Mission Capable
Specialized Coast Guard teams can meet
a broad spectrum of maritime threats
BY JOHN C. MARCARIO, Assistant Editor
Rapid Reinforcements
The TACLETs were born out of the
LEDETs in the 1990s. Funding for
both comes from the DOG budget.
The teams spend about half the
year training for upcoming missions at their respective headquarters, TACLET South at Coast Guard
Air Station Miami and PACTACLET
at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San
Diego. Officials at DOG headquarters in Arlington, Va., determine
where and when the units are
deployed. When the teams are not
deployed, they are in an “on-call”
status and can quickly assemble for
emergency missions.
In January 2010, PACTACLET teams were among
the first relief crews to arrive in Haiti after the massive
earthquake to assist in port security for aid coming
into and out of the country.
During the past year, along with their bread-and-butter
assignments, Lt. Cmdr. Ty Nagie, executive officer for
PACTACLET, said his team has deployed personnel to
U.S. Central Command to provide training to the Iraqi
Marine Corps and assisted the Royal Bahaman Defense
Force with dockside boardings in an effort to stop drug
smuggling out of Haiti after the earthquake. He said other
TACLET unit capabilities include limited chemical, biological and radiation detection, close-quarter combat and
the airborne use of force to stop drug smuggling.
“Our primary way of helping out is to provide Law
Enforcement Detachments,” Nagie said.
His unit has eight LEDETs and they have a constant
cycle of 90 days deployment and 90 days at port.
Nagie could not speak to specific missions, but in
general terms said he can send teams to the Eastern
Pacific, Caribbean or in support of other TACLET units.
While deployed, a typical day includes several hours
of physical fitness aboard a vessel, law enforcement training and working with Navy or allied forces on possible
Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Teams (TACLETs) are capable of quickly assembling and deploying to various assignments.
■ TACLETs became part of the Coast Guard’s Deployable
Operations Group in 2007.
■ Teams are working with Combined Task Force 151 on the
counterpiracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.
■ Mission capabilities include limited chemical, biological and radiation detection, close-quarter combat and airborne use of force
to stop drug smuggling.
As members of a special force within the U.S. Coast Guard Deployable Operations Group (DOG), Tactical Law Enforcement Teams
(TACLETs) have a diverse mission portfolio that
includes counterdrug operations, working with
Combined Task Force 151 on counterpiracy missions
in the Gulf of Aden and providing law-enforcement
training for the U.S. Navy and allied forces.
The service has a pair of teams — TACLET South in
Opa-locka, Fla., and Tactical Law Enforcement Team
Pacific (PACTACLET) in San Diego. They have a combined 250 billets split into 19 teams.
“They provide teams to meet a broad spectrum of
threats throughout the maritime domain with regard to
maritime interdiction operations and counterdrug
efforts,” said Coast Guard Capt. Jeffrey Novotny, DOG
division chief for planning, exercise and policy.
The TACLET teams, along with the Coast Guard’s
Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs), became
part of the DOG in 2007 in an effort to consolidate all
deployable specialized forces under a single command.
LEDETs were established in 1982 to deploy aboard
U.S. and allied naval vessels to conduct and support
law enforcement, interdiction and security operations.
