Mobile Security Detachments

[TXHusker05]

I've brought up the Navy Mobile Security Detachments in a couple threads but no one has known what the hell MSD's are and do. I only know basic information but I was looking for anyone around that has experience with them or know someone who is in an MSD (preferrably an officer).

I am intersted in become an MSD Detachment OIC and was wondering what community MSD officers come from. I am planning on going into the intel community and then lead an MSD.

From what I have researched, MSD's are just smaller parts of Mobile Security Squadrons which are part of a Naval Coastal Warfare Group. The description line says, "Provide Fleet Commanders and Navy Component Commanders planning, administration, direction and training of highly mobile, fully capable and equipped active detachments to perform intra-theater physical security and force protection of naval assets (USN, MSC or commercial contract vessels) in transit, in ports or harbors, and at anchorage"

Here is the slide I found at NCWG Two's homepage, most recently MSD's have been stationed on the Iraqi Oil Terminals in the Gulf providing security.:

http://apps.surfor.navy.mil/ncwg2/images/mss_slide.jpg

http://apps.surfor.navy.mil/ncwg2/images/msd_slide.jpg

 

[Schnugg]

I've brought up the Navy Mobile Security Detachments in a couple threads but no one has known what the hell MSD's are and do. I only know basic information but I was looking for anyone around that has experience with them or know someone who is in an MSD (preferrably an officer).

I am intersted in become an MSD Detachment OIC and was wondering what community MSD officers come from. I am planning on going into the intel community and then lead an MSD.

From what I have researched, MSD's are just smaller parts of Mobile Security Squadrons which are part of a Naval Coastal Warfare Group. The description line says, "Provide Fleet Commanders and Navy Component Commanders planning, administration, direction and training of highly mobile, fully capable and equipped active detachments to perform intra-theater physical security and force protection of naval assets (USN, MSC or commercial contract vessels) in transit, in ports or harbors, and at anchorage"

Here is the slide I found at NCWG Two's homepage, most recently MSD's have been stationed on the Iraqi Oil Terminals in the Gulf providing security.:

http://apps.surfor.navy.mil/ncwg2/images/mss_slide.jpg

http://apps.surfor.navy.mil/ncwg2/images/msd_slide.jpg

We have them here in C5F AOR. Won't go into specifics as the 5Ws make it classified.

The reason you're not getting a robust response here is this is Air Warriors, not Sailorbob. None of these dets are on air assets. Not being sarcastic, just telling it like it is.

 

[smell the glove]

Mobile Security Det OIC is a SWO billet, no intel OICs.

 

[TXHusker05]

Glove, there are intel officers assigned to MSD's correct? Do they serve in the operation aspect of the Detachment, as in, going out there and carrying a weapon with the troops?

 

[Brett327]

Glove, there are intel officers assigned to MSD's correct? Do they serve in the operation aspect of the Detachment, as in, going out there and carrying a weapon with the troops?

Talk about misuse of assets. I know you're fantasizing about all this stuff, Husker, but I think you might need to do a reality check about what an Intel O really does. Prepare yourself for at least a couple tours worth of being the dork of the readyroom that gets in the way and is the butt of jokes. You'll most likely be couped up in a vault somewhere, not on on patrol looking for people to shoot. You need to dissuade yourself of all this Tom Clancy nonsense.

Brett

 

[Thisguy]

Prepare yourself for at least a couple tours worth of being the dork of the readyroom that gets in the way and is the butt of jokes.

Right. And along with that, you can expect to spend your days and nights in CVIC while underway, but hey, what's impressive is how the intel guys shove 8 or 9 people ("can I pull up a chair?") at a table meant for 4 in the forward wardroom.

 

[TXHusker05]

What exactly is Tom Clancy about being a det commander with a Mobile Security Detachment. Tom Clancy is sneaking behind enemy lines, blowing **** up and going home. MSD's are no different than VBSS teams that are formed on EVERY Naval ship I know of. Most VBSS teams are led by intelligence officers because A) They know what to look for when they board a ship and B) They often know the language or the culture of the people onboard the ship or in that region.

It is good to see that you guys treat intel officers so nicely. They only find you a nice target to hit and then tell you the safest way to get there.

