In preparation for the type of operations that SRTis conducting for the search for the Olympic-bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph,operatorsarmed with HK53sperfect vehicle takedown skills.(Courtesy ATF)

The target was daunting. A "structure" in themiddle of the desert, secured by barricades, metalobstaclesand security cameras. The targeted individualswere even more daunting-a ruthless biker gangw.anteclfor the trafficking of guns and explosi ves.Monitoringthe location was a select group of men infatigues,carrying high-powered surveillance equipmentwhoknew that any operation against the target would bemostdifficult. After all, entry into the location would behard enough-heavy. industrial-type locks. fortifiedfronliron-gate, and bars covered the front door. 111Ose·inside.all heavi Iy armed, were not expected to resistwithouta struggle.

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms possesses One of themost difficult and least understood missions. ATF, as thebureau is most commonly known, is.tasked with uniqueresponsibilities dedicated to reducing Violent crime,collecting revenue. and protecting the public. ATFenforces the federal laws and regulations relating toalcohol, tobacco, firearms, explosives and arson in closecooperation with other federal and state lawenforcement entities. ATF special agents contend withgun runners. drug traffickers, right-wing supremacists,terrorists, biker gangs. and a myriad of individuals whobelieve that the United Stales government does notpossess the right to enforce federal statutes relating toalcohol, tobacco, and any other type of firearm orexplosive. Simply put, ATF goes up against the worst orthe worst. From Ruby Ridge to the World Trade Centerbombing, from gun merchants [0 the Georgia abortionclinic bombings, ATP has heen the lead federal agencypitted against SOI11C of the most dangerous felons inAmerican criminal history, According to one former

New York City police officer who had worked with the ATF on severalhigh-risk incidents in Manhattan, "These guys are not the kind of copswho hand out Jay-walking tickets to little old ladies. Simply put. ATFgoes up against the worst of the worst."

THEATFshield.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is a taxcollecting, enforcement and regulatory arm of the U.S. Department of theTreasury. The agency's history. in many ways, dates back to 1789 whenthe first Congress imposed a tax 011 imported spirits to offset a portion ofthe Revolutionary War- debt assumed from the states. The Bureau of

Of all the law enforcement agencies in the United Slates, local, stateandfederal, the United States Department of the Treasury's Bureau of

For weeks, the operators prepared their tacticalplan-the cameras were to be disabled, the gateremoved courtesy of a blowtorch. The operatorsreviewedtheir strategy and choreographed their eachand every move. They rehearsed every move untilmovements were second nature, the target's layoutsecurelyetched in the recesses of their minds. One early morning, beforethe sun had fully emerged to color the desert, the operators went intoaction.Like they had done so successfully ill the pre-operation training,they effectively removed any obstacles from their path and succeeded incontainingthe location and calling out the suspects. Within minutes,several"most wanted" individuals were secured, cuffed and transportedbackto headquarters. Guns, many of them, had been taken off the street.

3

As SRIoperators look qn, an ATf agent peers through the ~igtitsof his SI.G9mm. (Courtesv AmAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was formed in 1912.asa separate unit within the U.S. Treasury, which hadpreviously enforced laws on weapons, alcohol. .andtobacco thtough' other agencies. Tn the Anti-Arson Actof 1982, ATF also' assumed responsibility forinvestigating. conunereial- arson nationwide.

An SR:ffield medic readies (lis emergency kif p'tior to.his re.gionalteam seNing·Q·high-fisk warrant: Knowing that tally-certified combatmedics accomRany them through every door on every cal/-outprovides a great sense of'sec::uritylor5RT opetatote. (CourtesyATF)

The Special Response Team program in theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms tame aboutill 1989, when bureau commanders realized the needfor an. entry-control team capable of executing themany higb-tlsk warrants. that.special agents ih the fieldoften did on lheir own, Like any municipal or countypolice 'department, ATF agents frequently came. up.against heavily -armed felons all-too-eager to resistarrest that posed a dire threat to arresting personnel.ATF was attempting to build a program that fosteredconsistency in the means and manner by whichwarrants were executed. In the beginning each of the.twenty-four ATF regional field divisions possessed itsown entry control learn, and each divisional unit was responsible for itsequJpment, training and operatj'ous. There was little .oYersight fromheadquarters ·into the Emgram., and not much uniformity ,intactics. FromJ989 to 1996, there, were approximately 465 ATF agents participating inthis b.urgepning tactical l'CSpollse. The JJrelni:se of <.:feating a bUTeaUtactic.al r~sp()nse:was'obvious-investi¥:atrng agents came aetoss guns envirtually every warrant served by the ATE

drug trafficking statutes that carry life without parole, socriminals realizing that they might be going.down forlife will-often put up resistance.'

