In the latest episode of the HBO series “Game of Thrones,” three dragons save key heroes from being eaten by Whitewalkers (zombie folks).
This episode got me thinking about the reactive squadrons of U.S. Special Operations. It got me thinking, because the dragons in Game of Thrones saved the series’ heroes from imminent destruction. That might seem like a Deus ex Machina salvation from the abyss, but it isn’t. Instead, Game of Thrones reflects the contemporary reality that good men and women stand ready to visit violence on America’s enemies.
Consider, for example, what would happen if a hostage situation developed on American soil at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. If the terrorists were judged to be members of an organized terror group, the U.S. effective-dragons equivalent would soar into action. First, the local police SWAT unit would respond to secure the hostage site. As they responded, the FBI would be mobilizing its enhanced SWAT capabilities in locality of the incident. That means the New York City FBI SWAT unit for the East Coast and the Los Angeles FBI SWAT unit for the West Coast.
But that’s just the start.
As those localized federal units responded, the FBI’s priority-response SWAT unit, the Hostage Rescue Team, would mobilize from its base in Quantico, Va. At any time 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a squadron (around 80 operators) of FBI HRT agents are on alert for rapid response on U.S. or foreign soil. The reaction-squadron’s time (from notification via cell phone or pager alert) to activation (airborne on way to site) is around 60-120 minutes.
Yet HRT doesn’t travel alone: it joins a broader array of agents and analysts from the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group and thus enables negotiators to support shooters toward the resolution of a prospective crisis.
Put simply, that means if terrorists take over an American-concerned location, the U.S. will be able to deploy one of the world’s finest quick reaction forces within two hours.
That is what investment in counter-terrorism offers.
But it’s not just about a Hostage Rescue Team. At the foreign level, the U.S. military carries a constant capability to deploy either a squadron of the Army’s Delta Force or the Navy’s Special Warfare Development Group (commonly known as Seal Team-Six) on immediate notice. That means that the U.S. can have special operators of the highest order on way to a target location within two hours of notification. Again, such a capability is unrivalled by any other nation on Earth. And collective with FBI-HRT, it means the U.S. could effectively respond to multiple hostage or contested-access situations at one time.
Don’t get me wrong. These response times and the skill of the responders do not represent guaranteed U.S. success. Nevertheless, by investing in people and capabilities, our nation has the means to deliver dragons on target.
Game of Thrones, in this sense, is a proud metaphor for American exceptionalism.
