Unit Profile
U.S. Marine Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) Company
![]() |
Dedicated, armed, combat-trained cadre |
![]() |
Task organized and equipped to perform security missions of short duration |
![]() |
Augment installation security when the threat condition has been elevated beyond the capability of the permanent security force |
![]() |
Train installation security forces in antiterrorism and weapons marksmanship |
![]() |
Assist the base security officer in the preparation of base defense and other security plans |
![]() |
Requested by combatant and fleet commanders-in-chief |
![]() |
Deploy only upon approval of the Chief of Naval Operations |
Established in 1987, FAST Company is comprised of 500+ Marines equipped to perform security missions as directed by the Chief of Naval Operations. FAST Company Marines augment installation security when a threat condition is elevated beyond the ability of resident and auxiliary security forces. They are not designed to provide a permanent security force for the installation.
FAST Company is primarily designed to conduct defensive combat operations, military security operations, and rear area security operations. It also can be tailored for specific tasks from the Chief of Naval Operations. They also ensure nuclear material on submarines is not compromised when the vessels are docked.
Following the bombing in Saudi Arabia, the threat condition was raised for installations and FAST Marines responded.
Based upon site surveys at each location, the Task Force determined that tactics and techniques for protecting entry onto installations varied widely, even among those installations in the same Threat Condition. At Eskan Village, Riyadh, service members entering the base went through two checkpoints. The first was manned by Saudi forces, who checked all members, including U.S., host nation, and Third Country National citizens. The second check point was manned by U.S. forces, who also checked all people. This contrasted with Khobar Towers, where all base entry points were manned by both Saudi and U.S. forces. At Camp Doha, Kuwait, an initial checkpoint several kilometers from the base was manned by both Kuwaiti and U.S. military forces, while the base entry point was manned by armed contract security guards. At Ali Al-Salem Air Base, Kuwait, Bangladeshi military forces, contracted by the government of Kuwait, provided entry control. At the Sahara Residence, a billeting facility in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, entry was controlled by unarmed contract security guards, while at Manai Plaza in Bahrain, another billeting complex, entry was controlled by Marines from the U.S. Marine Corps Fleet Antiterrorist Security Team (FAST) and Bahrainian special forces troops. Entry control at the Administrative Support Unit Bahrain was provided by U.S. Navy and Bahrainian forces, with heavy weapons support from the Marine Fleet Antiterrorist Security Team.FAST Company has proven itself in more than 70 special security missions and has been in the following operations: Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Sharp Edge (Liberia,) Just Cause (Panama,) Promote Liberty (Panama) and Safe Return in Haiti.
![]() |
Operation SHARP EDGE in Jan 1991, USMC Fleet Antiterrorist Security Team (FAST) relieved the Marine Amphibious Readiness Group at U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia providing security. |
![]() |
Shortly after the conclusion of VIGILANT WARRIOR, USCENTCOM found itself involved once again in Somalia, this time to cover the withdrawal of UNOSOM II in accordance with a United Nations decision to pull its forces out of that troubled country. After the withdrawal of US forces on 25 March 1994, the United States maintained a liaison office in Mogadishu in an attempt to further the process of political reconciliation in Somalia. Security for this office was provided by a Fleet Antiterrorist Support Team (FAST) platoon from the Marine Corps Security Force Battalion. As conditions in Mogadishu deteriorated, the liaison office relocated to Nairobi and the FAST platoon redeployed to Mombasa, Kenya, on 15 September 1994, with the latter redeploying to home station three days later. President Clinton announced his decision late in 1994 that US forces would assist in the withdrawal of UNOSOM forces from Somalia. |
![]() |
FAST Platoons also provided security support for the transfer of Cuban migrants from Panama holding areas to Guantanamo Bay during Operation SAFE PASSAGE from January to February 1995. |
![]() |
During Operation FAIRWINDS in late 1996, FAST Platoons provided security for NMCB and USAF Engineer unit, work site, camp site, and convoys in Haiti. |
Article
Marine Times
Published: 04-19-99
Category: NEWSLINES
Page: 16
A Marine's Life In The F.A.S.T. Lane
By C. Mark Brinkley
Warning: Marines interested in kicking down doors, shooting anything that moves and taking no prisoners should not join FAST platoons.
They don't do that here.
"We are a specialty team, in that we do one thing and we do it well," said Capt. Andrew Petrucci, physical security officer for Marine Corps
Security Forces Battalion in Norfolk, Va. "People hear 'specialty team' and then instantly associate it with Chuck Norris and Rambo."
That's a bad characterization of the Marine Corps' high-speed, high-profile Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams.
"We're not door-kickers by any stretch of the imagination," Petrucci said. "We emphasize 'deter, detect and defend' against terrorist
attacks."
That means that FAST teams usually deploy quickly to a high-threat region to enhance the security already there, such as the Marine
Security Guard force at an overseas embassy.
Or, it could mean flying to Alaska to guard a nuclear submarine against sabotage, as was the case in March, when FAST Marines participated in
Exercise Northern Edge.
Becoming FAST
That may sound like the mission statement for a run-of-the-mill security force, but FAST puts a different twist on it.
Most Marines in the Corps' nine security force companies and two FAST companies are junior Marines locked into a two-year security forces
contract. They each begin with infantry training, and are later sent to the basic security guard course in Chesapeake, Va.
Those selected for security force duty will deploy to their new homes and spend their time guarding a specific base or cache of weapons.
