Every U.S. Coast Guard Special Operations Unit Explained
When it comes to United States military special operations, there are several units that capture the public spotlight. For the Navy, it’s the Navy SEALs. For the Army, it’s the Green Berets, or Army Rangers. But what about the Coast Guard?
From high-speed boat operations to the heart-stopping moments of boarding and searching vessels carrying illegal contraband, they undertake intense, high-stakes missions that only the best of the best can accomplish.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Deployable Specialized Forces might not be a household name, but they are an elite force of highly trained and incredibly skilled operators who are the tip of the spear in the fight against maritime threats.
With that said, what units make up Coast Guard Special Operations? What kinds of missions do they partake in? And, most importantly, what do they do?
Keep reading as we dive into one of the most unknown, yet capable special operations forces of the United States military: Coast Guard Special Operations.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: MARITIME SAFETY RESPONSE TEAMS (MSRT)
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: MARITIME SAFETY AND SECURITY TEAMS (MSST)
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: TACTICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TEAMS (TACLET)
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: PORT SECURITY UNITS (PSU)
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: NATIONAL STRIKE FORCE (NSF)
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: CONCLUSION
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: MARITIME SAFETY RESPONSE TEAMS (MSRT)
Driving a submarine full of illegal drugs and hoping to smuggle them into the United States? Not with MSRT around, you won’t. Unless you want a team of MSRT operators boarding your vessel and taking you to jail.
As the Coast Guard’s only offensively oriented counterterrorism team, Coast Guard Maritime Safety Response Teams are the first call when dealing with hijacked ships and neutralizing terrorist situations in open waters. They have a critical role in the Department of Homeland Security’s maritime defense strategy, being strategically placed on both coasts in Chesapeake, Virginia, and San Diego, California.
But here’s the cool thing, even though the Coast Guard as a whole falls under the DHS and focuses on domestic matters, the MSRT is capable of rapidly deploying worldwide in response to incidents. For example, they've been deployed to the Middle East, where they’ve played a significant role in drug interdiction and anti-piracy operations around the Persian Gulf. As a highly capable counterterrorism unit, MSRT members have a lot of tools in their toolbelt.
MSRT members are trained in direct action, advanced interdiction, hostage rescue and personnel recovery, small unit tactics, counter assault, tactical maritime law enforcement, VBSS, K9 explosive detection teams, and CBRN, and they even have diving capabilities. That means that if you serve in the MSRT, you could be in the Coast Guard, yes, the Coast Guard, working as a sniper, going on dives, working with canines, being a JTAC, breaching, practicing ship boarding procedures and assaults, and a whole slew of other things.
If you’re familiar with what a Navy SEAL does, you’ll notice there’s a lot of overlap in what they do - that’s why the MSRT has been known to frequently train with them and other SOF forces, as well as the Secret Service, FBI, and BORTAC. With so many skills to keep up with, when the MSRT isn’t deployed or on a mission, they spend their time training.
Additionally, the MSRT consists of several elements that work in tandem to execute and complete its missions. There are the Direct Action Sections, which serve as the assault element, the Precision Marksmen Observer Teams, which provide overwatch for the Direct Action Sections, the Tactical Delivery Teams, who transport the Direct Action Sections to their objectives, and the CBRNE section, which counters CBRNE terrorist threats in the maritime domain.
For those interested in joining this community, Maritime Enforcement Specialists mostly do the boots-on-ground work, as well as some Boatswain's Mates. Otherwise, various rates typically serve in support roles for mission success. Just keep in mind that working in the MSRT, as well as the other units we’re going to cover, are billets, not careers. Chances are high that you will not be spending your entire career in these lines of work.
Needless to say, the Coast Guard MSRT is an elite unit that makes a giant impact on the Coast Guard and SOF community as a whole. With the motto “We Own the Night," it’s safe to say MSRT is always alert and ready for whatever comes their way.
With MSRT covered, let’s move on to our next Coast Guard Deployable Specialized Forces unit, Maritime Safety and Security Teams.
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: MARITIME SAFETY AND SECURITY TEAMS (MSST)
The Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Teams might only be one letter and word away from their MSRT counterparts, but that slight difference means a hell of a lot.
Instead of being a reactive counter-terrorism unit like the MSRT, the MSSTs are proactive anti-terrorism units that prevent and defend against attacks. In other words, they’re more protective than offensive, but they’re fully capable of packing a powerful punch if push comes to shove.
In a nutshell, MSSTs provide waterborne security and serve as counterterrorism force protection for domestic and international waterways. They’re boat units that are used to prevent or deter potential terrorist attacks on the seas, bolster force protection operations, enforce laws, increase port security, aid with search and rescue, and board hostile ships in and around American waters.
In the unfortunate event that things go south, MSSTs can be utilized as a quick response force capable of quickly deploying anywhere, both domestically and internationally. For example, MSSTs have provided support for high-threat events such as the presidential inauguration, the G-20 summit, international piracy missions, and even the Superbowl!
The rates that generally make up MSSTs consist of BMs, MKs, and MEs, but there are also others such as ETs, DCs, HSs, and GMs.
With MSSTs covered, let’s move on to the Coast Guard’s Tactical Law Enforcement Teams.