The objective of "nationalizing" the AT.Ftacticalproject was to create consi's.tency-not only 'in tacticsbut also when the different regional divisional teamswould train witli One, another. Currently, ATF fielddivisions located within close geographical proximity toone another are grouped to form five S·RT.regions ofoperations but this was not always the case,

Up until 1996, each team trained separately and-coexisted as similar, yet unconnected, units tied to .a_singular objective ana mission. When the notion ofheadquartersscontrolled divisional teams came about;consistency became a staple of the SRT mission. Teamsthat once trained with local and state tactical unitswhenever time permitted now tritined under ATEauspices, togcthct, at a special trairring center established

at Fort.Macl.ennan, Alabama. A two-week basic SRT school the Bureauof Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was established by the then TacticalResponse Branell so lbal the teams could develop uniform tactic!;,uoif'onils -SlTa,t~gieS'oand a uni[<jn:i1 mindset-an a.spect of tacticalassignments that would beconle cruc~a) if several teams would be laskedwith w<:irk.inglOgetheL "Before SRT came about;" claims an. SRTsupervisor, "we realLy weren't-all on the sam,e page i.n terms of tactics.Before SR1;',different teams couJdn't really work tog~thef at a moment'snetke because they ·often made entry; or' cleared rQoms, differently. With.the .evolution of the SRT program canie. uil.if0mi_ity and consis~enoy."UnifomtilY was <;llsoimp<)rtanl in terms of equipment Some teams, inlike Miami for example, _possessed a wh,at one SRT a_genl in chargedubbed "all the bells and whistles"-all of the latest weapons, entry toolsand tactical·gear. While. other. regional. teams, however,.did nOt possessanYelaboJate ()ndextensive arsenal.of weapon:s; e,ntryt(lol~; vehicles, andother ballistic and protective aids gear.

TheATFSRTpatch.

In 1991, the tadical program within the Bureau of AlcohOl, Tobacc.oaid Firearins began to·develop into' a national effort. Ea,c11regional tIel ddivision fielded a Special Re~ponse, Team, or SRT, with headqp~rtersimplementing. some basic train'jng"o!1jecrives across the c<iuntry. SpecialResponse Team members often trained with"the. assistance ·of Jocai~·stilteand fczderill tactica~ units. The SRT program was purely volunteer 'innature. Ohly those agents who were exemplary investjgator.~. to the.field.,with the required physical and p~ycholt)gtcal aptitude. for tactical work,were permitted .eutry into the divisio.nal teams. The' need for agentscapabl.e to rileet tbe tadical challenges of high-risk warrants: waspressfng? as was the need for tactical awareness. Care· and prudence isespecially acute' in the lype of work that ATF does. Many ATFinv.estigations are against biker gangs that traffic in narcotics andfLrearms. Many gallg 10cafiQ.Ds,either in the. impassable forests .of thePacific Northwest or the. barren expanses of the Mojave Desert arehea.\lily defended and they are often booby-trapped. According to the SRTprognlm mana.ger, "We were preparing tor tbe'worSt-ca<;e sc,enario, That'sthe whole point of usi:J?gSRT! If SRT is ~eing used, its because it's anex;tremely higb-tisk situatiqn thal requjre$ the beSl <,)1'the 'hest tactically,Many of those. targeted by ATF investigatloriS are 1l:1ulti~convicted.ielO'nswith an extensive qiminalllistofY: Many ATF cases resl.\lt in mandatorysentencing, some of me stiffest in'any judicial setting, including armed

In tbe program's early days, SRT team leaders were usually .aresident agent in charge, or "RAe," and wa's task.ed with supervisingtraining and procuring equjpment fOr each regi'onal team, 'with theaSBistance. of their i)ssistant .agent .in cb<Jrge(ASAC) for that respectivedivisional SRT.

