Naval Security Team (NST)

[jaysfan17]

I came across this link awhile back:

http://www.navy-marine.forces.gc.ca/en/news-operations/news-view.page?doc=new-naval-security-team-will-enhance-force-protection/isvdkv13

I thought it would be an interesting course to pursue. At my unit they've already put out the sign up sheet for potential courses that will run for NST. I've signed up for it as well as a handful of others. Has anyone heard more about it such as the prerequisites that personnel would need to take this course (ie: NETP, QL3, QL4, QL5, etc)?

 

[mariomike]

I came across this link awhile back:

http://www.navy-marine.forces.gc.ca/en/news-operations/news-view.page?doc=new-naval-security-team-will-enhance-force-protection/isvdkv13

See also,

A new role for the naval reserves?

Naval Today

Discussion follows,
https://army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,114367.msg1455313.html#msg1455313

 

[jaysfan17]

Thanks for giving me that link Mike. I tried doing a google search, but little to nothing is coming up about this program. I guess it's going to be a 'wait and see' thing. Meanwhile I'll make sure to pay attention to that discussion.

 

[mariomike]

Thanks for giving me that link Mike. I tried doing a google search, but little to nothing is coming up about this program. I guess it's going to be a 'wait and see' thing. Meanwhile I'll make sure to pay attention to that discussion.

You are welcome. Good luck. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

A new group is never really official, I guess, until the regalia is sorted out  ;D (Note the bit I highlighted at the end about even MORE heraldry on its way)

In November 2016 the Naval Board and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Dress Committee approved a new “morale” qualification badge for the fledgling Naval Security Team (NST).

Members of NST’s core leadership team have already begun to wear the badge, and new members will be presented with it once they successfully complete the team’s Collective and Validation training.

The badge was designed by myself as the Officer-in-Charge of NST, and its symbolism is representative of the team’s duties and responsibilities.

The shape of the badge is a shield. This represents the main duty of the team, which is force protection and security. In Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) doctrine, the force protection warfare function is referred to as “shield”, so this shape is highly appropriate for the badge of a team dedicated to that function.

The inner colour of the shield is red, like a traffic stop sign, and this represents the team’s mandate to anticipate and dissuade individual people, groups or organizations from threatening the ships and personnel of the RCN.

The anchor at the centre of the shield is the official RCN anchor, and represents those ships and personnel that NST is to protect. Behind the anchor are a crossed trident and sword. The trident symbolizes the protection provided on the water via a tactical small boat section. The sword represents the protection on the land via a security and patrol section.

NST is still in an advanced stage of its development, and is moving towards an Initial Operational Capability phase for spring 2017, with its first deployment overseas at that time.

It currently resides within Canadian Fleet Pacific as a cell of Fleet Operations, but a Ministerial Organization Order and a Canadian Forces Organization Order are making their way up the CAF’s chain-of-command for eventual Minister of National Defence signature, and at that point NST will become an official unit of the RCN.

While the new morale badge will continue to be worn as an outward sign of those who have successfully met NST training requirements, a proposed unit crest has also been designed, and this will be reviewed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority for approval once NST becomes a full unit.

 

[Lumber]

I still don't see how it's worth the cost to employ 71 Class-A members for 8 weeks, plus flights to and from South Korea, accommodations and rations the whole period, TD, etc.

Ship's have been providing their own security up to this point with no issues (so far, thankfully).

Did something change  with respect to the global security situation that makes this necessary? I haven't seen anything, and the fact that our ships continue to deploy overseas without any added security leads me to believe the answer is no.

Finally, of all places in the world that require a dedicated 71 man security team; South Korea? Really?

This is a great opportunity for the naval reserves and I'm genuinely excited for all of the guys at my unit who want to go; but from a pragmatic perspective I'm just not seeing the big picture.

 

[Half Full]

This is a great opportunity for the naval reserves and I'm genuinely excited for all of the guys at my unit who want to go; but from a pragmatic perspective I'm just not seeing the big picture.

I believe this opportunity has 2 objectives: 1. to see if the Naval reserves can respond to this type of ask, and 2. as part of the Navy's contribution to the CAF's worldwide capacity building initiative.

 

[dimsum]

A new group is never really official, I guess, until the regalia is sorted out[/url]  ;D (Note the bit I highlighted at the end about even MORE heraldry on its way)

Incorrect.  A new group is never really official until there are Chiefs arguing about where to wear said badges  :nod:

 

[The Bread Guy]

Incorrect.  A new group is never really official until there are Chiefs arguing about where to wear said badges  :nod:

:rofl:  Sad, but true ...

 

[Stoker]

I still don't see how it's worth the cost to employ 71 Class-A members for 8 weeks, plus flights to and from South Korea, accommodations and rations the whole period, TD, etc.

Ship's have been providing their own security up to this point with no issues (so far, thankfully).

Did something change  with respect to the global security situation that makes this necessary? I haven't seen anything, and the fact that our ships continue to deploy overseas without any added security leads me to believe the answer is no.

Finally, of all places in the world that require a dedicated 71 man security team; South Korea? Really?

This is a great opportunity for the naval reserves and I'm genuinely excited for all of the guys at my unit who want to go; but from a pragmatic perspective I'm just not seeing the big picture.

