Table Of ContentU.S. Marshals Service
Special Operations and Special Mission Units
Deputy U.S. Marshals carry out hundreds of special missions yearly that are related to the
Service's broad federal law enforcement and judicial security responsibilities.
Special Operations Group
The Special Operations Group (SOG) is a specially-trained and highly-disciplined tactical unit.
SOG is a self-supporting response team capable of responding to emergencies anywhere in
the United States or its territories. Most of the Deputy Marshals who have volunteered to be
SOG members serve as full-time Deputies in Marshals Service offices throughout the nation,
and they remain on call 24 hours a day for SOG missions.
SOG also maintains a small, full-time operational cadre stationed at the Marshals Service
Tactical Operations Center at Camp Beauregard, La., where all SOG deputies undergo
extensive, specialized training in tactics and weaponry. These deputies must meet rigorous
standards of physical and mental ability.
The group's missions include: fugitive apprehension; dignitary protection; court security;
transporting high-profile and dangerous prisoners; witness security; and asset seizures.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) is another one of the Federal agencies' SWAT teams,
and it was the first one to be established, in 1971. The SOG is probably the least active of the
Federal Special Operations groups as to the nature of their work. They are capable of
responding to emergencies anywhere in the United States or its territories within six hours after
receiving the order. Most of the SOG operators are full-time Deputy Marshals and are
volunteers in this special division. They remain on call 24 hours a day in the case of an
emergency. The SOG has its training area set up at the Marshals Service Tactical Operations
Center at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, where all SOG deputies undergo specialized training
in tactics and weaponry. As all other CT units, they must meet rigorous standards of physical
and mental ability. The group's missions include apprehending fugitives, dignitary protection,
court security, transporting high-profile and dangerous prisoners, witness security and asset
seizures. SOG members also assisted the Department of Defense in repatriating Haitian
refugees last year. The group provided tactical teams to Los Angeles, Houston and
Washington, D.C. to support Operation Gunsmoke, a 10-week multi-agency fugitive manhunt
of the country's most violent and hard-to-find fugitives.
The SOG's first major deployment was in 1973 to Wounded Knee, South Dakota, where
members of the American Indian Movement seized the hamlet. One hundred US Marshals and
FBI agents arrived on scene and both sides dug in. Over the next 71 days, negotiations carried
on, and almost every night there was an exchange of gunfire between the federal agents and
the Native Americans. The SOG's request for Armored Personnel Carriers to re-take the town,
was denied, and they were ordered to contain the situation, and to arrest anyone involved.
Two Indians were killed and one US Marshal was wounded during the ordeal which lasted the
71 days, right up until the AIM surrendered.
Like the DEA, the Special Operations Group has taken to the Colt 9mm submachine gun. Their
pistols are most likely Glocks and they wear the standard SWAT gear. These include Kevlar
body armour and helmet, goggles, assault vest, weapons, flashbangs and such.
Missile Escort
The Missile Escort Program is another responsibility of the Marshals Service. Deputy Marshals
are specially trained to provide security and law enforcement assistance to the Department of
Defense and the U.S. Air Force during the movement of nuclear warheads between military
facilities.
Judgment Enforcement Teams
The Judgment Enforcement Teams (JET) are a new Marshals Service mission that began in
1992. Selected Deputy Marshals receive special training and are assigned to the Financial
Litigation Units of selected U.S. Attorney Offices to provide an enforcement capability.
They investigate cases where individuals have reneged on debts owed to the government,
such as for criminal fines, financial fraud and medical training. The Deputies identify debtor
assets, facilitate pre-judgement and post-judgment remedy planning, and enforce other
judgment requirements.
The Judgment Enforcement Team (JET) program received the Webber Seavey Award in 1994
from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for a "successful initiative to maximize the
collection of debt owed to the federal government."
Special Assignments
In 1994, the Office of District Affairs was created to assist Marshals Service district offices
experiencing administrative and operational problems during extraordinary circumstances. The
office also coordinates special assignments for high-threat trials and SOG deployments. The
office temporarily assigns Deputy Marshals when a district's permanently-assigned Deputies
need assistance in carrying out their missions.
For example, hundred of Deputies from across the country augmented the manpower of
districts hard hit by recent hurricanes. The mobilization orders for these Deputies came from
the Attorney General.
