Maritime Safety and Security Team
Encyclopedia
A Maritime Safety and Security Team or MSST is a United States Coast Guard
anti-terrorism team established to protect local maritime
assets. It is a harbor and inshore patrol and security team that includes detecting and if necessary stopping or arresting submerged divers
, using the Underwater Port Security System
.
MSSTs were created under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) in direct response to the terrorist attacks on 11 Sept. 2001, and are a part of the United States Department of Homeland Security
's layered strategy directed at protecting seaports and waterway
s. MSSTs provide waterborne and a modest level of shoreside antiterrorism force protection for strategic shipping, high interest vessels, and critical infrastructure. MSSTs are a quick response force capable of rapid nationwide deployment via air, ground or sea transportation in response to changing threat conditions and evolving Maritime Homeland Security (MHS) mission requirements. Multi-mission capability facilitates augmentation for other selected Coast Guard missions.
MSST personnel receive training in Advanced Tactical Boat Operations and Anti-terrorism Force protection at the Joint Maritime Training Center at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
.
In 2007 MSSTs became a part of the new Coast Guard Deployable Operations Group
(DOG).
(PSU) and Law Enforcement Detachment
(LEDET) programs, MSSTs provide a complementary non-redundant capability designed to close critical security gaps in United States strategic seaports. MSSTs are staffed to support continuous law enforcement operations both ashore and afloat. In addition, MSSTs do these:
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
anti-terrorism team established to protect local maritime
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
assets. It is a harbor and inshore patrol and security team that includes detecting and if necessary stopping or arresting submerged divers
Anti-frogman techniques
Anti-frogman techniques are security methods developed to protect watercraft, ports and installations, and other sensitive resources both in or nearby vulnerable waterways from potential threats or intrusions by frogmen or other divers....
, using the Underwater Port Security System
Underwater Port Security System
The Coast Guard unveiled the system in February 2005 at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command in San Pedro, California.-Ship Protection System:...
.
MSSTs were created under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) in direct response to the terrorist attacks on 11 Sept. 2001, and are a part of the United States Department of Homeland Security
United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
's layered strategy directed at protecting seaports and waterway
Waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Waterways can include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
s. MSSTs provide waterborne and a modest level of shoreside antiterrorism force protection for strategic shipping, high interest vessels, and critical infrastructure. MSSTs are a quick response force capable of rapid nationwide deployment via air, ground or sea transportation in response to changing threat conditions and evolving Maritime Homeland Security (MHS) mission requirements. Multi-mission capability facilitates augmentation for other selected Coast Guard missions.
MSST personnel receive training in Advanced Tactical Boat Operations and Anti-terrorism Force protection at the Joint Maritime Training Center at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
In 2007 MSSTs became a part of the new Coast Guard Deployable Operations Group
Deployable Operations Group
The Deployable Operations Group is a United States Coast Guard command that provides properly equipped, trained and organized Deployable Specialized Forces to Coast Guard, DHS, DoD and inter-agency operational and tactical commanders...
(DOG).
Mission
Modeled after the Port Security UnitPort Security Unit
United States Coast Guard Port Security Units are deployable units organized for sustained force protection operations. They can deploy within 96 hours and establish operations within 24 hours. PSUs conduct OCONUS port security in support of requesting regional Combatant commander. They provide...
(PSU) and Law Enforcement Detachment
Law Enforcement Detachments
Law Enforcement Detachments or LEDETs are specialized, deployable maritime law enforcement teams of the United States Coast Guard. First established in 1982, their primary mission is to deploy aboard U.S. and allied naval vessels to conduct and support law enforcement, interdiction, or security...
(LEDET) programs, MSSTs provide a complementary non-redundant capability designed to close critical security gaps in United States strategic seaports. MSSTs are staffed to support continuous law enforcement operations both ashore and afloat. In addition, MSSTs do these:
- Jointly staffed to maximize effectiveness executing Port, Waterways, and Coastal Security (PWCS) operations (enforce security zones, port state control boardings, protection of military outloads and major marine events, augment shoreside security at waterfront facilities, detect WMD weapons/agents, and participate in port level antiterrorism exercises).
