SAN DIEGO \u2014 Two service members killed during a border security mission in New Mexico last week were identified as U.S. Marines based at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1st Marine Division identified them as Lance Cpl. Albert A. Aguilera, 22, of Riverside, California, and Lance Cpl. Marcelino M. Gamino, 28, of Fresno, California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were pronounced dead at University Medical Center of El Paso, Texas, the division said in a statement. A third Marine injured alongside them was in critical condition at the medical center, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three were in a vehicle that was a part of a caravan when it crashed Tuesday morning, the division said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crash in an area just north of El Paso was reported shortly before 9 a.m. on New Mexico\u2019s Highway 9 near the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station in Santa Teresa, NBC affiliate KTSM of El Paso<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marines were part of the military’s Joint Task Force Southern Border, which seeks to increase security along the U.S.-Mexico border. This year U.S. forces there came under consolidated military command after President Donald Trump declared an emergency and tapped the defense budget for the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 1st Marine Division said in a statement that Aguilera and Gamino were combat engineers with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion at Camp Pendleton. Gamino was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He deployed to Darwin, Australia, as part of a rotational force last year, the division said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n