Company A Signal Corps Kentucky National Guard. In front of the Water Tower at Fort Thomas Ky circa 1916. Raids by Mexicans into Texas during the spring of 1916 brought a Federal call for troops for police duty along the border. The Kentucky Brigade was mobilized at Fort Thomas, on June 25, 1916. The Kentucky Brigade trained at Fort Thomas until August and then moved to Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. A camp for the Kentucky contingent was established about two miles from Fort Bliss and named Camp Owen Bierne. The Kentucky troops were used to patrol a sixty-mile stretch of the border along the Rio Grande to Fort Hancock. In February, 1917, the Kentucky Brigade was ordered back to Fort Thomas and was mustered out of the United States service and returned to home stations.​​​​​