Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team

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Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team
Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Insignia
Active	1987-
Country	United States
Branch	United States Marine Corps
Type	Special Forces
Role	Anti-Terrorism, Special Protection
Part of	Chief of Naval Operations,Commandant of the Marine Corps
Garrison/HQ	Norfolk and Yorktown, Virginia
Nickname	FAST Company
Motto	Anytime, Anyplace
Battles/wars	USS Cole bombing, American Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania

Two marines from the 1st Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST) Battalion guarding an Iraqi oil rig in April 2004

The Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) is a branch of the United States Marine Corps security forces and is capable of rapidly deploying to improve security at United States Government installations worldwide. FAST Marines are deployed at the discretion of the Chief of Naval Operations' and the Commandant of the Marine Corps when the primary and auxiliary security forces of the Marines are unable to adequately respond to a security crisis.

Established in 1987, FAST Companies provide a limited duration, expeditionary security force to protect vital naval and national assets. FAST maintains forward deployed platoons at various naval commands around the globe, and possesses U.S.-based alert forces capable of rapidly responding to unforeseen contingencies worldwide. They are designated as 1st FAST, 3rd FAST based out of Norfolk, VA and 2nd FAST based out of Yorktown, VA. FAST Companies are equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and currently consists of around 500 Marines.

FAST maintains a high degree of readiness in order to conduct these short notice, limited duration contingency operations, as seen in the port security mission following the attacks on the USS Cole (DDG 67) in October 2000 and the recent American Embassy reinforcements in Liberia and Haiti.