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: TACTICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TEAMS (TACLET)
If you’re a modern-day pirate, you wouldn’t want to run into a Coast Guard TACLET. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Teams, referred to as TACLETs in short, are a specialized force that carries out anti-piracy, maritime interdiction, security, and counter-narcotics operations. For example, when there are drug smugglers trying to get drugs into the country, you can bet your ass that TACLET teams will be there trying to stop them. They will go onboard the drug boats, arrest the crew, seize the drugs, and hand them all over to the Feds.
TACLETs deploy on Coast Guard or other allied vessels to do these counter-drug operations. They often work with HITRON, which is the Coast Guard’s Airborne Use of Force component, to help them disable the drug vessels and interdict smuggling. That means a Coast Guardsmen will be using a .50 cal sniper from a moving helicopter to shoot at a moving drug vessel to disable its engine, and then the TACLET teams rush in to get the drug smugglers and their contraband. Yeah, the Coast Guard does some pretty cool shit.
There are two TACLET locales: TACLET South, which is located in Miami, and PACTACLET, which is located in San Diego. Each TACLET consists of Law Enforcement Detachments, or LEDETs, who operate in 8-11-man teams. They’ve been known to deploy with the U.S. Navy, British Navy, the Canadian Navy, and the New Zealand Navy. Pretty much any allied warship that is transiting a known drug trafficking route will have TACLET personnel on it.
The rates that generally make up TACLETs are MEs, with a few BMs, MKs, and other support rates scattered if needed.
With TACLETs covered, let’s move on to Port Security Units.
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: PORT SECURITY UNITS (PSU)
If you want to be a reservist in the Coast Guard, but still have a pretty cool job, Port Security Units might be the career for you. Staffed primarily with reservists, PSUs are the Coast Guard's expeditionary forces that provide security and force protection to forward-deployed base camps and ports around the world. While they usually operate in United States waters under the Coast Guard’s command, they can be quickly called upon elsewhere at the DoD’s request. And they’re quick at it, too. PSUs can deploy within 96 hours and establish operations within 24 hours of arrival.
PSUs are trained to respond to various security threats, such as terrorism, sabotage, or subversion, and are utilized in both the ground and maritime domains. For example, PSUs operate highly maneuverable and armed transportable port security boats, or TPSBs, while also offering land-based security forces that complement the waterborne operations. Thus, in tandem, they provide waterborne and limited land-based anti-terrorism and force protection for shipping and critical port facilities. What’s pretty cool about this is that PSUs are the only Coast Guard element that provides ground combat security capability to the Coast Guard.
There are three main divisions of a Port Security Unit: The Waterside and Landside Security Divisions, and the Engineering Division. The Waterside Security Division mostly consists of Boatswain Mates and Machinery Technicians who operate the armed transportable port security boats. The Landside Security Division mostly consists of Maritime Enforcement Specialists. The Engineering Division is composed of Machinery Technicians (MK), Damage Controlmen (DC), Electronics Technicians (ET), and Electricians Mates (EM), who are all trained in machinery operation and maintenance to ensure that the PSU is fully mission capable. There’s support and logistics too, so you can find just about any rate at a PSU.
Again, this is a billet that is mostly handed out to reservists, but keep in mind that they are deployed much more often than the rest of the Coast Guard reserves.
With Port Security Units covered, let’s move on to the National Strike Force.
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: NATIONAL STRIKE FORCE (NSF)
The Coast Guard’s National Strike Force is a vital national asset and specialized force responsible for responding to environmental and maritime hazards, such as oil spills, hazardous waste releases, and other environmental emergencies.
The National Strike Force has the ability to respond rapidly to any location within the United States and its territories, as well as internationally, to assist with the containment and cleanup of hazardous substance releases. The National Strike Force also works closely with federal, state, and local agencies to provide technical support and expertise in response to environmental incidents.
One such example that showcases the National Strike Force’s capabilities was its response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill of 2010. The National Strike Force played a significant role in what is the largest environmental disaster the Coast Guard has ever dealt with. At the height of the effort, they oversaw an armada of over 6,000 vessels, 120 aircraft, and nearly 50,000 Coast Guard and civilian personnel to deal with the spill that was spewing 60,000 barrels per day for nearly 90 days.
The National Strike Force consists of three strike teams, which are the Atlantic Strike Team, Gulf Strike Team, and Pacific Strike Team. These Strike Forces are comprised of a unique, highly trained cadre of Coast Guard professionals who maintain and rapidly deploy with specialized equipment and possess incident management skills such as chemical handling, emergency response, and hazardous materials management. With such a highly trained community, the NSF is recognized worldwide as an expert authority in the preparation for and response to the effects resulting from oil discharges, hazardous substance releases, weapons of mass destruction events, and other emergencies on behalf of the American public.
Through standardized, job-specific training, the National Strike Force propels responders toward increasing levels of expertise and crisis leadership so they are ready at any time, any place, and for any hazard.
Unlike the other units covered in this blog post, there are quite a few rates that can find themselves in this line of work, such as MSTs, BMs, MKs, YNs, ET, EM, DC, and HS.
COAST GUARD SPECIAL OPERATIONS: CONCLUSION
With the National Strike Force wrapped up, it’s safe to say that there’s more to the Coast Guard than meets the eye. While at times the Coast Guard might be the butt of the joke when compared to the other branches, there are some awesome opportunities out there for people who want to serve their country, and they definitely play a critical role in our national security. Just remember, if you’re interested in joining the Coast Guard, jobs in the Deployable Specialized Forces are typically billets, not careers, so don’t go into this thinking you can do a whole 20 years on this side of the Coast Guard. Do your research, and ask around!
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