By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s Border Patrol sector welcomed new Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens with a change of command ceremony Friday, Feb. 18, at the Del Rio Civic Center.
Acting Deputy Patrol Agent Robert Danley served as the master of ceremonies for the event, introducing members of Owens’ family who attended and welcoming distinguished guests and elected and law enforcement leaders from the community.
After the presentation of the colors, Owens’ daughter-in-law, Meredith Owens, sang the National Anthem, and Owens’ fiancé, Casandra Lynn Garcia, led those present in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Customs and Border Protection Chaplain Gordon Harmon offered the invocation.
Danley introduced U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul L. Ortiz, a Del Rio native, who formerly served as chief of the Del Rio Sector and became chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in August 2021. Danley reviewed Ortiz’s career posts and accomplishments.
Ortiz thanked Owens’ family members and noted how important it was to be surrounded by family. He then recognized the members of the Border Patrol family, city of Del Rio leaders and local law enforcement partners.
“Anyone can hold the helm when the seas are calm, but when it’s rough, that’s when it requires true leadership, and what we expect from our leaders today is probably much different from what we expected 40 or 50 years ago, maybe even 97-and-a-half years ago, when the Border Patrol started,” Ortiz said.
“I think one of the things a leader that needs these days is compassion. Compassion for the workforce and the communities you represent and for the individuals we encounter each and every day. I think a leader needs to have vision. You’ve got to be able to think two or three steps ahead before those situations and problems are at your doorstep. You’ve got to have patience, and I’ve learned that after spending several years in D.C. You’ve got to have patience, Chief Owens,” Ortiz added.
Ortiz said the chief will also need resolve, resilience and a willingness to embrace change and called Owens a “transformational leader.”
“Chief Owens has checked every box. He has proven himself as an exemplary leader. We asked him to go to Iraq, and he went. We asked him to go to Central America, and he went. Then I asked him to come to south Texas, and he stayed. Then we sent him up to the northern border, Houlton, Maine, awfully cold up there, and he enjoyed that for a few years,” Ortiz said.
“Then we asked him to do probably one of our most important jobs, training our new agents. He became the chief of the Border Patrol Academy, and he was able to mold some of those young minds coming through our academy to ensure that we can continue to be successful as an organization.
“As we think about Chief Owens and what he has done in his career, I can tell you that he has done a phenomenal job, and there is no better person poised to execute this mission than Chief Owens. As chief of the Border Patrol and a former member of this community, I take great pride in the fact that Del Rio is as committed a sector as any of the 20 we have out there, and they really do a tremendous job of partnering with the leadership, with the partner agencies and with the citizens. Chief Owens, I’m excited to see what you do here,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz then administered the oath of office to Owens and passed to the new chief the green and gold agency guidon, affixed with 21 streamers representing the agency’s 20 sectors and the Border Patrol Academy.
Following the formal change of command, Owens addressed the audience, thanking all those who attended.
“I often said at the academy that there are very few people who can relate or know what it’s like to wear this uniform, except for those of us who have been there, and that’s what makes us close. When we go through the tough times, like what we’re going through right now, the only people we can turn to are each other, because there’s no one else who can understand what it’s like to do this job,” Owens said.
“We will always be here. We will outlast this, and we will be better off for it, and those that said we wouldn’t will be long gone. That’s who we are. We do the jobs no one else wants to do, and we go places no one else wants to go, and we do those jobs better than anyone else can do them. That’s my team, that’s my family,” Owens added.
Owens said he also saw a unique coming-together of the agency, its law enforcement partners and the Del Rio community in weathering the Haitian immigrant crisis in September 2021.
“And when you see something like that, how can you not want to be a part of it? . . . I am proud and honored to be a part of this community,” Owens said.
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