Riverine warfare is a growing part of the Navy’s arsenal, and Stennis has
become an important center...
...Ask the Navy SEAL who heads up a special operations boat team at Stennis
Space Center what he thinks about being based at a remote location along the
Pearl River and he’ll go through a litany of pluses.
...Cmdr. Bob Lyonnais is happy with the relationship with NASA and the other
federal agencies, and he finds the local population very patriotic and supportive.
Nobody cares about the noise they make when they fire high-caliber weapons
and there are no quiet hours. And encroachment, a problem at many bases,
doesn’t occur here thanks to the buffer zone.
...“There’s almost no drawback,” said Lyonnais, commander of the Navy’s
Special Boat Team 22. He calls Stennis “the best kept secret in special warfare.
We have the ability to train in our own backyard.”
...Special Boat Team 22, which operates highly specialized boats in riverine and
littoral environments for infiltration and exfiltration, moved to Stennis from
Algiers, La., in 1998. The closely related Naval Small Craft Instruction and
Technical Training School, which trains security forces of foreign nations in
small craft operations and maintenance, moved to Stennis from Panama in 1999.
...Both SBT-22 and NAVSCIATTS are under the command of Naval Special
Warfare Group 4 of Virginia, part of the Naval Special Warfare Command. That
in turn is part of the U.S. Special Operations Command, the organization of elite
special operations personnel who conduct unconventional warfare.
...Both organizations are part of a select few. SBT-22 is one of just three boat
teams. The others are SBT-12, West Coast, Coronado, Calif., and SBT-20,
East Coast, Little Creek, Va. And the school, NAVSCIATTS, is one of a kind.
...Chances are good both will grow.
SWCC
...The Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen, or SWCC, of SBT-22 operate
and maintain state-of-the-art, high-performance boats used to support special
operations missions. They specialize in rapid, clandestine infiltration and
exfiltration of special forces in shallow waters.
...SWCC, pronounced “swick,” go through separate but similar specialized
training programs as Navy SEALS. They focus extensively in craft and weapons
tactics, techniques and procedures.
...They go through a two-week indoctrination course at Naval Amphibious Base
Coronado, Calif., five weeks basic crewman training at the Naval Special
Warfare Center, NAB, Coronado, then 15 weeks of SWCC Crewman
Qualification Training at NAB Coronado.
...SBT 22 uses a small fleet of more than 30 heavily armed craft. It has eight
fiberglass light patrol boats with three weapons placements, and 24 armored
riverine craft with five gun positions. It has several detachments that deploy
worldwide.
...SBT 22 has plenty of room at Stennis, training in an area of 3,500 acres.
...“That’s what SWCC controls,” said Lyonnais, who has been at Stennis for
about a year. They also have use of 10 kilometers of the Pearl River for live fire
training.
...But that training areas is already scheduled to grow. Two more purchases are
in the works that would provide them with about 5,000 acres for training.
NAVSCIATTS
...The Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School had its roots
in the Cold War, when the United States and Soviet Union were competing for
spheres of influence. The U.S. Coast Guard established the school after its
Mobile Training Team was sent to the Panama Canal Zone and discovered the
need for a permanent training facility.
...The Small Craft Inspection and Training Team was placed at the U.S. Naval
Station, Rodman, Panama, in 1963, and was one of the three original Panama
Canal Areas Military Schools. It was transferred to the Navy in 1969 and
designated the Small Craft Instruction and Technical Team.
...The mission of NAVSCIATTS is to provide riverine and coastal craft
operations and maintenance technical training to partner nation security forces.
It has three officers, 46 active duty enlisted, five government service workers
and 12 civilian contractors.
...Its major assets are the headquarters office, barracks, 12 patrol boats and a
few dozen vehicles.
...Cmdr. Bill Mahoney, NAVSCIATTS commanding officer, said the school
uses in-residence training and mobile training teams “to prepare partner nation
forces to conduct small craft operations in riverine and littoral environments.”
...The school offers formal courses of instruction in both Spanish and English at
various times throughout the year. Many courses are taught by Navy engineers
and members of the Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen force.
...Courses include patrol craft operations in a riverine environment; patrol craft
propulsion systems overhaul; hull maintenance; outboard motor maintenance
and overhaul; weapons maintenance; instructor development; and rule of law
and disciplined military operations.
Growth
...Both SBT-22 and NAVSCIATTS have already grown since locating at
Stennis at the end of the last decade. And with the Navy’s emphasis on the
“Brown Water Navy,” there’s every reason to believe both operations at the
Stennis Naval Special Warfare Group 4 compound will grow.
...There are over 900,000 rivers and 224 major river basins in the world, and
Stennis appears to be an ideal location to train warfighters who will work in that
environment. The 490-mile long Pearl River, which forms part of the
Mississippi-Louisiana state line, runs through the federal facility. That and
proximity to the Gulf of Mexico allows riverine and coastal training. And its
location within the buffer zone of Stennis provides a large measure of seclusion.
...When SBT-22 first moved to Stennis, there were 70 “boat people,” said
Lyonnais. That’s more than doubled to today’s 180. The growth has meant an
increase in support personnel as well, such as mechanics. All told SBT-22 has
300 members, along with two dozen civilians.
...Because of that growth and anticipated future growth, SBT-22 broke ground
in February 2009 on a new riverine operations site, a two-building, $9.7 million
complex near the Pearl River. It’s scheduled to open in May 2010.
...NAVSCIATTS, too, is growing.
...“The need for [special warfare] elements to do riverine operations has grown
dramatically,” Chief Mass Communications Specialist Katt Wittenberger, Naval
Special Warfare Group 4 public affairs officer, told Navy Times in February
2009. - David Tortorano
October 2009
become an important center...