A major lumingpointfof. the·program, and the bureau, was otcourscthe pc.!3ruaiy28; 1.993, raid.on tb,e.Br-ant.hDavidian compoond of Dayi<lKoresh in Waco. Texas. The. exe.cuti6n of the Branch D,avidhm comp~iun~warrant, carried out by a combined seventy-six-man force taken'frOin;three teams, turned intQ a ferocious· gun ·batde that resulted in four ATJiagents losing their lives, and au additional twenty-si.x agents injured. 'the.gun battle began at just about 9:30 A.M. that morning, wben theATF SRT

4

SRTMedics are first and toremost operators. Here, on the firingrangeat Ft.MacLennan, a tactical medic undergoes some time ontherange. (Courtesy ATF)

SRTfield patches.

task force entered the seventy-seven-acrecompoundsome ten miles outside Waco to executea search warrant on the compound of DavidKoresh,a self-proclaimed Messiah, on weaponsand explosives charges. Yet the force wasambushedand after a forty-five minute firefight.the ATF SRT teams withdrew. According to asupervisor from ATF's Dallas field office whospokeat a news conference following the raid and(oldreporters, "It was clear that despite elaboratepreparations, members of the sect, the BranchDavidians,had somehow learned of the raid inadvance. ft was one of largest operations evermountedby the bureau, and it was the greatest lossoflifeever suffered by the bureau."

Wacowas, naturally, a turning point for the"Bureauof Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and forthe SRT program. Primarily, logistic responsibilitywas removed from the division field level anddirectedout of headquarters in Washington D.C. inorderto strive for greater tactical consistency andprofessionalismill the ranks of the SRT operators.

In 1996, ATF opted to do away with thedivisionalSRT program, and endorse a regionaliacticalconcept. It was designed to not on ly reducethenumberof men and women agents needed forthe SRT program. and free more investigators foroperationsin the field, but to further hone andsharpenskills and expertise of a more manageable-sizedgroup of tactical operators. When the

As an SRT instructor looks on, on SRT agent unleashes amagazine-emptying burst of pistol fire. (Courtesy ATF)

During tactical training, SRToperators suit up tor o live-fire exercise. Theyare armed withthe HK535.56mm submachine gun/assault rif/e. (Courtesy ATF)

SRToperators carefully climb a flight of stairs during buildingassault training, as they search the surrounding terrain for anypossibleambush. (Courtesy ATF)

buildings and targeted areas are searched and secured. The mindsei issimple. You can always escalate, but diffusing an already explosivesituation is often quite difficult.

SRT's "Operational Medical Support Program" is also unique. Theteams' combat medics provide a "golden window" of emergency medicalcare should an agent be wounded in the execution of an operation anddeployment. Providing immediate and proper emergency medical care toa gunshot wound, or trauma caused by explosives, can be the fine linebetween life and death. Many ATF medics are equipped with full traumakits, defribulaters, as well as oxygen capabilities. Medics are also full-fledged operators. "Being there, on a mission, provides an intangiblesense of security to agents about to deploy," claims the SRT supervisorprogram manager who served as both an operator and medic with theBoston divisional team, "the guy~ know that if anything happens, youwillbe taken careof immediately and by one of your own." The combatmedicsprogram also provides the added benefit of increased operationalsecurity.SRT no longer has to rely solely on civilian emergency medicalteamsand fire departments for emergency medical assistance. It now hasthe ability to handle most medical emergencies on their own.

The forward observers are far more than snipers and counter-snipers.Theyare tasked with gathering intelligence Oil a targeted location, settingupconcealed observation posts, as well as "being the eyes and ears" onthe target prior to any SRT operation.

A gun-runner'$ worst nightmare-a welcome visit from the ATF'sSpecial Response Team. (Courtesy ATF)

The subdued ATF shield, warn onfaNgues by all SRToperators,

SRT operators carry SIG Sauer pistols and the Heckler and KochMP5 family of 9mm submachine guns, as well as Heckler and KochHK53 and M16A2 5.56mm assault rilles. Yet, because of the type ofpeople that ATF comes up against, SRT is sensitive concerning release ofinformation concerning its equipment or tactical tools.

