Special Operations.Com
U.S. Marshals Service
Special Operations
and Special Mission Units
Deputy U.S. Marshals carry out hundreds of special
missions yearly that are related to the Service's
broad federal law enforcement and judicial security
responsibilities.
Special Operations Group
The Special Operations Group (SOG) is a specially-trained
and highly-disciplined tactical unit. SOG is a self-supporting
response team capable of responding to emergencies
anywhere in the United States or its territories.
Most of the Deputy Marshals who have volunteered to
be SOG members serve as full-time Deputies in Marshals
Service offices throughout the nation, and they remain
on call 24 hours a day for SOG missions.
SOG also maintains a small, full-time operational
cadre stationed at the Marshals Service Tactical Operations
Center at Camp Beauregard, La., where all SOG deputies
undergo extensive, specialized training in tactics
and weaponry. These deputies must meet rigorous standards
of physical and mental ability.
The group's missions include: fugitive apprehension;
dignitary protection; court security; transporting
high-profile and dangerous prisoners; witness security;
and asset seizures.
The Special Operations
Group (SOG) is another one of the Federal agencies'
SWAT teams, and it was the first one to be established,
in 1971. The SOG is probably the least active of the
Federal Special Operations groups as to the nature of
their work. They are capable of responding to emergencies
anywhere in the United States or its territories within
six hours after receiving the order. Most of the SOG
operators are full-time Deputy Marshals and are volunteers
in this special division. They remain on call 24 hours
a day in the case of an emergency. The SOG has its training
area set up at the Marshals Service Tactical Operations
Center at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, where all SOG
deputies undergo specialized training in tactics and
weaponry. As all other CT units, they must meet rigorous
standards of physical and mental ability. The group's
missions include apprehending fugitives, dignitary protection,
court security, transporting high-profile and dangerous
prisoners, witness security and asset seizures. SOG
members also assisted the Department of Defense in repatriating
Haitian refugees last year. The group provided tactical
teams to Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C. to
support Operation Gunsmoke, a 10-week multi-agency fugitive
manhunt of the country's most violent and hard-to-find
fugitives.
The SOG's first major
deployment was in 1973 to Wounded Knee, South Dakota,
where members of the American Indian Movement seized
the hamlet. One hundred US Marshals and FBI agents
arrived on scene and both sides dug in. Over the next
71 days, negotiations carried on, and almost every
night there was an exchange of gunfire between the
federal agents and the Native Americans. The SOG's
request for Armored Personnel Carriers to re-take
the town, was denied, and they were ordered to contain
the situation, and to arrest anyone involved. Two
Indians were killed and one US Marshal was wounded
during the ordeal which lasted the 71 days, right
up until the AIM surrendered.
Like the DEA, the
Special Operations Group has taken to the Colt 9mm
submachine gun. Their pistols are most likely Glocks
and they wear the standard SWAT gear. These include
Kevlar body armour and helmet, goggles, assault vest,
weapons, flashbangs and such.
Missile Escort
The Missile Escort Program is another responsibility
of the Marshals Service. Deputy Marshals are specially
trained to provide security and law enforcement assistance
to the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force
during the movement of nuclear warheads between military
facilities.
Judgment Enforcement Teams
The Judgment Enforcement Teams (JET) are a new Marshals
Service mission that began in 1992. Selected Deputy
Marshals receive special training and are assigned
to the Financial Litigation Units of selected U.S.
Attorney Offices to provide an enforcement capability.
They investigate cases where individuals have reneged
on debts owed to the government, such as for criminal
fines, financial fraud and medical training. The Deputies
identify debtor assets, facilitate pre-judgement and
post-judgment remedy planning, and enforce other judgment
requirements.
The Judgment Enforcement Team (JET) program received
the Webber Seavey Award in 1994 from the International
Association of Chiefs of Police for a "successful
initiative to maximize the collection of debt owed
to the federal government."
Special Assignments
In 1994, the Office of District Affairs was created
to assist Marshals Service district offices experiencing
administrative and operational problems during extraordinary
circumstances. The office also coordinates special
assignments for high-threat trials and SOG deployments.
The office temporarily assigns Deputy Marshals when
a district's permanently-assigned Deputies need assistance
in carrying out their missions.
For example, hundred of Deputies from across the
country augmented the manpower of districts hard hit
by recent hurricanes. The mobilization orders for
these Deputies came from the Attorney General.
