UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

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Arm P\JI!UC MfAIRS
..... _ CORPS lNSTAU.O.TOONS CI:>"1f>S C ....... lJEIlNE
..sc BOX 201)0!;
CALO"' lJEI)NE NC
Sept ember 5, 2012
To whom it may Concern :
Thank you for voici ng your concerns regarding t he Special Reaccion Team
craining. In 2007 che Department o f Defense ident ifie d a requi r ement to
provide bet ter sec uri t y a nd policing f or our military instal lations in the
us amidst t he regul a r deployment cycle for missions abroad. The decision
to hire civilian police o f ficers into the a rmed forces wa s made in order t o
f ree up ou r trained military policemen to deploy without having to
s a crifice security at home. I n return, t heir civilian counterparts ",ould
be integrat ed alongside Marine military policemen t o provide security and
policing within the continen t a l US as a blended forc e.
As you ma y al r eady know, Specia l Rea cti on Tea m (SRT) trai ning is
simila r to Special weapons and Tactics training in the civilian sector.
Both COurses are designed to t each law enf prcement tactics that can be
incorpora ted into the i r unit's mission. While these t e chniques are useful
in the Globsl Wa r on Terror, the y are also employe d cloae to hOlt'.e in
response to a variety of threats to our Marine Corps Installations. These
tactics are not designed f or u s e against the average US cit izen, but for
persons who pose a threat to the United States and/or the Marine Corps.
The civilian and mi lita ry policemen chosen to p a rticipat e in SRT
tra ining are among the best, most highly qual if ied members of Marine Corps
Inscallation law e n f orcement uni t s. The individual s select ed f or SRT a r e
r ecommended by their respective unit to participate in a three - week course
offered at either Fort Leonard Wood, an army base. or t he Marine Corps
Police Aca demy East loca ted at Mari ne Corps Base Ca mp Lej e une. Those
civil i an police o f ficers that undergo the t r aining are actually employed by
the Uni t ed States Ma r ine Corps to be a part o f a SRT . That SRT training
certif ies personnel to be a member o f a Marine Corps SRT tea m.
The p h rase, "Every Ma r i ne is a ri f leman, " r i ngs a s true a s t he phrase,
"Every civilian mi l itary police o f ficer is a Marine." The civilians hired
into Our armed forces are trained a longside our s e rvice members in an
effort t o accomplish t he s a me mission, which is to prot ect the citizen s o f
the United States no matter the c i rcumstance or the loca tion.
Thank you f or your time.
Sincerely,

N. G. Fahy
Director, PUblic Af f a irs