Marine Security Guards | On Call 24/7

American editing puzzle Afghanistan resistant Arista right now there are hundreds of million in Benghazi Libya that killed four Americans including us and as a result the terrorist attacks in Benghazi the United States of America and taking a concerted effort with Texas diplomatic stability and its mission personnel worldwide the Marine Corps embassy security group and the Diplomatic Security Service celebrated a 70 year partnership between the Marine Corps and State Department late last year we have a historical relationship with the Marines that goes back to even before they were the US Marines they were the Continental Marines 1779 we're comfortable with that history we're comfortable because we know what Marines can do Marines can do the job that they've been tasked with better than any of the other services I'm sorry to offend any of them but that's the bottom line because we do know one another we're also comfortable we're comfortable with the responsibilities that we share it's not just our responsibility it's a shared responsibility for the security of that mission the security of our nation assets our information our secrets we are comfortable with what Marines can provide because they've demonstrated their loyalty their integrity their abilities throughout not just the decades not just over the past 70 years but throughout our association with one another whether it be in 1779 going into Haiti with a console whether it was in 1805 with lieutenant presley o'bannon and the consul general from tunis actually who went to Tripoli or to Darna whether it was in a variety of different missions but Marines have provided support for the Department of State and our diplomatic engagement around the world it didn't just start 70 years ago it predates that marine security guard forces were first trained at Foreign Service Institute in Washington DC then in 1954 the Marine Corps took over the training for MSG forces at Marine Corps Base Quantico Virginia it's an eight-week school and every week is a little bit different their first weeks more of a check-in piece and with the attachment commanders we start with the hard skills and the defensive tactics the baton to handcuffing weapons handling evaluations I hunted all those all those hard skills that they learn we start with the attachment commanders first on week one and then the DC students the sergeant's of below they get that TT 3 & 4 [Music] we have arranged people we've lost to the range for five full days and they have to qualify on the safety department or to the m9 they also get to shoot the m4 and the State Department of course Andy and sending the 8mm socket they get to shoot all those 3:11 handy familiar with MPD of piece on that shot [Music] training that we perform at marine security guard school is set up to to mimic almost exactly what the Marines are expected to perform at their respective embassy or accomplice whether it's the surveillance equipment that is then post one through the cameras and the alarms and things of that nature or whether it's the drill and reactionary OHS that we get the Marines to perform in the event of an intruder or a natural disaster we try to bridge that gap so there is very little separation or difference from what they expect when they arrive to their first post after the range we roll into the board the board comprised of five members being the executive director the sergeant major our psychologist on staff at school oh I see and our our State Department liaison submarines are being evaluated every moment as they go through training not simply just their physical skills but their aptitude or complex problem-solving their ability to act independently and think as far as helping solve situations and also we're trying to get a good assessment and evaluation on their character ensuring that they're going to do the right thing whether anybody's watching or not at all times and a lot of times that can be the most important indicator on how successful they're going to be on the program you go through that one after that board any of your old in sadistically enclosing piece of the school house will react to take them out and they get to you know purchase tooth in the pose that they're required to wear from day to day in it coming in and out of an embassy one of the key aspects of marine security guard school is getting the Marines to understand that they are on-call 24/7 for the next three years they have to be ready at a moment's notice they're there the difference makers and what for the embassy staff and the console staff maybe come back in and see their families again when everything goes wrong so imparting that on them that they're ready at a moment's notice at all times it's probably the biggest the biggest factor that we try to drive home during at marine security go to school after eight weeks of training Marines graduate and they're assigned to one of the many posts in the world marine security guard duty to a vital national security asset it is important to me for Marshall it is important to our nation and important to the department of state because the Marines are professional they're well-trained they're reliable and they will get the job done whatever that job is that's why it's so important that's that's where they make a difference so in serving overseas Diplomatic Security special agents are called regional security officers the regional security officer is the senior advisor to the Ambassador on matters of security and law enforcement a regional security officers are in charge of the overall leadership of the marine security guard detachment from day-to-day operations the Crisis Response and everything between the key program is one of the most important security programs at the RSO it's a very unique kind of a situation where a civilian entity has sort