- Provide enhanced port safety and security and law enforcement capabilities to the economic or military significant port where they are based.
- Deploy in support of National Special Security EventNational Special Security EventA National Special Security Event is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity...
s (NSSEs) requiring Coast Guard presence, such as OpSail, Olympics, Republican & Democratic National ConventionNational ConventionDuring the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
s, major disasterDisasterA disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
s or storm recovery operations. - Prototype/employ specialized capabilities to enhance mission performance (K-9 program, radiation detectors, dive program, vertical insertion, running gear entangling systems, less-than-lethal weapons, etc.).
- Deploy on board cuttersUnited States Coast Guard CutterCutter is the term used by the United States Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. A Cutter is or greater in length, has a permanently assigned crew, and has accommodations for the crew to live aboard...
and other naval vessels for port safety and security, drugIllegal drug tradeThe illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
law enforcement, migrant interdiction, or other maritime homeland security mission requirements. - Support Naval Coastal Warfare requirements during Homeland Defense (HLD) and in accordance with long standing agreements with DODUnited States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
and the Combatant Commanders (protect strategic shipping, major naval combatants and critical infrastructure at home and abroad)
Capabilities
- Maritime interdiction and law enforcement
- Anti-terrorismTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
/Force Protection - CBRNCBRNCBRN is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is used to refer to situations in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC , which had replaced the term ABC that was used in the fifties...
-E Detection - Vertical InsertionFast-ropingFast-roping, sometimes known as Fast Rope Insertion Extraction System , is a technique for descending a thick rope. It is useful for deploying troops from a helicopter in places where the helicopter itself cannot touch down. First developed by the British with UK rope manufacturer Marlow Ropes,...
(commonly referred to as Fast Roping) - Search and RescueSearch and rescueSearch and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
(limited) - Port ProtectionPort securityPort security refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain...
/Anti-sabotageSabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is... - Underwater Port SecurityAnti-frogman techniquesAnti-frogman techniques are security methods developed to protect watercraft, ports and installations, and other sensitive resources both in or nearby vulnerable waterways from potential threats or intrusions by frogmen or other divers....
- CanineDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
Handling Teams (Explosive detectionExplosive detectionExplosive detection is a non-destructive inspection process to determine whether a container contains explosive material. Explosive detection is commonly used at airports, ports and for border control.-Dogs:...
) - Tactical Boat Operations
- Hook and Climb
- Non-compliant boarding operations
Commissioning schedule
- MSST 91101 -- Seattle (Established 2002)
- MSST 91102 -- ChesapeakeChesapeake, VirginiaAs of the census of 2000, there were 199,184 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 people per square mile . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 per square mile...
, Va. (Established 2002. Merged with TACLET North in 2004 to form the prototype Enhanced Maritime Safety and Security Team - "EMSST" which, in 2006 was finally named the Maritime Security Response Team - "MSRT;" the Coast Guard's only high-risk/counter-terrorism unit) - MSST 91103 -- Los AngelesLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
/Long BeachLong Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
(Established 2002) - MSST 91104 -- Houston/Galveston (Established 2002)
- MSST 91105 -- San Francisco (Established 2003)
- MSST 91106 -- Fort WadsworthFort WadsworthFort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower halves, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay and Manhattan beyond. Prior to closing in 1994 it claimed to be the longest...
, Staten Island, NY (Established 2003) - MSST 91107 -- Honolulu, HI (Established 2005)
- MSST 91108 -- St. Marys, GeorgiaSt. Marys, Georgia-See also:*Cumberland Island*St. Marys Historic District*St. Marys Railroad-External links:***...
(Established 2003) - MSST 91109 -- San Diego, CA (Established 2005)
- MSST 91110 -- BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, MA (Established 2003) - MSST 91111 -- Anchorage, AlaskaAnchorage, AlaskaAnchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
(Established 2004) (Disassembled 2011) - MSST 91112 -- New Orleans (Established 2004)
- MSST 91114 -- Miami, FL (Established 2005)