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The Seagoing Security Swat Teams

May 6, 2009: The U.S. Marines have troops trained for many special missions, but none as special as their FAST (Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team) force. These units were first organized in 1987 and there was no shortage of volunteers. There were eleven FAST platoons, organized into three FAST companies.

 Each platoon is commanded by an experienced captain, plus a senior NCO, three or four sergeants, three or four corporals and about thirty other marines. There are about 500 FAST marines overall, including 20 officers. Three platoons serve seven month tours at overseas bases. In addition, one or two platoons are on alert in the United States all the time, ready to be flown to any hot spot anywhere. Often, the FAST platoon will be sent to a marine amphibious task force that is near a potential trouble spot. Half the FAST platoons will be training at any time, but in the past few years, FAST marines have spent about half the year overseas.

Technically, FAST marines are not commandos. Most of the enlisted FAST marines are selected from those who volunteered for the Marines Security Force. There are nine Security Force companies, and these guard high value (or profile) items (nuclear weapons, embassies and sensitive facilities.) The FAST marines are the elite of this security service. FAST can fight, but only if what they are guarding is threatened. FAST marines are trained to lock down a facility very quickly and very tight. FAST marines platoons have been called out over a hundred times since the late 1980s. FAST marines are meant for emergencies, they do not do long term security. They may look like commandoes, but in reality they are the guards who guard the guards who watch over the crown jewels.
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SCCOMarine       8/6/2009 11:22:21 PM
"The FAST Marines are the elite of this security service. FAST can fight, but only if what they are guarding is threatened. FAST Marines are trained to lock down a facility very quickly and very tight. FAST Marines platoons have been called out over a hundred times since the late 1980s. FAST Marines are meant for emergencies, they do not do long term security. They may look like commandoes, but in reality they are the guards who guard the guards who watch over the crown jewels."
 
 
While generally on base there are a few things that need further clarification.
 
1st) While not considered commandoes by the Corps they've trained & train w/some of the best Commando & Anti-Terror Units in the world.  Their training is or par w/some of the best SOF & in any other service & in any other country thats what they'd be considered.
 
FAST CO Marines are more than just elite Security Guards, all FAST Marines are Infantrymen who volunteered for the Security Forces & rotate in & out of their Inf Units.  So 1st & foremost by design, FAST Co is a Light-Infantry force trained to conduct High-Priority Anti-Terror & Security Missions globally.  They still train heavily in LI Tactics combining them w/various AT skills.
 
2) To be considered for selection to FAST you would have to pass Sec. For. School w/high marks, qualify as an Expert in both the Pistol & Rifle, and run a minimum PFT of 275 for enlisted & 285 for officers, and be highly "motivated".
 
To give an idea of what a 285 would be, its 19 pull ups 95 sit ups & an 18:30 3mi run, minimum.  Highly "motivated" in Marine Corps talk means a little nuts, but good nuts like the guy voted most likely dive on a hand grenade nuts, not kill-babies nuts.
 
3) Once selected their 1st school is the CQB School taught just outside Little Creek, VA by the same instructors that teach the Force Recon DAP & to the same standards, the USMC Close Quarters Battle Cadre.
 
From there its on to various courses in security, surveillance & counter-surveillance, High Risk Personnel Protection, VBSS,  DA Breaching & Assault, etc.
 
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SCCOMarine       8/7/2009 12:18:09 AM
And no they're not a Counter Terrorism Unit hunting down terror cells, which is very sophisticated.  They do AT, which is grimey gruntwork, requiring less finesse but is more robust & aggressive in nature. 
 
They deploy to Deter, Repel, or Retake any threatened High Value US asset fr/anybody whether its Hezbollah to Russian Spetznas.
 
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SCCOMarine    FAST is 1st&foremost L-Inf Trained to Conduct AT   8/28/2009 1:14:47 AM

1st) While not considered commandoes by the Corps they've trained & train w/some of the best Commando & Anti-Terror Units in the world.  Their training is or par w/some of the best SOF & in any other service & in any other country thats what they'd be considered.

FAST CO Marines are more than just elite Security Guards, all FAST Marines are Infantrymen who volunteered for the Security Forces & rotate in & out of their Inf Units.  So 1st & foremost by design, FAST Co is a Light-Infantry force trained to conduct High-Priority Anti-Terror & Security Missions globally.  They still train heavily in LI Tactics combining them w/various AT skills.

FAST Marines learn how to live at JWTC

 
CAMP GONSALVES, Okinawa -- Marines with 1st Platoon, 3rd Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team, broke the routine of their normal jobs by learning survival skills at the Jungle Warfare Training Center here during the Jungle Survival Course, July 28 - August 1.

The FAST platoon is currently attached to the Commander 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, encompassing the Asia Pacific region as its area of operation for six months, said Gunnery Sgt. Edward Palacios, the platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon.

The normal duties of the FAST Marines are to detect, deter and defend against terrorist activities, according to their motto.

"We are responsible for protecting any national asset vital to national security," Palacios said. "Just as an example: if an embassy was to get attacked, we would actually go and retake the embassy."

Because the team is in the region, the command decided to capitalize on the opportunity to teach the Marines new skills.

"We saw this as a good opportunity to have the Marines come down here to pick up some different skills - jungle survival skills as opposed to their normal jobs," Palacios said.

The FAST Marines will eventually rotate to infantry battalions, and these Marines will bring valuable survival knowledge to those units, added Palacios.

"These Marines will bring to the battalions a different aspect of training that is not normally taught in the infantry battalions," Palacios said.

FAST Marines are typically trained in Close Quarters Battle techniques, Vessel Boarding, Searches and Seizures as well as Recapture security missions, according to Palacios.

"My main reason for bringing them out here was to stress them out, and to see how they perform under the stress of the heat while surviving in the jungle with a lack of food and a lack of sleep," Palacios said.

According to Palacios, the survival mindset stressed in the course not only applies to the jungle but any environment where survival is a necessity.

"Out in the middle of nowhere, it's just you and the wilderness, and you're not going to find any (matches or lighters) there," Luna said.

Teaching the students how to create a fire ensures they will be able to make a heat source to keep warm and cook the food they catch.

During the course, students were also taught how to kill and prepare certain animals they may encounter in the jungle. Preparing the kill is not only a matter of trimming off the meat. Certain organs are also edible, and the bones of larger animals can be used as tools.

Students were taught not only to live off the land but how to navigate through the terrain. In a combat environment, a Marine in a survival situation will need to stay on the move to evade the enemy.

Survival land navigation is an integral part of surviving in the jungle, according to Luna.

The students learned to navigate by primitive methods using the sun and stars to determine direction of travel. The methods are not as accurate as using a compass or global positioning satellite system.

"It's not an exact pinpoint direction, it gives the person a general direction of which way is north and south so they can better orient themselves," Luna said.
 
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