of operational oversight of a military unit so he also works closely with a detachment commander in developing and fine-tuning different kinds of things like the reactionary procedures at an embassy and so forth we also work together to work on administrative and logistical issues so everything from working on where to put observation points channels to react throughout the Chancery and so forth but by no means like one top-down management kind of thing it's mostly a collaborative effort between all the RSO staff and frankly all the MSU staff to get the best security operational plans that we can when I post around the world attachments are commanded by staff noncommissioned officers attachment commanders usually served two tours which generally last 18 months each then the detective commander which is myself via staff and CEO that Murray has to be a jack-of-all-trades really they had to effective effectively manage the the Maurice career server al and everything going on with an embassy regarding security but also us that direct line of communication for deployment State and various other agencies within the embassy touch commanders also breathing technique ambassador we hos pretty officer different law-enforcement entities different meeting groups working groups different security threats and analysis that using tabs up and down lionesses that commander is that me so for a productive manner there's nothing more rewarding coming out here and you're on your own you have to be that leader you're forced to on basically the marina only looking up to you really we you know they're listed to you for the answers for the solution so you step there provide them with the guidance that they need and also to your you're changing your lives whether they're you're leaving to go back to the Marine Corps when they go back to back weeks or if they're getting out the only role you're helping them every step along the way and you're the first echelon and they're entertaining commanders can help to do that marine security guard watchstanders are enlisted Marines from the rank of private first class to Staff Sergeant a watch stander usually served three twelve months towards the duty maybe life on the MSG program differs from post to post normally you wake up conduct physical training with your Marines after you had to the embassy per shift shift or man 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year or someone always at the Embassy here we have three different shifts days ease and mid and they all operate within an eight-hour shift so we'll have one guy coming four days and he's inside post one for eight hours and then we'll have a nice guy eight hours and amid the guy eight hours and they go from morning evening and kind of the graveyard shift in the middle of the night it can range from working three days two days off working four days two days off just depends on this detachment on the side so when a Marine stand shifts he's monitoring communications whether it's telephone or radio communications he also made the cameras watching for any any kind of footage they may happen inside of the embassy when pound or even outside of human he monitored entering exit of the Chancery and all times to command and control for him I took advantage of the country deserve it which is amazing since right now we're in strict and very beautiful years a lot of architecture and a lot of history that has taken place when I found out I call is coming from Madrid I was actually physically coming from Caracas Venezuela and I was happy to know that I was coming to another spanish-speaking country include that I could advance with my with my Spanish and be able to study more the Spanish language that's really what live my major goal Lud's become fluent in Spanish and I like to say I'd achieved that Marines really take advantage of College work this is a great opportunity for Marines to complete college programming whether it be an associate's degree bachelor's degree or even submarines have bachelor's degrees already and they're able to complete master's degrees on the program I was very very excited looking for a new new change of pace as well as career advancement I knew it would be something it's amazing for my career as well as seeing the world it's an amazing opportunity best part is you know you get close to the guys that you work with here like if that commander said before it can range from five Marines to 22 Marines and that's it you're working with these guys for the next year now maybe sometimes it's three months six months nine months but that's it you and the guy to your left and right are it so you guys get each other's back when it comes to worse you guys get each other's back when it comes to drills and actuals and you get each other's back and go out of town and enjoy your fellow marine security guards will be held to the highest standard their leadership will be tested and they will be challenged mentally and physically MSG's no matter where in the world must be ready to stand in the face of all challenges at some risk UT guard you will be challenged every single day because unfortunately we do not know when the enemy I will strike the challenge is not just you know being a marine every single day and representing the institution this to be ready to always be ready and I believe every marine join the institution to be challenged this is the duty where you will challenge 24/7 every embassy is different Marines at embassies worldwide train and very similar things they train to repel a mob to deal with the terrorist incident and so forth however in a place like embassy Tokyo where the threat of a natural disaster such as an earthquake looms large we also drill heavily in how to deal with a situation like that so for example the Marines here know every missing crane of the embassy so if there were an earthquake