MSRT: The U.S. Coast Guard’s full time counterterror team

by Travis Allen · February 14, 2017

Deep in the backwoods of southeastern Virginia, the U.S. Coast Guard’s premier tactical law enforcement team quietly goes about training for their unique mission set.

The primary mission of the Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT) is counter-terrorism in maritime environments, both domestic and overseas. The team is trained as a first responder to terrorist situations, specifically to deny terrorist acts, board and secure hostile vessels, and serve as subject matter experts in counterterrorism operations to educate and train the rest of the Coast Guard.

About Travis Allen

is a former US Army Infantry Officer. While a Platoon Leader in Afghanistan, he was part of a joint Special Forces/Infantry team conducting Village Stability Operations in Kandahar Province. Travis graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 2010.

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Nathan B
It is a Service that is hard to find information on, and have a lot of misconceptions about it. You seem to be well informed, however. I would love to see more articles on the Coast Guard, so please let me know if there is anything that I can do to assist you in that, and thanks again for writing this one!
Travis Allen
Thanks Nathan. I should have reworded that, I didn't mean to imply the CG was only search and rescue. I'll have to look at those articles, they sound awesome.
Nathan B
Hey Travis, In terms of mission set for the US Coast Guard, we have 11 statutory missions, two of which are Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security as well as Defense Readiness. Although we are known far and wide primarily as Search and Rescue specialists, all 11 missions are equally important. Post 9/11, there was substantial funding allocated for the two mission sets of Coastal Security and Defense Readiness and just as your article states, this is what led to the creation of MSRT. There are some pretty good reads out there about the little known SOF-esque missions of the USCG, such as "Not your Father's Coast Guard," a book about USCG participation in Latin America with the DEA on counter narcotics operations during the height of the drug wars, where the USCG played a vital role in inland operations. There is also a good report by Joint Special Operations University, Report 05-7, Feb. 2006 entitled "Coast Guard SOF" that essentially makes a case for elements such as MSRT to be placed under USSOCOM. Clearly that has never happened, but with both Title 10 and Title 14 authority, there is a substantial case to be made for it. Great article, I was very much encouraged to see a Coast Guard unit represented on this site.
Connor J
Haha true that brother!
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