Marine Corps Special Reaction Teams (SRT)

Marine Corps Special Reaction Teams (SRT)Marine Corps Special Reaction Teams (SRT)By Cpl. Ryan Walker CENTRAL TRAINING AREA, Okinawa, Japan Outfitted in ballistics gear, a gruppe of Marines slowly moves toward their objective waiting behind a protective shield for the command from their unit leader to explode through their entry point to arrest their suspect. Ten Marines from the Provost Marshals Office make-up such a team. The Special Reaction Team is specially trained to handle missions beyond the call of duty for basically trained military policemen. Were a S.W.A.T. team for the Marine Corps said Staff Sgt. Steven Rowe, commander, Special Reaction Team, Provost Marshals Office, Marine Corps Base. Our mission is to train, practice and rehearse for any situation, such as hostages, barricaded suspects, and felony arrests. A military policeman is selected to be a member of SRT after he completes an indoctrination, which is an evaluation of how quickly he can learn the units special tactics, Rowe explained. Once they become SRT, we send them to SRT School at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Rowe said. After SRT School, their training is endless there are so many schools we can send them to. As the only military SRT on Okinawa, the unit constantly trains to hone the tightly knit teams skills, often training six or seven days a week. Today were going over basic entry and room clearing, Rowe said. These guys do this a thousand times, and they know how to do it, but as a team, youre not a really well-rounded team until you do it a thousand times together. Once the Marines get into their building, either by kicking it in or using one of their many sophisticated breeching methods, they wait for the commands from the shield. The shield is the nachhall boss who runs the team, Rowe said. Hes the man up-front in ballistics from head-to-toe and can take a couple of rounds. I wear a lot more protection than the other team members, so my job is pretty much to get shot, said Cpl. Edd ie L. Tesch, who serves as the SRTs shield. After receiving the command to enter a room, two or more Marines buttonhook or cross into the room to either locate their objective or ensure its clear. Once we dump into a room, we take it over as quickly as possible, Rowe said. With danger around every ecksto, many men may not be fearless enough to be a member of such an elite squad. We expect to get shot in every structure, Tesch said. Around every corner, every angle and every door I think the bad guy is waiting for me. Thats how I psyche myself out, so when I turn that corner or open that door, Im ready to pounce on him. Though the SRT has not had a real-world situation to respond to for many years, that hasnt stagnated their training. We havent had a situation in years, which is good because we dont have those problems here, and we have more time to train, Rowe said. We also send our guys out to all the search and rescues here. Regardless of whether or not the Marines have had a real -world situation to respond to in recent years, the team considers themselves a group of elite Marines. We take pride in ourselves for what we do, Tesch said. Its just the pride of being the best of the best.