subject: How To Catch International Drug Smugglers [print this page] We were awaken at 0430amWe were awaken at 0430am. The Boarding Officer ordering everyone, get geared up we got one! It was just before first light as we stood on the flight deck of that Arliegh Burke class destroyer, strapping on our tactical vests and holsters, and then loading our weapons. The heat and humidity was almost unbearable in the middle of the Arabian Gulf, even at four thirty in the morning. On the oceans horizon we could see the silhouette of a small dhow fishing vessel doing its best to out run the much faster US Navy warship.
It may sound like fiction, but it happens every day throughout the US Navy deployed abroad. Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure Teams (VBSS) are a group of volunteer sailors extensively combat trained to conduct Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) wherever and whenever they are called upon. Their main purpose is to secure the water ways against drug smugglers, pirates, and trafficking of persons; making the waters safe for fisherman that depend on fishing for their livelihood. So before volunteering, make sure you are physically up to the challenge.
Once you have been accepted to attend VBSS schools, you will learn self-defense tactics, search and seizure techniques, evidence handling, special weapons tactics, and especially safety and first aid. You will learn to cover and protect your team members standing beside you at all cost. It is a pretty tight knit community. And you will learn hand to- hand combat, combining Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) with Jujitsu. Both of which, is extremely physically demanding.
Graduation day is not the end of your training. Because of the nature of the job and the physical requirements you will consistently train with your teams to stay in tip top shape. You never know when you will be called on to Visit, Board, Search, and Seize!
It was around 0700a the next morning when the boarding was finally concluded. The details of the boarding are classified, but the intelligence was accurate.
