they didn't even know we were there until they heard the clank of the ramp dropping." Should these Strykers ever be used for conducting raids, the quietness feature is a big benefit.