A CBP air team is tracking the target vessel overhead. Running off the coast of Key Largo, Fla., the vessel is fast approaching the coast at 50 miles per hour. It is almost certain that this is a smuggling vessel, and the pilot is attempting to enter the United States illegally. Knowing that, if caught, the penalty is severe, the pilot is determined to evade law enforcement.

Should CBP Air and Marine agents pursue? Time is of the essence. The marine interdiction agents do a quick risk assessment. Can they locate, identify and stop the smuggling vessel? It is traveling at high speed with no lights and in total darkness. The sea conditions are at level four, which in laymen’s terms means, “rough.” Gratefully, one thing that they don’t have to worry about is their vessel and equipment. Determined to foil this smuggler’s plan, they decide the mission is a “go.”

Teamwork at Its Best
CBP marine enforcement crews operate the finest marine law enforcement vessels and equipment available. There is no question that the interceptor vessel can withstand the tremendous impact of rough sea conditions or that the folks who maintain the vessel know the beating that agents and the vessel will take. Marine crews know that in a marine operation a malfunction can mean the difference between life and death. So, who keeps the CBP fleet afloat? The National Marine Center (NMC) in Saint Augustine, Fla.

The NMC maintains 80 vessels and related equipment valued at more than $20 million and manages 16 maintenance activities throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. “The number one priority of the NMC is to ensure that the vessel operators are able to safely execute their mission and return home safely,” said Tom Norton, NMC Director.

The Strictest of Standards
The NMC has established standards and performance measures almost unparalled in the marine industry. One such measure is the fleet operational readiness rate. Typically, an 80-85 percent readiness rate is acceptable in automobile, aircraft, or vessel fleets. But the NMC has succeeded in maintaining an average readiness rate of 97 percent over the past two years. This means that, except for three percent of the time, operators have a fully mission-ready vessel capable of executing the mission safely. Another performance measure at the NMC is the frequency of “return work.” How many mechanical problems have been repaired that had to be returned to maintenance to make the same repair again? In the case of the NMC, there have been none in the past three years.

These facts speak loudly about the stringent quality controls in place at the NMC. “All of us here at the Center have a deep appreciation for the marine interdiction agents and the associated risks of their missions. We know that before going out on a risky mission they ask themselves, ‘Will we make it home?’” said Norton. “Our work is crucial to the safety of our agents and to accomplishing our mission, I don’t believe that we can afford to compromise our standards.”

Buying the Best
In addition to the vessel maintenance activities, the NMC also procures vessels and related equipment. To make sure that the fleet is cutting edge, the staff does significant research, development, testing and evaluation before selecting a vessel or deciding to incorporate a particular piece of equipment as a CBP asset. The goal of the NMC is to equip all marine components within CBP with standardized equipment to maximize procurement and maintenance efforts.

Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Center has collaborated with other DHS organizations that have a marine component. The Center is on the DHS Boat Commodity Council that seeks to gain efficiencies and leverage buying opportunities within the Department. Participating agencies include CBP Air and Marine, United States Coast Guard, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and CBP Border Patrol.

Another function of the NMC is providing advanced vessel operator training. This training includes high-speed vessel pursuit, high-risk boardings and advanced crewmember training.

Was the Mission Successful?
After the mission is “a go” the crew boards a 39’ Midnight Express Interceptor, the fastest enforcement vessel in the world, and heads out. The rough seas are tossing the crew around, but the vessel commander keeps the interceptor at full speed. They detect the target and approach. The vessel commander turns on blue lights and a siren, hails the vessel and commands them to give way. As expected, the suspect fails to yield and takes off. A chase ensues and the crew fires warning shots; still the suspect fails to yield. The next step is to deploy disabling fire into the suspect’s engines. The shots are successful; the engine is hit and disabled and comes to a complete stop. Using high-risk boarding procedures, the crew boards the vessel, subdues the occupants with handcuffs and the search begins. The result—the vessel is loaded with 150 kilos of cocaine and four illegal aliens.

Back at the station, the results of the chase are evident. A wave had slammed into the vessel hard enough to break the spray rails completely off the hull, and when the nose of the vessel torpedoed into a wave, it broke the sound system speaker loose from the bow. Now the NMC springs into action. The next day, the NMC delivers an operational replacement interceptor to Key Largo. The broken vessel is taken to St. Augustine for repair and is back in service in a week.

This is the reward that the dedicated employees of the NMC receive—a marine crew has returned home safely, and they had a hand in catching the bad guys.