LEWISTON – The Maine National Guard is preparing to send a task force of as many as 500 people – pilots, drivers, engineers and carpenters – to the U.S.-Mexico border next spring.

The reason: To have the Maine Army and Air Guard personnel be part of a force, ordered by President Bush, of 6,000 along the 2,000-mile border from California to Texas, the most-traveled land border in the world.

During their annual training – lasting two or three weeks – the Maine soldiers might build roads and fences or pilot helicopters along the border in Arizona.

“Nothing has been finalized,” said Capt. Shanon Cotta, spokesman for the Maine Guard. However, two delegations of Maine’s top officers have visited Arizona and met with the top officer in its guard, Maj. Gen. David P. Rataczak.

“He was open arms for us,” said Col. Gerald Dunlap, the chief of staff for the Maine Guard and part of the delegation that visited Arizona last week.

And he needs Maine’s help, Dunlap said.

During the visit, Maine officers went to border crossings at Nogales and Yuma, saw fences being built and went to some of the areas where more work is needed.

The program, meant to reduce the number of illegal border crossings, began about two months ago.

“They were overwhelmed by the jobs we can do,” Dunlap said.

Arizona wasn’t the first place the Maine soldiers offered their aid.

Immediately following the unveiling of the president’s plan, nicknamed “Operation Jump Start,” Maine officials called the Texas guard.

“They didn’t need our help,” Dunlap said. “Just one of their units is four times the size of the Maine guard.” The Maine Army National Guard has nearly 2,000 soldiers. The Air Guard has about 1,000 people.

State officials also contacted California and New Mexico but found the greatest need in Arizona.

If all goes as expected, the Maine soldiers would visit there next April and May, drawing from a mix of army and air units.

“We might be rotating crews of pilots from the 112th Medical Company,” Dunlap said. Soldiers from the 133rd Engineer Battalion, based in Lewiston and Norway, are also likely to be among the hundreds of Maine soldiers to head south.