Cowboys, fighter jets and US Border Patrol - inside Trump's big recruitment drive

Image source, BULL STOCK MEDIA Image caption, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) staged an event at the US Air Force Academy in conjunction with Space Force to celebrate America 250 By Sheila Flynn Reporting from Colorado Springs Published 25 minutes ago It's a sweltering Saturday in Colorado Springs as 33 new recruits, some of them baby-faced, line up to be sworn in at the Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium. Off in the wings, there are chaps-clad bull riders waiting to battle against 1,600lb (725kg) horned bovines. It's an in-your-face marriage of Western grit, rodeo and military strength. Billed as Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Space Cowboys, the one-off event is celebrating America's 250th anniversary. But the spectacle is not just trying to draw fans to rodeo, but also to branches of America's military and law-enforcement agencies. Space Force - a military branch for space - co-sponsored the event and is recruiting on site, as is US Border Patrol. It is an example of the unique ways that the US military and Border Patrol are trying to boost recruitment, as President Donald Trump focuses on strengthening the country at home, abroad - and in outer space. Image source, BULL STOCK MEDIA Image caption, The PBR Space Cowboys event drew more than 30,000 people Recruiting at a rodeo may seem random, but PBR CEO Sean Gleason, beaming in a cowboy hat during the day's events, says it's a natural fit. "Our cowboys, and the cowboys in our audience, they believe in hard work, honesty, integrity, help your neighbour, some selflessness," he told the BBC. "So that's what it takes to be in the military or in the US Border Patrol or any type of first responder." The rodeo has had a relationship with Border Patrol since 2008. But the agency has been under a spotlight since Trump has pushed forward with his crackdown on immigration. As part of his focus on his signature election campaign issue, Trump signed a law last summer mandating the hiring of 3,000 new Border Patrol agents. Just this month, he signed another bill allocating $70bn (£52.9bn) to border security for the remainder of his time in office, including $26bn specifically for Border Patrol. Much of that money has been earmarked for recruiting and retention, and the agency announced this week that it has surpassed 21,000 agents for the first time since its founding in 1924. Image caption, US Border Patrol has been "the Official Federal Law Enforcement Officers of the Professional Bull Riders" since 2008 Those intensified recruitment efforts were on full display at the rodeo, when a Border Patrol SUV and recruitment tent were parked smack in the middle of the Fan Zone outside the arena. Children lined up for junior rodeo games just a few feet away from Border Patrol officers, as live country music blared from a massive stage. Cody Price "hadn't really thought about" Border Patrol, he says, until he spotted the half-dozen recruiters. The 18-year-old has been accepted to University of Colorado Boulder but de