Hostage Rescue Team - History

History

The idea for the HRT was originally conceived during the late 1970s but came to life when then FBI director William H. Webster witnessed a demonstration by the US Army Delta Force. When Webster reviewed the equipment used by the Delta Force and noticed there were no handcuffs, he inquired about it. An operator grimly replied, "We put two rounds in their forehead; the dead don't need handcuffs." The idea of the HRT began as an enhanced SWAT and counter-terror team. The team would be capable of handling extraordinary hostage situations, large-scale counter-terrorist operations, situations involving nuclear or biological agents, or operations that local law enforcement or the regional FBI field office were not trained or equipped to handle. Final approval for the HRT was given in early 1982, and formal planning began in March 1982. The initial HRT selection course was held in June 1982 and consisted of three groups of thirty candidates each. Most candidates were experienced SWAT team members. Of this group, fifty candidates were selected to continue on to more advanced training.

Upon completing its initial operator selection, the newly formed HRT began acquiring the equipment it believed necessary and upgrading training facilities at Quantico. One of the very first projects was the construction of a "shoot house". The building, built entirely out of old tires, would allow the team to conduct live-fire training exercises to enhance their shooting skills. The final touches were added to the facilities just before Thanksgiving 1982, and, after a short holiday break, the team began its initial training program. After receiving tactical SWAT instruction, each individual was given an expertise to research, such as explosives and breaching tactics. Each operator also served as a liaison to one of the existing elite counter-terrorism teams from around the world. In addition, nearly everyone was involved with the Delta Force. As part of their liaison duties, the men attended training exercises held by their assigned counter-terrorism unit and their shared experiences with the team. To bring all the newly acquired skills together, the team spent roughly the entire month of January 1983 honing their shooting and tactical skills at Quantico. Then, the team traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in February for a month of training with the US Army's Delta Force. Delta Force provided the HRT with instruction. The team returned to Quantico to further enhance their new abilities and maintain the skills they had acquired at Fort Bragg. The Hostage Rescue Team became operational in August 1983.

The team's final certification exercise, code named Operation Equus Red, was held in October 1983 at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. During the exercise, the HRT, a local SWAT team, and a United States Department of Energy Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) were tasked with assaulting a terrorist stronghold. The "terrorist" group was also believed to be in possession of a simulated nuclear device, which was at a separate location and had to be recovered or neutralized. After the NEST aircraft confirmed the location of the device, HRT operators assaulted the terrorist safe house, secured the device, and managed to "kill" the terrorist involved in approximately 30 seconds. The FBI's senior leadership viewed the exercise as a complete success and granted final approval for the team to become fully operational.

Upon completing the certification exercise, the HRT began to expand its capabilities by sending small teams of operators out for more specialized training courses. Approximately a dozen operators visited Naval Amphibious Base Coronado to receive combat diver, maritime operations, and tactics (such as Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure) training from the United States Navy SEALs. Other team members conducted helicopter operations and aerial insertion training with the US Army's Task Force 160. The United States Marine Corps provided the team with training in small unit tactics, night operations, and part of the HRT's sniper program training. Every operator also received 80 hours of medical training. The HRT traveled to Camp Peary for counter-terrorism training and "smash and bang" courses to develop skills in breaching barricades, running roadblocks, and defensive driving.

Over time, HRT operators studied among US military, local, federal, and international tactical teams, and attended private courses to learn more about air assault tactics, rappelling, hand-to-hand combat, chemical agents, terrorist psychology, surveillance methods, sniping/counter-sniping, communications and more. Tactics learned during training was shared with the team. Eventually, for close quarter battle training, the HRT decided to make things more realistic on advice from SEAL Team Six (later known as United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group or DEVGRU) commander Richard Marcinko, and the HRT introduced blood bags and wax bullets. The wax bullets were used for team-versus-team drills.

The HRT became part of the Critical Incident Response Group upon its formation in 1994 because of the need to consolidate the assets necessary to respond to a critical incident in one group.