The United States Coast Guard is organizing a new “Special Missions Command” that will combine its special forces personnel into a single joint force postured for high-risk operations, including counterterrorism.
According to a Wednesday news release, the new force will be established on or around Oct. 1 and will combine six units to create a specialized, ready-to-deploy emergency response team.
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Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard commandant, said the new unit will use established officer specialties to evolve the military branch.
“We are forging our most elite operators into a single, razor-sharp instrument of national power,” Lunday said in the release. “The Special Missions Command is not an administrative change; it is an investment ensuring these elite teams are the best trained, equipped, and organized force possible, ready to protect the Homeland and support the Joint Force.”
The service said the consolidation is intended to better coordinate special response forces, including teams that can work alongside military and law enforcement partners and prepare for complex crises.
Under the Special Missions Command will be the branch’s teams for maritime terrorism response, tactical law enforcement, maritime security, port security, diving, and the national strike force trained to respond to natural disasters.
Coast Guard officials said the new command will be headquartered in Kearneysville, West Virginia, and could incorporate other specialized units in the future.
The Coast Guard has already assisted other military branches in specialized operations, particularly with Operation Southern Spear, which is targeting alleged “narco-terrorists” and drug-trafficking boats in the Southern Hemisphere.
Maritime security response teams from the Coast Guard have worked alongside the Marine Corps as part of the operation, carrying out at least 56 strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats since the operation launched in September.
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Capt. Robert Berry, the Special Missions Command pre-commissioning leader, said the new unit is meant to meet the demands of the geopolitical landscape.
“The geo-political landscape is evolving and the demand for Coast Guard Deployable Specialized Forces is at an all-time high,” Berry said. “These forces are instrumental to the Coast Guard’s readiness and its role as a global leader in maritime contingency response. The Service has always turned to its specialized forces to respond to national threats and disasters, and establishing this command is the natural next step to enabling our forces to lead the way at the tip of the spear.”
