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Quietly situated off a remote road in St. Marys, Georgia,
Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) Kings Bay is one of six
Coast Guard
Atlantic Area (LANTAREA) MSSTs. The building is unassuming when
viewed from outside its compound, as it adjoins a municipal police
department and offers little to categorize it as a Coast Guard unit
with such a significant impact. Inside the compound, six response
boats, a dozen government vehicles, and men and women bustling about
in operational dress uniforms hint that an operational Coast Guard
unit exists in rural Camden County, Georgia.
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July 25, 2016 - Crewmembers from Maritime Safety and Security Team
Kings Bay, Georgia, trailer a Response Boat-Small near cornfields in
West Virginia, following an escort and point protection operation
for the Republican National Convention. MSSTs are part of the Coast
Guard’s Deployable Specialized Forces and travel where needed to
support Coast Guard Operations. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty
Officer 2nd Class Frank L. Vaca)
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However, an individual may be more inclined to see MSST
Kings Bay members and assets driving through the back roads
of Indiana, or on the waters of the Ohio River than at their
unassuming base in St. Marys. To describe the MSSTs’
operating area, a globe would be an appropriate reference,
as MSSTs spend a significant amount of time on the road,
with operations spanning an area of responsibility not
limited by traditional geographic boundaries.
For this last year alone, MSST Kings Bay accumulated over 100,000
miles on their vehicles to trailer boats up and down the highways in
support of 25 operations and 14 different sector commanders. Their
missions took them north to Bar Harbor, Maine, where they engaged in
Ports Waterways and Coastal Security (PWCS) providing escorts
for high capacity passenger vessels, and as far south as the
Caribbean, employing a concept of operations where a Tactical Law
Enforcement Team detachment is teamed with a MSST non-compliant
vessel pursuit crew aboard a
179-foot Navy patrol craft conducting counter-drug and migrant
interdiction boardings to support the commandant’s
Western Hemisphere Strategy.
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January 17, 2017 - The Cyclone-class Patrol Coastal USS Shamal (PC
13), front, and USS Zephyr (PC 8), rear, return to Naval Station
Mayport, Fla., after completing a 64 day patrol in the U.S. 4th
Fleet area of responsibility. Marking the completion of their first
patrols in fiscal year 2017, Zephyr’s patrol resulted in one
interdiction entailing the seizure of 900 kilograms of cocaine and
detaining four personnel in support of Operation MARTILLO. (U.S.
Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael
Hendricks)
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Most recently, two non-compliant vessel pursuit crews
from MSST Kings Bay joined law enforcement detachments from
both coasts and deployed aboard USS Zephyr and USS Shamal
for an approximate 60-day counter-narcotics patrol. This
unique collaboration of forces and capabilities resulted in
the largest seizure for this operational concept to date, a
record 900 kilograms of cocaine estimated at over $30
million in street value. After being designated a pursuit
unit last year, MSST Kings Bay quickly qualified boat crews
on this new assigned competency improving LANTAREA’s
versatility to support this latter mission set./p>
On an international training front, MSST Kings Bay members
deployed to Saudi Arabia to teach boat tactics to their aspiring
border guard and to Belize to instruct their coast guard on boat
handling and navigation skills.
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April 25, 2014 - Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Fallon, a Coast
Guard K-9 handler, works with his dog during a K-9 demonstration at
a luncheon in Kings Bay, Ga., Friday to recognize and celebrate
Camden County’s official designation as the nation’s first Coast
Guard Community. Coast Guardsmen from Maritime Force Protection Unit
Kings Bay and Maritime Safety and Security Team Kings Bay, the two
Coast Guard units in Camden County, provided demonstrations for
luncheon attendees. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st
Class Lauren Jorgensen)/p>
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In contrast to the quiet setting of St. Marys, MSST Kings
Bay found themselves in Cleveland, the city that hosted the
2016 Republican National Convention. For this historic
event, MSST Kings Bay led a deployable specialized adaptive
force package consisting of 14 tactical boat crews, 12
response boats, engineering support, canine explosive
detection teams, a remotely operated vehicle, and planning
personnel to support all aspects of maritime security
operations. MSST members accumulated 628 patrol hours
escorting vessels and enforcing security zones to safeguard
maritime critical infrastructure and 50,000 attendees and
heads of state. Likewise, MSST members conducted positive
control boardings, swept facilities and vehicles for
explosives, and conducted search and rescue.
Whether enduring the snow of Lake Michigan for a naval vessel
protection zone, deploying in under 24 hours in response to
intelligence in our nation’s capital, providing foreign
dignitary/heads of state protection in New York City during the
United Nations General Assembly, or pursuing a go-fast in the open
water of the Caribbean, MSSTs’ highly trained and professional
personnel provide adaptable and scalable capabilities in support of
missions worldwide.
By U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Antoine Adams
Provided
through
Coast
Guard
Copyright 2016
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