SITREP: Lessons from the Grey Zone: LTC Doc Pete Chambers on Conflict Resolution Along the Rio Grande

Live at 700pm ET this evening

The U.S.-Mexico border, especially along the Rio Grande, can be likened to a warzone where cartels and law enforcement clash in a murky "Grey Zone" of cross-border operations. To understand this brutal reality, we sat down with LTC Doc Pete Chambers, a seasoned expert who’s been mediating conflicts with multiple factions on both sides of the border, ranchers, Mexican community leaders, local law enforcement, missionaries, and occasionally cartel members themselves. His answers to our hard-hitting questions reveal the gritty truth of this sometimes dangerous work.

Watch this episode right here on Substack, or YouTube HERE or Rumble HERE at 700pm ET this evening.

Continue reading below. The SITREP for GUARDIANS is at the very end of this article.

Based upon his extensive experience with Foreign Internal Defense and Unconventional Warfare, paired with his experiences on Operation Lone Star, Chambers first tackled the unique challenges of mediating in the Rio Grande region. He described a chaotic landscape where legal and illegal forces collide, compounded by geopolitical tensions, and a wide range of atmospherics ranging from permissive to non-permissive environments. “You’re dealing with cartels who don’t play by any rules, law enforcement stretched thin, and a border that’s more of a suggestion than a barrier,” he said. He added, “It’s a complex geopolitical situation where humans are used as pawns in a struggle for destabilization of our nation.” “The innocent suffer through a myriad of twisted outcomes, none of which result in a ‘land of milk and honey’ outcome they were promised,” he went on to say. The Grey Zone’s blurred lines can make every negotiation a high-stakes gamble. Chambers emphasized that special operations forces typically dominate this type of irregular warfare, and the means utilized are typically more population-centric tools than those utilized in the direct approach.

When asked for a specific success, Chambers recounted his recent trip to a Mexican border town where the “Alcalde” Mayor welcomed him and his team to continue his work with local ministries after witnessing an atmospheric shift in a once dangerous neighborhood.

Gaining the truest of local municipalities, populace and law enforcement can be difficult. Gaining the trust of cartel members can be a brutal challenge. Chambers explained that cartels view conflict resolution with deep suspicion, often seeing it as a trap. “They think you’re either a fed or a rival,” he said. To get in the room, he relies on local intermediaries - often former cartel members - who can vouch for his neutrality. “It’s a slow grind, and one wrong move could end your whole mission, or worse,” he added, highlighting the razor-thin margin for error.

Corruption, Chambers said, is a constant roadblock. On both sides of the Rio Grande, cartels have long infiltrated institutions, and even U.S. officials aren’t immune to bribes. “You can’t trust anyone fully,” he admitted. He navigates this with prayer, keeping his circle tight and focusing on local players who still have some integrity. “It’s chaotic sometimes - but the first rule of working in a chaotic environment is to control the controllables,” he said.

Government policies often make things worse. The Trump administration’s 2025 decision to designate cartels as terrorist organizations spiked tensions, Chambers noted. “It shuts down dialogue fast - cartels see it as a declaration of war,” he explained. Militarization, like increased troop deployments, also fuels escalation, can make job harder. He used a medical analogy to describe the changes to the big picture, ‘The new administration has put a tourniquet on the bleed, that is good, but there is still a thousand cuts we must address.” At the tactical level, on the ground, he believes “when the numbers of illegal aliens crossing are manageable the seams and gaps are less evident to the bad guys and decreases their freedom of movement.” “There is an ever-changing shift of techniques, tactics, and practices we are always in search of understanding.”

Protecting civilians is a priority for Chambers, especially with over 460,000 homicides since 2006 and migrants routinely targeted by cartels. His most effective strategy has been creating “missions with a mission” in once highly trafficked border crossing zones. “You negotiate with both sides to let civilians live unharmed - it’s not perfect, but it works,” he said. He also works with local communities to set up early warning systems, giving people a heads-up when violence is brewing.

Drawing from his experience in global conflict zones like Afghanistan and Iraq Chambers applies lessons on tribal dynamics to the cartels. “They’re not so different from warlords - loyalty and revenge drive them,” he said. He uses those insights to predict cartel behavior, but the border’s unique mix of drugs and geopolitics makes it a beast of its own. “You can’t copy-paste strategies here,” he warned.

The rise of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) has forced Chambers to adapt. CJNG’s ultra-violent tactics - like mass killings to send a message—have made negotiations tougher. “They’re not afraid to burn it all down,” he said. He’s shifted to working with smaller factions that CJNG hasn’t absorbed, hoping to weaken their grip indirectly. “It’s like being a one-legged man in a butt kickin contest,” he admitted.

Looking ahead, Chambers is optimistic that his team’s faith based, human terrain focused conflict resolution operations will continue to spread down the Texas Mexico border. The successes in their first Area of Operations has resulted in several local churches and schools, an orphanage and a women’s shelter being affected in a positive manner. Understand these are on both sides of the border.

Chambers’ insights paint a factual picture of the Grey Zone - a place where every day can a fight for survival, but where now, there appears to be a glimmer of hope and the local populace is regaining their own permissive environment where their families can be raised in peace, on both sides of the border. His work, though fraught with danger at times, shows that even in the darkest corners of the border, there’s a chance to ‘stop the bleed’, one hard-won deal at a time.