Mayport subs escorted in "first-of-its-kind" mission

Mayport subs escorted in "first-of-its-kind" mission

Yesterday marked the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind mission in a U.S. port. For the past 11 weeks, Waterborne Response Teams deployed from law enforcement agencies throughout Florida to assist the U.S. Coast Guard in protecting Navy submarines leaving and entering

Lt. Brad Givens on duty to escort a U.S. Navy submarine into Mayport.

Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville. Teams included law enforcement officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Waterborne Response Teams are part of a statewide security plan, created to address significant manmade and natural disasters, provide escorts, dignitary protection, security and search-and-rescue. In addition to FWC officers, they comprise officers from some of the Florida’s larger sheriff’s’ offices and police departments who possess maritime capabilities.

"Assets, such as manpower, boats and aircraft from many different agencies were used to escort Navy high-value assets in and out of a Florida port on a daily basis," said Mark DuPont, the FWC’s chief intelligence and domestic security officer, and primary planner for the event, tagged Operation Sturgeon. "Using federal, state, county and local resources on an effort such as this

FWC vessel C.T. Randall escorts U.S. Navy submarine into Mayport.

has never been done before anywhere in the country."

There are 41 seven-person Waterborne Response Teams throughout the state, trained and equipped to protect critical infrastructure and high-value assets. These include 14 major seaports, three nuclear power plants situated on or near major waterways and the thousands of ships that ply the state’s waters.

In support of the Coast Guard – the primary agency responsible for the nation’s port security – Waterborne Response Teams responded outside their local regions for the first time since their creation as part of Florida’s Regional Domestic Security Task Forces.

"FWC Waterborne Response Teams, our aviation units and the agency’s offshore vessel, the C.T. Randall, worked with multi-agency teams from as far away as Miami-Dade and Lee counties," DuPont said. "We tested and proved the state’s ability to move teams across the state to support high-security operations, and the Coast Guard and Navy know they can rely on these teams."

Coordination, communication and operations were facilitated by FWC personnel.

From an FWC helicopter, Capt. Brad Williams supervises a submarine escort into Mayport.  All FWC photos by Tim Donovan.

"On behalf of the Navy and submarine forces, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for coordinating this effort, and to each of the teams that came from Okaloosa, Bay, Lee, Miami-Dade, Duval, and Nassau counties," said Cmdr. Doug Jordan, deputy director for strategic forces and force protection for the U.S. Navy Submarine Forces Command. "This is something that we will learn from and apply in future operations throughout the country."