11th MSST Opens in San Diego

Coast Guard Pacific Area will commission a new Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST 91109) Tuesday at 1p.m. at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot here at 3800 Chosin Avenue.

Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson, Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, will be the presiding official for the ceremony, and Congresswoman Susan Davis is scheduled to attend.

MSSTs are a quick response force capable of rapid, nationwide deployment via air, ground or sea transportation in response to changing threat conditions and evolving Maritime Homeland Security mission requirements. They are modeled after the Coast Guard's Port Security Unit's and Law Enforcement Detachments. Created in direct response to the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, MSSTs are a part of the Department of Homeland Security's layered strategy directed at protecting our seaports and waterways. They were established to protect military load-outs, enforce security zones, defend critical waterside facilities in strategic ports, stop illegal activities such as narcotics trafficking or illegal migrants, and provide a modest level of shore side protection.

MSST 91109 is the sixth Coast Guard anti-terrorism team to be commissioned in the Pacific region, and the eleventh to be commissioned nationwide. Other MSSTs are located in the ports of Seattle, Los Angeles/Long Beach, San Francisco, Anchorage, Alaska; Chesapeake, Va., New Orleans, La., Honolulu, Boston, Houston, St. Mary's, Ga., and New York.