H.R.T.

Hostage Rescue Team

Translation: N/A

Country of Origin: United States

Formed: 1982

Parent Organization: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Background:

    The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team is the primary unit responsible for counterterrorist operations within the United States. HRT operations are directed out of the Strategic Information Operations Center, located on the fifth floor of the J Edgar Hoover Building in Washington DC. In times of crisis, the SIOC operates 24 hours a day and serves an effective intelligence collection and dissemination site as well as a centralized, albeit distant, command post.  When in the field, HRT can be augmented by the local FBI division's Special Operations Group and even behavioral scientists from the Investigative Support Units (ISU).  The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is tasked with responding to terrorist incidents within the United States.

    A significant problem affecting HRT has been the issue of jurisdiction.  For example, in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and 1996 in Atlanta, there was considerable discussion as to which units would respond.  In the former instance, the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team also entered the discussion, further complicating issues.  Affecting the unit also is the recent decision to reduce the full-time status of HRT to a quarterly training status.  It is not known to what degree this change has effected unit readiness or capabilities.

    All members are skilled in close-quarters battle, hostage rescue (including special emphasis on negotiations), rappelling, long-range sniping, and unarmed combat.  Some members may also have previous experience, such as SCUBA and even fixed and rotary wing aircraft operations.

    There are regional units, also capable of responding, which are manned by former HRT operators.  And while HRT is tasked primarily with domestic operations, their capability has recently been enhanced, permitting more use of the team abroad, to capture federal fugitives.

    Examples of this include:

    January 1987 - HRT members traveled to Frankfurt, Germany to retrieve Mohammed Hamadei for his part in the hijacking of TWA flight 847 in which a U.S. Navy enlisted man was murdered.  This extradition was foiled when two West Germans were kidnapped in Beirut and German authorities decided to retain Hamadei as a possible bargaining chip.  The FBI was unable to gain possession of the terrorist, however he was later convicted and sentenced to prison in Germany.

    September 1987 - The abduction of Fawaz Younis, a member of the Amal militia who directed the hijacking and subsequent bombing of a Royal Jordanian jetliner.  In this operation, the FBI lured Younis to a yacht traveling in international waters with the promise of drugs and women.  At an opportune moment, HRT operatives came out of hiding and seized Younis (his arm allegedly being broken in the process).  He was then transported to a waiting U.S. Air Force transport and delivered to trial in the United States.  Younis was tried and convicted in March of 1989 on charges of air piracy and sentenced to 30 years in a federal penitentiary.

Information courtesy of Specialoperations.com