DEA FAST Teams

[JitsuBear]

Im new to this Forum so bare with me. I am very interested in the DEA I have a BA in CJ and 7yrs experince. as a full-time cop and a few years of SWAT experience. Im 27yrs old and I have been working hard at my LE career. Do to personal reasons I never got to join the military, but was always wanted a fast paced career. I am a local cop now, and would Love "One Day" to make it to a faster paced team like the DEA FAST team. I love the idea of FBI HRT, but you go to the FBI to be an agent not in hopes of being an HRT operator and if i had the choice of being a DEA Agent or FBI Im pretty sure id be happier in the DEA.
Correct me if Im wrong but with my LE experience the DEA overall seems way more Hands on and in the field. The FBI can also be hands on, but they seem not to get their hands as dirty. Way more like straight Detectives overall, instead of the DEA who come across as Road Guys,similar to my State's or Countys Narcotics Strike Force which I have worked with. Just my impression. I know it is Very difficult to get a spot on one of the FAST Teams, but In comparison to HRT how are they? How is the Selection/Course of the FAST Teams? Do you have to wait a certain amount of years before being able to apply like with HRT? I have a lot of info on HRT but little on the FAST Teams, trainning, selection, etc. THANKS for Any Info

[Switchback]

The DEA FAST guys are a great bunch of guys. They all seem very squared away. Most that I know have had military experience, with a healthy does of group guys. I know there training can be a bit of a ball-buster. Just be prepared to be gone a lot (and this is coming from a USMS SOG guy, averaging 6 months away each year for the last 8 years). They do short stints (3-4 months) on overseas tours very frequently.

There should be guys floating around on here who know better than me. I worked with some FAST guys in Afghanistan, but don't have much experience with them state-side.

[Boxer4]

You can still join the military. Look into the 18X program that the Army has. You can go straight into SF. That is where you will see the most action.

[Switchback]

You can still join the military. Look into the 18X program that the Army has. You can go straight into SF. That is where you will see the most action.

Go "right" to SF is simplifying it a bit, to say the least. You will have a chance to pursue that career path is a bit more realistic.

[Boxer4]

Go "right" to SF is simplifying it a bit, to say the least. You will have a chance to pursue that career path is a bit more realistic.

Very true. I was just assuming that he would make it through selection, Q-Course, and MOS school because he seems so gung ho.

[Switchback]

Yeah, I've got ya. I was not trying to be rude, but it takes a more than heart, just as you cannot do it on ability alone. They are called "Special" for a reason.

[JitsuBear]

Hey Guys. thank you for your replys. I am very aware of the 18x option and other military avenues. Thing is at this point in my life I have worked hard in my LE career and there are units out there within LE that i would Love to be apart of. I have come to terms with the fact that I feel its better for me to balance things, though i also think id be happy with a military career, im not miserable by far with my LE career and im pretty invested. Nothing is guaranteed anywhere esp in the military and since ive been working at my LE career and have my degree and currently pursuing a Mastersin homeland security from U-penn going enlisted would be great, but not the smartest move for me. Advancing in my LE career is what i decided to do.
And im fully aware that making it to any "special" unit military or otherwise is difficult, but you only go around once so im setting high goals. Thanks for your fast posts guys. Would just think "attempting"the DEA would be more fitting for me, im more hands on. been kicking around the dea-fbi and only have my experience to go off of. cant talk to guys at work about it id get black balled lol if they heard i wanted to jump ship. but with either agency im hoping to jump out of a helicopter or two, thats all lol jk (not really) thanks again.

[MyOwnNemesis]

Yeah, I've got ya. I was not trying to be rude, but it takes a more than heart, just as you cannot do it on ability alone. They are called "Special" for a reason.

Cheers. Special is what it is, SFAS & Q aint a joke and heart will only take you part of the way, the 18X program presents somewhat of an illusion to many new recruits - that and GI Joe. TEAMWORK is the key. I have seen many Rambo's frag themselves in assessment because they cannot play well with others.

"Special"...My call-sign "Corkey" did come from a REALLY special guy! (I also was really stressed one mission and put my Kevlar on backward and held the name ET for awhile) And no..a mongoloid does NOT come from Mongolia.

[Group9]

The hardest part about getting on a FAST team is getting hired as a DEA agent first. Get over that hurdle (or the FBI agent hurdle) first, and then you can start worrying about how hard it is to get on FAST or HRT.

