In 1924, Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States; the Washington, D.C., Senators won the World Series; and the dual forces of Prohibition and immigration focused new attention on the security of the U.S. borders and how best to combat the smuggling of both liquor and aliens.

That year, Congress established the U.S. Border Patrol specifically to patrol and secure the United States’ northern and southern borders between inspection stations and, eventually, along the sea coast.

Since those early days, the Border Patrol has become one of the largest, most sophisticated law enforcement agencies in the country. And some of its most elite agents are members of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, or BORTAC.

Today, BORTAC responds to criminal activity and terrorist threats throughout the world to protect the United States. That’s a pretty tall order. But like the Border Patrol itself, BORTAC also had a humble start.