That is actually why I would prefer getting a warfare qualification before going into intel through a lateral transfer. But that is just me.

 

[HH-60H]

MSD's are no different than VBSS teams that are formed on EVERY Naval ship I know of.

Do CVN's have VBSS teams? I don't know.

Most VBSS teams are led by intelligence officers because A) They know what to look for when they board a ship and B) They often know the language or the culture of the people onboard the ship or in that region.

haha that's a good one. So you can't teach one of us dumb line officers what to look for? Believe it or not language proficiency and/or regional familiarity has little to do with the Intel officer career path.

It is good to see that you guys treat intel officers so nicely. They only find you a nice target to hit and then tell you the safest way to get there.

That's even better.

Have you formed all of these opinions during your extensive time in the Navy?

 

[Country Boy]

It is good to see that you guys treat intel officers so nicely. They only find you a nice target to hit and then tell you the safest way to get there.

Well that's all they did in G.I. Jane, so that must be what the job is like.

 

[Brett327]

It is good to see that you guys treat intel officers so nicely. They only find you a nice target to hit and then tell you the safest way to get there.

That has yet to happen.

Brett

 

[sarnav]

If you think VBSS teams are lead by Intel Os you are back in Clancy land. Take a deep breath and count to ten before you make a qucik comeback because some of these guys have more time in the cockpit than you have on the planet. They gave you a straight answer on your original question so relax.

 

[FlyinSpy]

That has yet to happen.

Brett

This one time, at band camp....

 

[FlyinSpy]

If you think VBSS teams are lead by Intel Os you are back in Clancy land. Take a deep breath and count to ten before you make a qucik comeback because some of these guys have more time in the cockpit than you have on the planet. They gave you a straight answer on your original question so relax.

Pigs can occasionally get airborne, hell can get a bit chilly, and intel Os can occasionally find themselves leading VBSS teams. A good pal of mine, now a Boat School instructor, just came back from a cruise on a CG. He was leading dhow VBSS's in the Arabian Sea and off of Somalia (Arrr, me hardies!). He ended up doing this the same way he ended up qual'ing as OOD underway: because he expressed an interest in it to the skipper & Ops, and then put the time into learning what needed to be done. The shoes are always looking for people who volunteer to learn/do these kinds of things, as it frees them up to get more rack time.

 

[TXHusker05]

If you think VBSS teams are lead by Intel Os you are back in Clancy land. Take a deep breath and count to ten before you make a qucik comeback because some of these guys have more time in the cockpit than you have on the planet. They gave you a straight answer on your original question so relax.

Then maybe you need to get your facts straight. As Spy said, Intel officers CAN lead VBSS teams. I didn't say all VBSS teams. A good friend of mine is an on his O-1 intel cruise, he asked the skipper if he could qualify as a VBSS team leader and the skipper approved. Now he is leading VBSS teams aboard suspected pirate vessels off the Somali coast line. I don't appreciate being told what can't happen when it really, truly IS happening. Like Spy mentioned, if you are doing your job right and talk to the skipper about taking on some extra duties (qualifying for OOD, VBSS Team Leader, etc.), he will not say no.

And to back up to whoever asked about VBSS teams being on big deck ships, as of 2004 there is a VBSS team onboard LHD's across the fleet. I do find it funny that in one thread, no one knows what the hell a MSD detachment is or what it takes to be a VBSS boarding officer but all of a sudden they know what they are talking about. Give me a little credit, I do know a thing or two about the Navy.

 

[sarnav]

TxH05-Thank you for telling me the ways wise one. I forgot how much time you had in the fleet, and how much you know about the Navy. Qualifying on a watch and standing a watch are two completely different animals which you will find that out once actually in the military. I was speaking from my experience first hand, not from what my "good friend" told me. There are a few intel types doing VBSS, my mistake, but the majority are SWOs and if it comes down to a serious situation NSW gets the call. And people on here do know about the MSD teams, just that little thing called OPSEC gets in the way of posting their capabilities. Do tell me what it takes to be on a VBSS team, I guess all my quals and boardings are make believe.
Have the best day ever.