One SRT operation that is ongoing is the dangerous pursuit for EricRobert Rudolph. Rudolpb is charged in connection with the bombing ofa health clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, in which a police officer waskilled and a nurse critically wounded. He has taken refuge in theimpassable and remote forests of the western North Carolina Nantahalamountains, a wilderness region he had roamed throughout his life. Thehunt for Rudolph, a proverbial hunt for the needle in a haystack, andinvolveshundreds offederal agents, includingATF andSRT units. As onefederal agent commented on the terrain in which the search is beingexecuted, "Visibility in the dense forest terrain is often limited to fivefeet!"

Today, ATF SRT operators are involved in a myriad of specialoperations that support bureau missions on a national level. Among itsmany missions the ATF SRT is involved in: long-time and high-risksurveillance of targeted locations and individuals (air and ground); high-risk warrant and arrest execution; tactical assistance to long term andcomplex undercover operations and takcdowns arrests; witness security(as well as agent and employee security); high-risk dignitary protection;and, high-risk fugitive searches for ATF defendants. The design-andluxury-of possessing a tactical ann to a law enforcement entity such asATF is clear. It enables tile specia1 agents, the investigators in the field, toinvest their time and resources to the prosecuterial aspect of a case,without having to invest the copious time and resources needed toproperly plan and execute the high-risk tactical end of bringing a suspectinto custody.

The tactical importance of the tactical program to the Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco and Firearms overall ability and mission can best beexpressed in the fact that in 1999 ATF's SRT begin its transition to full-time teams nationwide. They will be ready to respond at a moment'snotice to bring America's most dangerous-and heavily armed-felons[0 justice.

7

Cautious and deliberate, a "stick" of ATFSRToperators hone their building take-down skills.(Courtesy ATF)

program was divisional, there were 465 agents assigned [0 "-

the teams. When a regional division was initiated, and thenumber of SRT 'operators throughout the countrydecreased to accommodate the following- teamconfigurations nationwide:

REGION ONE• Baltimore Field Division• Boston Field Division• New York Fjeld Division• Washington D.C. Field Division

REGION TWO• Atlanta Field Division• Birmingham Field Division• Charlotte Field Division• Miami Field Division• Nashville Field Division• Ncw Orleans Field Division

REGION THREE• Chicago Field Division• Detroit Field Division• Kansas City Field Division• Louisville Field Division• St. Louis Field Division

REGION FOUR• Dallas Field Division• Houston Field Division• Phoenix Field Division

REGION FIVJ~• Los Angeles Field Division• San Francisco Field Division• Seattle Field Division

-...

-

-

In 1997, headquarters tasked command of the _program to full-time SRT team leaders-Region One'steam leader was headquartered in Wash.ington D.C.;Region Two's team leader was headquartered in Miami.Region Three's team leader was based in Detroit; RegionFour's team leader was headquartered in Dallas; and •Region Five's team leader was headquartered in LosAngeles.

By 1997, the ATF's SRT program had evolved quitemarkedly since the first entry teams were established.After careful. review and evaluation, and analysisfollowing Waco, great strives were made in creating acadre of tactical specialists whose tactics strive (orguaranteed safety and prudence. Planning and preparationis carried out zealously before each and every deploymentand by the team. Augmenting the unit capabilities, eachSRT team, crisis negotiators, tactical medic personnel, andforward observers are also deployed. ATF's crisisnegotiators are used in a very proactive manner in respectto the execution of search and arrest warrants. This highly-trained group of individuals is instrumental in the initiationand culmination of containment and call-out tactics. And,of course, Ole crisis negotiators can diffuse any difficultbarricaded situation. "Tactics have changed in recent yearsfor police tactical teams," claims an SRT supervisor."everything has slowed down. We do a Jot morecontainment call-outs now where we surrounded a. houseand talk the suspects out in a calm and deliberate manner.After all, time is on our side." Once inside a location, themethodical aspect of the unit's tactical philosophy is alsoexpressed in the intricately secure means by which

A wall of fire by some of the finest tacticaloperators in the U.S.low enforcement order of battle.During live-fire training, SRToperators bear down on 0torget. (Courtesy ATF)