>> When I first started working my job was to support the captain of the boat,
and one of our primary focuses was gathering information and intelligence.
>> It allows the vessel to get into areas that the agents
may not necessarily be able to get into on shore due to lack of access.
So it expands the operating environment.
>> I already knew the area from the ground, working from a vehicle, responding to sensor traffic,
responding to trails that went through the brush and through the grass, through the farmland.
Working on a boat I got a better sense of how the traffic moved,
how the aillegal aliens were smuggled through the area.
I could see where they originated, where they crossed from Mexico
across the Rio Grande River and landed on the U.S. side.
>> There were a lot of different variables out there, heat, wind, of course weather.
>> Safety is always a key in your mind.
You have to be aware of everything because you're a target in the river.
>> On the water you're in the open. You're very exposed.
The noise level is extremely high;
extremely hard to communicate, to hear each other and to hear the radio.
It's very challenging in that regard.
The obstacles in the water, you encounter a lot of different things,
livestock, people swimming, fishermen, logs, rocks,
all those things to take into consideration when you're piloting the airboat.
>> We respond to a lot of rescue situations, a lot of body recoveries.
There's a lot of people that try and cross the river that don't know how to swim,
and the current in the Rio Grande River is deceptive, very strong.
[radio talk]
So we identify and locate bodies pretty frequently.
>> The RSDV will be able to operate in as little as 4 inches of water.
The safe boat, they can't operate in that.
Then you have the airboat.
It'll complement the airboat in areas which is right now it will operate only during daytime hours.
The RSDV will be able to operate 24/7 so they'll split the capabilities with the airboats.
It adds to the overall operations within each sector to use in their operations day to day.