Federal+police+tactical+teams

=Federal Law Enforcement Tactical Teams of the US=

Overview
In the United States, federal police agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, and US Secret Service all are considered "elite" law enforcement agencies that are dedicated to specific roles and duties. Within these agencies, there are even more selective units that are dedicated to Special Operations and hostage-rescue related duties. These units are similar in nature to regular SWAT teams, but possess the funding and resources available only to federal police agencies. This results in greater unit capabilities and higher standards applicants. While all of these teams are capable of completing a vast array of missions, each one has their own specialty that usually coincides with the agency that it belongs to. While there exist over a dozen federal law enforcement agencies with dozens of their own tactical teams, three that stand above the crowd are the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, DEA's Foreign-Deployed Advisory and Support Teams, and the US Secret Service's Counter Assault Team. All of these units cross train in similar tactics, but with specific roles and skills not found in regular SWAT teams.

FBI Hostage Rescue Team
The FBI HRT is widely considered the premier tactical team in the US, and specializes in exactly what the title implies: Eliminating terrorist threats and diffusing hostage situations. Other capabilities of HRT include precision shooting, advanced medical support, tactical site surveys, parachute operations, maritime operations, underwater operations, explosive breaching, helicopter operations, etc. HRT is a full time tactical team that regularly conducts intensive training operations in conjunction with foreign and domestic Special Operations units such as US Army CAG (Delta Force) and US Navy DEVGRU (SEAL Team 6). HRT has successfully completed over 850 missions and is regularly called into service domestically and in foreign countries to conduct operations and train foreign tactical teams.



DEA FAST
The US Drug Enforcement Agency is devoted to controlling and disrupting the distribution and creation of narcotics within the US and abroad. As such, their tactical team's mission reflects the overall emphasis on drug operations. The DEA Foreign-Deployed Advisory and Support Teams are the elite tactical team devoted to training foreign police forces and conducting operations to disrupt and destroy narcotics trafficking networks. DEA FAST team members are trained through a course conducted by the US Special Operations Command, and their paramilitary training methods reflect their mission statement of close quarter battle, small unit tactics, convoy operations, etc. FAST teams are often deployed worldwide in countries were drug trafficking is a major issue, and often work in accordance with the militaries and police forces of those countries to combat the creation and distribution of these narcotics.



Secret Service Counter Assault Team
The US Secret Service is divided into multiple sections, with one of these sections being the Uniformed Division. Uniformed Division officers are responsible for guarding the White house and are similar in structure to a regular police force except with an emphasis on VIP protection. Within the Uniformed Division comes the Counter Assault Team, which is a specialized unit devoted to providing security for the agents and officers within close proximity of the President or other US government official that falls under their protection. Counter-sniper operations, overwatch, and a contingency plan for retaking the White house all fall within the job description for CAT. Armed with state of the art weapons systems and trained by a grueling 12 week selection course, these operators are some of the world's finest in providing security and protecting VIPs.



References [|FBI HRT] [|FBI HRT 2] [|DEA] [|DEA 2] [|US Secret Service CAT] [|US Secret Service CAT 2]