Deployable Specialized Forces

Deployable Specialized Forces
Seal of the former command name Deployable Operations Group
ActiveJuly 20, 2007  – October 1, 2013, Deployable Operations Group (DOG) formerly
2013  – active
Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) reorganized
Country United States of America
Branch United States Coast Guard
TypeCounterterrorism
RoleCounterterrorism
Counter narcotics operations
Counterproliferation
Counter piracy
Expeditionary warfare
Size≈2,000
Part ofDepartment of Homeland Security
Nickname"DOG Teams" "DSF Teams"
EngagementsGlobal War on Terrorism

The Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF), formerly the Deployable Operations Group, are part of the United States Coast Guard that provide highly equipped, trained and organized deployable specialized forces, to the Coast Guard, United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Department of Defense (DoD) and inter-agency operational and tactical commanders. The command was formerly headquartered in Arlington, Virginia where it was established on 20 July 2007, and was commanded by a captain. It was decommissioned by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr. on 1 October 2013, with units previously assigned to the DOG being split between Coast Guard Pacific and Atlantic Area commands. The units were subsequently reorganized under Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF).

Missions of deployable specialized forces units include high-risk, high-profile tasks such as counter-terrorism, diving operations, intelligence-cued boarding operations, Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure, threat assessments involving nuclear, and biological, or chemical weapons, as well as detecting and, if necessary, stopping or arresting submerged divers.