By Melissa B. Robinson, Associated Press
Wilmington, N.C. (AP) - The Coast Guard’s most visible counterterrorism forces are designed to move to potential trouble spots within 12 hours to help stop attacks at major U.S. ports.
But critics say the units, created after the Sept. 11 attacks, cannot be expected to prevent terrorism, especially in unfamiliar territory. The teams get just a month of training and are partly comprised of officers with no previous security or law enforcement experience.
“Unless someone’s coming over the horizon with an invading force, the effectiveness of these teams is going to be limited,” said Doug Dillon, a retired Coast Guard lieutenant who provided domestic military security during the 1991 Persian Gulf War ( news - web sites) and now heads the nonprofit Tri-State Maritime Safety Association in Newport, Del.
The teams’ challenges are part of the difficulties facing the Coast Guard as it increases security efforts while continuing its traditional mission of search-and-rescue, drug and migrant interdiction, and fisheries enforcement.
To cover its new duties, the Coast Guard is adding 2,200 active-duty personnel this year, and its budget is to grow to just over $7 billion from a current $5.7 billion, plus $460 million in supplemental security funds.
Those increases may not be enough, so the Coast Guard is trying to bridge the gap in other ways, such as by training crews to check for both security breaches and fisheries violators on a single patrol.
But security challenges go beyond money and personnel.
The four mobile teams - stationed in Seattle, Chesapeake, Va., Los Angeles and Houston - are supposed to prevent terrorism in 361 river and sea ports and along 95,000 miles of U.S. coast. The first three teams were commissioned over the summer; the Texas team’s commissioning is next month.
There are other agencies working in port law enforcement, including local police, the Customs Service, Immigration and Naturalization Service and Border Patrol. But the Coast Guard is the lead port security agency, and the teams are their dedicated, domestic counterterrorism forces, designed for use when local security is not enough.
Few doubt the wisdom of having the teams available for extra patrols in their home ports, or for events such as the Olympics or military maneuvers.
“To say we can dump them into a place and they can suddenly provide counterterrorism support - it is less workable,” said Stephen E. Flynn, a retired Coast Guard commander and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Because about half the team members have not worked previously in security or law enforcement, their early training, run by the Coast Guard at the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and in the nearby port of Wilmington, must include basics such as how to quickly turn a boat in pursuit of a suspect.
Even more important is teaching how to judge when a suspicious boat intends harm. A delayed reaction could risk an attack. But overreacting could mean shooting fishermen who did not realize they had drifted too close to a nuclear power plant.
“It’s a heavy decision to make to open fire,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Craig Paulson, 29, of the Los Angeles unit, which finished training last month.
The aggressive mindset required in security work may also be foreign - and difficult to assume - for those who have worked previously in jobs such as rescuing stranded boaters.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Fred White, a counterterrorism instructor, said he has had trouble convincing trainees to throw flares to illuminate suspicious boats, because they are so grounded in thinking that flares must only be used to signal distress.
“Getting them to pop a flare was like pulling teeth,” White said.
Still, as pressures mount to increase security in the nation’s ports, the Coast Guard teams are considered the most responsive, cost-effective option.
The Coast Guard is planning to eventually have 12 in all, with each team costing $6 million to create and $3 million annually to run. As more teams are added, training advances and more is learned about port vulnerabilities, experts say the teams will be more effective.
Next year, two teams are to be added in New York and Jacksonville, Fla.
“Sept. 11th opened a lot of people’s eyes,” said Lt. Cmdr. Keith Smith, the Los Angeles commander. “If you fail here, what are the consequences? We think about it a lot.”