...Ask the Navy SEAL who heads up a special operations boat team at Stennis
Space Center what he thinks about being based at a remote location along the
Pearl River and he’ll go through a litany of pluses.
...Cmdr. Bob Lyonnais is happy with the relationship with NASA and the other
federal agencies, and he finds the local population very patriotic and supportive.
Nobody cares about the noise they make when they fire high-caliber weapons
and there are no quiet hours. And encroachment, a problem at many bases,
doesn’t occur here thanks to the buffer zone.
...“There’s almost no drawback,” said Lyonnais, commander of the Navy’s
Special Boat Team 22. He calls Stennis “the best kept secret in special warfare.
We have the ability to train in our own backyard.”
...Special Boat Team 22, which operates highly specialized boats in riverine and
littoral environments for infiltration and exfiltration, moved to Stennis from
Algiers, La., in 1998. The closely related Naval Small Craft Instruction and
Technical Training School, which trains security forces of foreign nations in
small craft operations and maintenance, moved to Stennis from Panama in 1999.
...Both SBT-22 and NAVSCIATTS are under the command of Naval Special
Warfare Group 4 of Virginia, part of the Naval Special Warfare Command. That
in turn is part of the U.S. Special Operations Command, the organization of elite
special operations personnel who conduct unconventional warfare.
...Both organizations are part of a select few. SBT-22 is one of just three boat
teams. The others are SBT-12, West Coast, Coronado, Calif., and SBT-20,
East Coast, Little Creek, Va. And the school, NAVSCIATTS, is one of a kind.
...Chances are good both will grow.
SWCC
...The Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen, or SWCC, of SBT-22 operate
and maintain state-of-the-art, high-performance boats used to support special
operations missions. They specialize in rapid, clandestine infiltration and
exfiltration of special forces in shallow waters.
...SWCC, pronounced “swick,” go through separate but similar specialized
training programs as Navy SEALS. They focus extensively in craft and weapons
tactics, techniques and procedures.
...They go through a two-week indoctrination course at Naval Amphibious Base
Coronado, Calif., five weeks basic crewman training at the Naval Special
Warfare Center, NAB, Coronado, then 15 weeks of SWCC Crewman
Qualification Training at NAB Coronado.
...SBT 22 uses a small fleet of more than 30 heavily armed craft. It has eight
fiberglass light patrol boats with three weapons placements, and 24 armored
riverine craft with five gun positions. It has several detachments that deploy
worldwide.
...SBT 22 has plenty of room at Stennis, training in an area of 3,500 acres.
...“That’s what SWCC controls,” said Lyonnais, who has been at Stennis for
about a year. They also have use of 10 kilometers of the Pearl River for live fire
training.
...But that training areas is already scheduled to grow. Two more purchases are
in the works that would provide them with about 5,000 acres for training.
NAVSCIATTS
...The Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School had its roots
in the Cold War, when the United States and Soviet Union were competing for
spheres of influence. The U.S. Coast Guard established the school after its
Mobile Training Team was sent to the Panama Canal Zone and discovered the
need for a permanent training facility.
...The Small Craft Inspection and Training Team was placed at the U.S. Naval
Station, Rodman, Panama, in 1963, and was one of the three original Panama
Canal Areas Military Schools. It was transferred to the Navy in 1969 and
designated the Small Craft Instruction and Technical Team.
...The mission of NAVSCIATTS is to provide riverine and coastal craft
operations and maintenance technical training to partner nation security forces.
It has three officers, 46 active duty enlisted, five government service workers
and 12 civilian contractors.
...Its major assets are the headquarters office, barracks, 12 patrol boats and a
few dozen vehicles.
...Cmdr. Bill Mahoney, NAVSCIATTS commanding officer, said the school
uses in-residence training and mobile training teams “to prepare partner nation
forces to conduct small craft operations in riverine and littoral environments.”
...The school offers formal courses of instruction in both Spanish and English at
various times throughout the year. Many courses are taught by Navy engineers
and members of the Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen force.
...Courses include patrol craft operations in a riverine environment; patrol craft
propulsion systems overhaul; hull maintenance; outboard motor maintenance
and overhaul; weapons maintenance; instructor development; and rule of law
and disciplined military operations.
Growth
...Both SBT-22 and NAVSCIATTS have already grown since locating at
Stennis at the end of the last decade. And with the Navy’s emphasis on the
“Brown Water Navy,” there’s every reason to believe both operations at the
Stennis Naval Special Warfare Group 4 compound will grow.
...There are over 900,000 rivers and 224 major river basins in the world, and
Stennis appears to be an ideal location to train warfighters who will work in that
environment. The 490-mile long Pearl River, which forms part of the
Mississippi-Louisiana state line, runs through the federal facility. That and
proximity to the Gulf of Mexico allows riverine and coastal training. And its
location within the buffer zone of Stennis provides a large measure of seclusion.
...When SBT-22 first moved to Stennis, there were 70 “boat people,” said
Lyonnais. That’s more than doubled to today’s 180. The growth has meant an
increase in support personnel as well, such as mechanics. All told SBT-22 has
300 members, along with two dozen civilians.
...Because of that growth and anticipated future growth, SBT-22 broke ground
in February 2009 on a new riverine operations site, a two-building, $9.7 million
complex near the Pearl River. It’s scheduled to open in May 2010.
...NAVSCIATTS, too, is growing.
...“The need for [special warfare] elements to do riverine operations has grown
dramatically,” Chief Mass Communications Specialist Katt Wittenberger, Naval
Special Warfare Group 4 public affairs officer, told Navy Times in February
2009. - David Tortorano
October 2009
Military
Stennis' special warfare units
Stennis' special warfare units
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