But those selected for FAST platoons -- and Marine officials say it really is the luck of the draw -- receive even more security guard
training at the company and platoon levels, and spend their time guarding anything they are told to look after.
Responding FAST
Because they are spread across the globe, FAST Marines can be sent anywhere in the world within 24 hours. The length of their stay is
determined by the mission, Marine officials said, but the average FAST Marine spent about 150 days on the road in 1998.
"If you like to deploy and go out with real bullets, this is the job for you," Petrucci said.
But don't go expecting to go on offense.
FAST officials are quick to point out that their anti-terrorism job doesn't involve counter-terrorism missions -- like crashing through
skylights, Delta Force-style, to rescue hostages and kill terrorists -- but instead includes preventing such incidents.
"We are defensive in nature," Petrucci said. "Site security is our bread and butter."
Occasionally, as with the embassy bombings in Africa last year, FAST Marines are asked to help get a bad situation back under control.
The 1998 bombings left sensitive documents literally blown into the street, available for the taking of any passersby.
"You've only got so many Marine Security Guards there," said one FAST Marine. "At a time like that, they can't protect everything."
While the companies advertise little in the way of offense, about a dozen Marines from each platoon are typically trained in close-quarters
combat, Marine officials said.
But putting those skills to use often means the defensive mission has failed.
"We're like a mobile guard force," the FAST Marine said. "We go to a high-threat area and set up security, but we have to be ready for all
types of situations. You never know what's going to happen out there."
Organizing FAST
FAST platoon commanders are usually captains from combat-arms fields, Petrucci said, and there is rarely a shortage of volunteers asking the
monitors for the assignments.
Each platoon also has a staff non-commissioned officer, three or four sergeants and three or four corporals, all of whom usually come from the
Fleet Marine Force.
Women may be assigned to Marine Corps Security Forces Battalion, but because they are excluded from most combat-arms MOSs, none serve in the
FAST platoons.
All told, about 500 enlisted Marines and 20 officers are divided into 11 platoons -- six at 1st FAST Company in Norfolk and five at 2nd FAST
Company in Yorktown, Va.
The FAST Deployment Program, very similar to the Unit Deployment Program that rotates Fleet Marine Force units to Okinawa Japan, keeps three
platoons deployed to Bahrain, Italy and Japan.
Every six months, a platoon from 2nd FAST will relieve a platoon from 1st FAST -- or vice versa -- at each of the three locations.
Each deployed platoon supports the fleet commander, a Navy admiral, in that area.
Additionally, one platoon at each U.S. location is always on alert, Marine officials said, for the possibility of being called to action by
the commander in chief of U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
ARTICLE: Marine Corps Gets FAST on Force Protection
Why the Army, Navy, and Air Force are looking to the Corps for security.
By Sgt. Will Donaldson, NAS Norfolk, Va.
"The U.S. Marine FAST security teams were the most impressive security
forces observed in the theater. They are superbly trained, well equipped, and well led.
They provide a useful model for development of service training programs."
Army Gen. Wayne A. Downing made these remarks in a report after leading the investigation of the June 25, 1996, fuel truck explosion near the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. The blast killed 19 people and injured 500.
The Marine Corps Fleet Antiterrorist Security Team, Marine Corps Security Force Battalion, Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va., earned Downing's admiration for their response to the crisis. The disaster highlighted the requirement for security forces capable of countering terrorist threats against military units.
Elements of FAST Company arrived on the scene and secured several buildings within 10 hours, despite high temperatures. Company commander Maj. Rayburn Griffith said the Marines' intensive training prevented heat casualties and allowed them to focus on the mission.
"The company is well grounded in basic infantry skills," said Griffith. "That's our bread and butter. But our mission is primarily to provide security."
The company's methods are being examined to provide a basis for Department of Defense force protection standards. The absence of such standards was a key finding in the Downing report. Other military services participated in a capabilities exercise Jan. 15 at the Marines' training camp to evaluate FAST Company measures for use in their own service policies.
"Part of our analysis of the Army's individual and unit force protection incorporated Marine Corps FAST Company observations," said Col. Richard B. Leibert, Director, Army Combat Training Center at the Training & Doctrine Command.
Leibert and other security and operations officers toured Marine Corps FAST Company and Marine Corps Security Force Battalion training to see how they could improve their force protection methods.
Marines from FAST Company and the battalion displayed their techniques in a variety of situations. They provided an escort of Humvees with .50 caliber machine guns to demonstrate how they would provide convoy security in a threatened theater.
Designated marksmen secured roof tops to show how they can cover large areas, preventing intruders from getting close enough to harm friendly troops or installations. Observers also learned how the Marines function in urban environments as they demonstrated their abilities in close-quarters battle, shotgun, and pistol techniques. Leathernecks also showed how they use a 'paint house' to practice clearing a building using "simunition."
Simunition is like paintball ammunition, but it can be fired from weapons normally used by the unit instead of plastic guns. Once a person is hit with the paint, there is no mistake about who is "killed."
Reviewing officers also had the chance to fire the shotguns, 9 mm Beretta pistols, and Hechler and Koch MP-5 machine guns used by FAST teams. The officers left the site with a better understanding of how teams provide maximum security with minimal human and weapon resources.
The Marine Corps uses its FAST Company to protect forces when a threat level requires it. Their skills should give Marines sent into harm's way some peace of mind that everything possible will be done to help them get home again.
Back to Menu