Coast Guard unit returns home after deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

SAN PEDRO, Calif. – A local Coast Guard unit to returned home from a six-month deployment to the U.S. Southern Command Saturday evening.

Members of the Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) Los Angeles-Long Beach 91103 have been deployed to provide maritime force protection to the Joint Task Force aboard the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and returned home via March Air Force Base.

The unit is part of the Coast Guard’s Deployable Operations Group (DOG), and is a rapid response force capable of nationwide deployment via air, ground or sea transportation to meet emerging threats. While deployed, the unit participated in Operation Unified Response, were able to intercept a go-fast boat all the while responsible for maintaining shoreside and waterside security 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Unit personnel are trained in Anti-terrorism/Force Protection AT/FP and Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE) policies and practices, enabling them to augment Coast Guard forces during National Special Security Events, major marine events, contingencies, and other Coast Guard law enforcement operations primarily in ports, harbors, internal waterways, and coastal regions.

MSSTs were created in direct response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Accordingly, every MSST designation number begins with ‘911’.