they're trained up in how to gain accountability of all the staff and ensure that they evacuate this building our challenge or danger that the Marines have here being self-aware we have to look harder we have to be at a stronger higher threat possible so you might hear that most elaborate dreams - II don't read that constantly maintain that self-awareness concentrated to be talking well I'm missing here in Mali is stabilized this country and our entire country team is focused on that effort we couldn't do it without glory we are all based in a central core here at the Embassy and Marines keep that a safe place and so during a crisis for doing anything and she can really depend day-to-day activity they coordinate all of our access all of our stability on this compound and it is the key function and role I have been in a number of combat zones I've served in posts where a literal devil in the early 90s our mission was overrun by demonstrators who are not actually protesting against us we just have to be right next door to the French Embassy and the crowd rushed the French Embassy and over man our embassy and the Marines played a key role in stabilizing our compound keeping our people safe up to and including one point taking down a guy he's going to outrun me into a mission compound structure submarines play a key role in all of our missions and these stories and incidents are not unique something that happens in other African industries in these energies around the world marine security guard program over the last several years has developed and evolved just as other elements of national power we realized that the Fed directed at u.s. missions around the world has evolved in fact the threat against US citizens around the world has evolved and the marine security guards that we find today I believe are better trained better recruited better resourced and better equipped to confront the threat that they would possibly see at a US mission overseas that's commensurate with the additional training that we receive as Diplomatic Security Special Agents so that we are better able to operate together and the Marines which they have changed the types of units that they send out to the sisters as well so we have developed a greater defensive capability that the Marines figure into in the past they're primarily their primary objectives was securing classified information access control securing the facilities they've never shied away from securing personnel but the reorientation of the mission of marine security guards means that security of personnel is now number one no questions asked everything else falls into place so the Marines have have developed a finer ability to provide for the physical security of our embassies with marine security organization units with a larger number of Marines in the marine security guard detachments no longer having a minimum detachment of five and one the smallest attachment that you'll find now is seven and one that's actually fairly significant because it gives them capabilities to push out a little bit further than they ever would have had in the past marine security guards play an important role in every community in which they serve they present a positive image of American values to people who've often never met an American their presence not only offers protection but comfort to those around them [Music] I've worked at many embassies where being a child is extremely difficult and sometimes it's the Marines that are first or the only Americans that these kids need and a program like this allows us to all to put a great face to what it is to be an American but it also gives an opportunities the kind of gives kids a chance to have fun the Marines are the heroes of our children every time we come to the embassy their faces light up they smile they can't wait to meet the Marines they have a huge impact on the global community everywhere they serve July 11th 2011 was the moment where I fully understood what the mission of the marine security guard program was and that was the day that our embassy in Damascus Syria was attacked and I remember during the chaos of that moment watching the detachment place the safety and security of the embassy and the personnel as the highest priority and at that time the regional security office and the detachment had a very strong relationship and I felt that even at that moment with everything going on that we were going to be safe and that everything was going to be okay what I found to be most profound though was that these weeks and the days that followed there they were every single day walking around offices talking to staff and checking up on us just to make sure that we were okay and now looking back on that I'm very proud to say that I served for them and I don't think that I could ever say you

Channel: Marines

Views: 228,353

Rating: 4.9314227 out of 5

Keywords: Marines, Marine Corps, usmc, united states marines, united states marine corps, marine corps, military, armed forces, jarhead, leatherneck, devil dog, first to fight, the few, the proud, Marine (military), U.S. embassies, worldwide, Marine Security Guard, MSG, Embassy, protect

Id: eeDKs6rxuFQ

Length: 18min 59sec (1139 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 25 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/SouthgateTaylor]

That was actually my class getting OC'd! not a fan of that stuff...

[u/[deleted]]

Former MSG here. AMA.

Posts:

Hanoi, Vietnam 2009

Helsinki, Finland 2010

Damascus, Syria 2011-early 2012

Baghdad, Iraq early 2012-mid 2012.

Also, the woman you see at timestamp 17:49 is a certified bad-ass. We called her "mama bear" because she genuinely looked out for all the Marines and was protective as shit of her office and the detachment.

[u/Quick-kick95]

Until they get back to the fleet and they're squad leaders of actual 0311s