If anything it frees up the ships company from doing force protection duties and allows them a better quality of life and to focus on maintenance while in port. South Korea is a proof of concept only.

 

[NavyHopeful]

I know this thread has been silent for a bit, but I wanted to update some of the NST info for those who might be new to the term.

I deployed on HMCS TORONTO in 2017, and during our RAMP (Rest and Maintenance Period) we spent a little more than 2 weeks alongside in Civitavecchia, Italy (just outside Rome).  In order to allow our regular crew a good rotation of Duty/Work/Leave, and to facilitate a lot of our crew taking some form of HLTA/Reverse-HLTA/Third Location HLTA/whatever, we had the NST fly in to assist the ship by covering off our Force Protection duty watches.

For those who haven't had a foreign port duty watch, they usually split the crew into groups of 3, 4, or 5, depending on the type of deployment, port visit, duty requirements, etc.  For this RAMP port visit, we were able to stand down our ship's force protection to allow the NST to cover that responsibility on the duty watch.  This allowed more crew members for work parties to get the maintenance done, and more folks could have time off in the town or nearby city of Rome.

In the 14 days or so we spent in port on RAMP, I stood duty watch for 6 days, was a member of work party for 4 days, and got 4 full days off.  We were delayed in leaving by about 2-3 days, (I think we might have been waiting for a part or something that got delayed in customs) so our command had everyone doing regular departmental work, (us getting the ship secured for sea, tidying up to go to sea at a moment's notice, etc.) and would let us go early if we weren't part of the duty watch.

Now, if we didn't have the NST for our RAMP period, we would've had to have roughly 20 or so sailors to cover the Force Protection watch, which would've cut down on both the folks resting and the folks helping with the work parties.  It may not seem like a big deal, but remember that a bunch of our crew took their HLTA during RAMP, and they wouldn't have been able to do that if the NST wasn't there to cover their spots on the Force Protection duty watch.

This turned into more of an anecdotal explanation, and if you are still with me, thank you for putting up with my ramblings.  The bottom line is this:  When a member goes on HLTA, the CAF pays to replace that member with another who holds the same or similar qualifications so that the crew can still manage at sea.  However, if you wait until a time when you are alongside for a long period (RAMP)you can supplement those members going on HLTA then with someone who can fulfill their duties on a duty watch.  By training a specific corps of RCN members with the skills required for FP duty watches, you can fly 60-75 FP specialists out to cover duty watches, and allow 60-75 members to take their HLTA at that point.  This is a HUGE morale booster for the crew because it almost guarantees that, with the hard work of a good LOG department, almost the entire crew will get HLTA.  I don't know about your thoughts on the matter, but if I can get a chance to fly home for a week to break up a 6-7 month deployment, I'm taking it.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I know this thread has been silent for a bit, but I wanted to update some of the NST info for those who might be new to the term.

I deployed on HMCS TORONTO in 2017, and during our RAMP (Rest and Maintenance Period) we spent a little more than 2 weeks alongside in Civitavecchia, Italy (just outside Rome).  In order to allow our regular crew a good rotation of Duty/Work/Leave, and to facilitate a lot of our crew taking some form of HLTA/Reverse-HLTA/Third Location HLTA/whatever, we had the NST fly in to assist the ship by covering off our Force Protection duty watches.

For those who haven't had a foreign port duty watch, they usually split the crew into groups of 3, 4, or 5, depending on the type of deployment, port visit, duty requirements, etc.  For this RAMP port visit, we were able to stand down our ship's force protection to allow the NST to cover that responsibility on the duty watch.  This allowed more crew members for work parties to get the maintenance done, and more folks could have time off in the town or nearby city of Rome.

In the 14 days or so we spent in port on RAMP, I stood duty watch for 6 days, was a member of work party for 4 days, and got 4 full days off.  We were delayed in leaving by about 2-3 days, (I think we might have been waiting for a part or something that got delayed in customs) so our command had everyone doing regular departmental work, (us getting the ship secured for sea, tidying up to go to sea at a moment's notice, etc.) and would let us go early if we weren't part of the duty watch.

Now, if we didn't have the NST for our RAMP period, we would've had to have roughly 20 or so sailors to cover the Force Protection watch, which would've cut down on both the folks resting and the folks helping with the work parties.  It may not seem like a big deal, but remember that a bunch of our crew took their HLTA during RAMP, and they wouldn't have been able to do that if the NST wasn't there to cover their spots on the Force Protection duty watch.

This turned into more of an anecdotal explanation, and if you are still with me, thank you for putting up with my ramblings.  The bottom line is this:  When a member goes on HLTA, the CAF pays to replace that member with another who holds the same or similar qualifications so that the crew can still manage at sea.  However, if you wait until a time when you are alongside for a long period (RAMP)you can supplement those members going on HLTA then with someone who can fulfill their duties on a duty watch.  By training a specific corps of RCN members with the skills required for FP duty watches, you can fly 60-75 FP specialists out to cover duty watches, and allow 60-75 members to take their HLTA at that point.  This is a HUGE morale booster for the crew because it almost guarantees that, with the hard work of a good LOG department, almost the entire crew will get HLTA.  I don't know about your thoughts on the matter, but if I can get a chance to fly home for a week to break up a 6-7 month deployment, I'm taking it.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

BZ!  :cdnsalute: