The Naval Security Team (NST; ; ) is a deployable and self-sustained

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

(RCN)

force protection Force protection (FP) refers to the concept of protecting military personnel, family members, civilians, facilities, equipment and operations from threats or hazards in order to preserve operational effectiveness and contribute to mission succes ...

unit established in 2016 tasked to augment the Canadian naval fleet's existing force protection assets in expeditionary or domestic environments. Directly reporting to

Maritime Forces Pacific In the Canadian Forces, Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC, french: links=no, Forces maritimes du Pacifique, FMAR(P)) is responsible for the fleet training and operational readiness of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Pacific Ocean. It was once referre ...

CFB Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquima ...

, in addition to force protection the NST also provides intelligence support and opportunities for

Canadian Forces Naval Reserve The Naval Reserve (NAVRES, french: link=no, Réserve navale) is the Primary Reserve component of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The primary mission of the NAVRES is to force generate sailors and teams for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations, in ...

members to deploy overseas. Primarily composed of naval reservists, with

Regular Force In the Canadian Armed Forces, a Regular Force unit or person is part of the full-time military, as opposed to being part of the Primary Reserve which has more flexibility. There are many bases and wings across Canada, and factors like trade, career ...

augmentees, the 60-person unit of selected personnel train for and deploy on individual missions and are then stood down following mission completion.

Operational history

The NST first deployed in 2017, supporting the crew of during their port visit to

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, South Korea. While in Busan, the NST provided on-water security for HMCS ''Winnipeg'' with two Defender-class patrol boats and shore-based sentries working alongside

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy in ...

personnel. In 2018, the NST provided enhanced force protection for in

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

, Fiji, in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, and in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

, Greece. Since then, in June 2019 the first group of NST personnel received new qualification badges and the unit provided support to RCN port visits to the United Arab Emirates and Italy.

References

{{reflist

External links

Naval Security Team Facebook PageThe Naval Security Team YouTube Clip
Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Organizations based in British Columbia 2016 establishments in Canada Military units and formations established in 2016