Fort Belvoir, Va. (Sept. 11, 2014) - The Military District of Washington's Special Response Team trains daily to respond to unique law enforcement situations in the National Capital Region.
The SRT is comprised of Department of the Army civilian police and military police officers from Fort Belvoir Directorate of Emergency Services and the 289th Military Police Detachment at Fort Myer, Va., trained to respond to high risk law enforcement situations in the NCR.
Belvoir residents and employees can feel safer knowing the installation has this capability.
"The SRT's mission is to provide regional support to all the installations in the MDW, from Fort Hamilton, N.Y., to Fort A.P. Hill, Va.," said W. Little, MDW SRT, member.
Mission capabilities include serving high risk warrants, handling hostage, active shooter and potential suicide situations. The SRT also handles dignitary support missions and works with the Secret Service on President of the United States missions.
Candidates must have a minimum of two years law enforcement experience, an Army Physical Fitness Test score in the 90th percentile and have an expert marksmanship score. They must also shoot expert on the SRT range.
However, a candidate will not get selected solely on the strength of his or her resume, said Little.
Each candidate must go before a board made up of the SRT officer-in-charge, noncommissioned officer-in-charge and team lead, where the candidate's character and compatibility with the existing team is evaluated prior to selection.
"They judge your character, experience and the type of person you are," said Little. "Then, they ask the guys on the team what they think of you. If the team isn't comfortable with you, you won't be selected."
The level at which SRT members are able to perform their jobs is a benefit to the servicemembers and employees in the MDW, said Sgt. 1st Class J. Russell, SRT NCOIC.
"The response capabilities an SRT brings to an installation is more specialized than what you get with your average, garden-variety police patrol," said Russell. "What an SRT brings is the kinetic resolution an installation commander may require. We are trained to deal with specific threats your standard patrol may not be prepared to deal with."
Establishing strong working relationships with local, federal and civilian law enforcement agencies is important for the SRT should a serious situation develop in the future, said Russell.
"In the event of a large scale incident that would require a unified command, you are going to see a lot of these agencies come together," said Russell. "If we haven't established those relationships prior to the event, we won't be able to communicate with each other."
Russell has 16 years of law enforcement experience and he likes the current makeup of this SRT.
"This is a special group of guys," said Russell. "They've made this platoon more like a Family than a military police platoon."
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