Myriad seafaring operations netting gobs of drug money, bales of cocaine, heroin, and cannabis stemming from ocean-borne pursuits certainly comes with inherent perils. Your US Coast Guard maritime law enforcement officers engage such moving targets on an ever-motioning sea, and that takes ultra skills and discipline against foes who detest the rules and harbor desperate measures to avoid arrest and prosecution.
Often, we are exposed to the fantastic enforcement of federal codes while at-sea, and Coast Guard personnel tow that line to ensure poisons pushed by drug cartels are interceded before creeping ashore for distribution throughout the United States. Despite weather conditions—actually, because of it—Coast Guard “surfmen” are out there performing duty.
The dangers at night are elevated for law enforcement officers pursuing bad guys across the rather constant sway of ocean currents. I suspect it is akin to fighting crime on skis, navigating the slippery slopes and slaloming twists while maintaining composure and weapons acuity. A Coast Guard spokesperson coined it this way: “Simulated fire drills are just one way our teams stay ready for the unexpected. In our line of duty, we don’t have room for error.” Low-light fire drills is no exception. In fact, it is equally if not more paramount to hone skills when the sun is sleeping but criminals are wide awake, boisterous, and enterprising with the expectation that police are not also cutting through the dark night.
Well, they are, only for different reasons.
Annual in-service training from land-lubbing cops also incorporates low-light shooting, and the endless airborne, pesky critters sucking blood is endless. Pest-control spray is like gold bullion out on the range, both day and night. So are those citronella candles, but that also implies lights, albeit a flicker, giving away police positioning in real-life scenarios.
On the high seas, citronella is no match for the forceful and unceasing wind currents. It’s a no-brainer. The technology of night vision becomes law enforcement’s enabler.
The US Coast Guard routinely confronts the complexities of seafaring commerce, even illegal kinds. “A ship doesn’t always have it’s lights on,” said a Coast Guard social media snippet which accompanied information regarding its maritime law enforcement contingent’s training bulletins. Night vision-equipped or not, a firefight breakout on the high seas can be treacherous, defaulting to chronic practice resulting in firearms proficiency. However, Mother Nature’s vast agenda does not always cooperate, making it more difficult to target, aim, and fire.
Akin to any of the armed forces’ members being fired upon from the ground and returning fire from aerial means, the Coast Guard deploys its aerial fleet equipped with night vision goggles (NVGs) so as to enhance visual acuity in the event low-light firing is engendered.
A friend of mine whose 31-year career as a chief warrant officer with the U.S. Coast Guard. For material factoring into this piece, I engaged Tim and inquired how the Coast Guard employs low-light shooting, especially on a constantly-swirling playing field like the sea. His look told me that nature doesn’t play fair. Tim said, “maritime law enforcers do the best they can…but stanchions are the best position from which to engage combatants and return fire while also having some rigidity by which to maintain targets and allow some cover.” Definitely logical, even more so when you hear it from a coasty who lived it for decades.
With an often unforgiving climate and sea-borne ballpark in which to operate, situational awareness becomes a paramount concern. I discussed that with Tim and we both agree: practice, practice, practice. As he smirked, he threw in “and hope for the best!”
As the above illustration depicts and the caption defines, members of the US Coast Guard are in pretty much every corner of the world, even at the invitation from other nations seeking expertise where it is otherwise negligent or non-existent. That includes nighttime voyage to distant destinations to conduct missions implicating self-defense along the route.
Imagine some of those wild and crazy-desperate Somali pirates who overtake massive cargo ships coming upon a Coast Guard vessel and its firepower-appointed decks staffed by a highly capable and well-trained crew! That’s a clip to get neck hair standing.
As a spokesperson wrote on the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Miami site, “NVG’s provide light to images of total darkness, providing a higher probability of detecting vessels or people involved in a SAR (Search and Rescue) case or LE (Law Enforcement) case. They also provide aid for night landings at unlit airfields.”
The US Coast Guard’s contingent of maritime law enforcement officers are thoroughly trained at the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (MLEA) located in Charleston, South Carolina. Incorporated in its curriculum is cross-training ventures provide by federal, state, local, and international partnerships (police instructors).
As the MLEA site stipulates, shaping new recruits is achieved “through the delivery of high quality training that provides the knowledge and skills necessary for graduates to perform in a Safe, Legal and Professional manner. We also develop, maintain and make readily available up-to-date training material that supports the standardization and professionalism of the Coast Guard’s entire Maritime Law Enforcement Training system.”
By “Safe, Legal and Professional manner” it is understood that firearms proficiency is paramount. Likewise, shooting at “moving” targets can come across as shooting indiscriminately, so the safe, legal and professional credo is an imperative indoctrination.
As my buddy Tim boasted about our USCG: “Semper Paratus.” Always Ready!