[JitsuBear]

Yea man, 100% agree. thats why i said between the two agencies Overall i think id be happier in the DEA, since i realize the major hurdles in the way of first getting hired period. and then second even getting the opportunity to try out for a team like that, due to avalibility, openings, politics etc. Been on the job for a few years now and ive dealt with bs in just trying to maintain a spot on the county SWAT team due to politics within the dept. thanks for the post, was just curious on some direct insight into the FAST teams because at the very least im still interested in learning about them, not as much on the net about them as there has been in recent years about HRT.

[Group9]

Yea man, 100% agree. thats why i said between the two agencies Overall i think id be happier in the DEA, since i realize the major hurdles in the way of first getting hired period. and then second even getting the opportunity to try out for a team like that, due to avalibility, openings, politics etc. Been on the job for a few years now and ive dealt with bs in just trying to maintain a spot on the county SWAT team due to politics within the dept. thanks for the post, was just curious on some direct insight into the FAST teams because at the very least im still interested in learning about them, not as much on the net about them as there has been in recent years about HRT.

Problem is, you're not going to find much on the net about FAST, like you will about HRT. Different agencies, different cultures, different public information ideas.

[MyOwnNemesis]

Problem is, you're not going to find much on the net about FAST, like you will about HRT. Different agencies, different cultures, different public information ideas.

Another blocker of information is the "Gamer Age". Google SF, Delta, DevGrp, Recon and you will likely be directed to a HALO 3 website.

[Group9]

Not all news about DEA FAST is good. We all have been kind of expecting this one. It was still a punch in the gut when it happened, though.

The Associated Press: DEA agents among 14 Americans dead in Afghanistan


DEA agents among 14 Americans dead in Afghanistan

By ROBERT H. REID and HEIDI VOGT (AP) – 4 hours ago

KABUL — A U.S. military helicopter crashed Monday while returning from the scene of a firefight with suspected Taliban drug traffickers in western Afghanistan, killing 10 Americans including three DEA agents in a not-so-noticed war within a war.

Four more troops were killed when two helicopters collided over southern Afghanistan, making it the deadliest day for U.S. forces in this country in more than four years.

U.S. military officials insisted neither crash was believed a result of hostile fire, although the Taliban claimed they shot down a U.S. helicopter in the western province of Badghis. The U.S. did not say where in western Afghanistan its helicopter went down, and no other aircraft were reported missing.

The second crash took place when two U.S. Marine helicopters — a UH-1 and an AH-1 Cobra — collided in flight before sunrise over the southern province of Helmand, killing four American troops and wounding two more, Marine spokesman Maj. Bill Pelletier said.

The casualties marked the Drug Enforcement Administration's first deaths since it began operations here in 2005. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium — the raw ingredient in heroin — and the illicit drug trade is a major source of funding for insurgent groups.

The U.S. has decided to target production and distribution networks after programs to destroy poppy fields did little except turn farmers against the American-led NATO mission.

In the past year, the DEA has launched an ambitious plan to increase its personnel in Afghanistan from about a dozen to nearly 80, greatly expanding its role.

NATO said the helicopter containing the DEA agents was returning from a joint operation that targeted a compound used by insurgents involved in "narcotics trafficking in western Afghanistan."

"During the operation, insurgent forces engaged the joint force and more than a dozen enemy fighters were killed in the ensuing firefight," a NATO statement said.

Eleven Americans, including another DEA agent, and 14 Afghan security troops were wounded in the crash, NATO said.

Military spokeswoman Elizabeth Mathias said hostile fire was unlikely because the troops were not receiving fire when the helicopter took off. She said troops had been rushed to the crash site to determine the cause.

The crash came less than a week after a U.N. report found that the drug trade is enabling the Taliban to make more money now than when they ruled Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion in 2001. The DEA sent more agents to Afghanistan this year to take part in military operations against insurgents who use drug smuggling to raise funds for their war against NATO and its Afghan allies.

It was the heaviest single-day loss of life since June 28, 2005, when 19 U.S. troops died, 16 of them aboard a Special Forces MH-47 Chinook helicopter that was shot down by insurgents.

U.S. forces also reported the deaths of two other American service members Sunday: one in a bomb attack in the east, and another who died of wounds sustained in an insurgent attack in the same region. The deaths bring to at least 47 the number of U.S. service members who have been killed in October.

This has been the deadliest year for international and U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban. Fighting spiked around the presidential vote in August, when 51 U.S. soldiers died that month — the deadliest for American forces in the eight-year war.

President Barack Obama mourned 14 Americans killed Monday and told a military audience he will not be hurried as he evaluates whether to alter U.S. strategy in the war.

"I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way. I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary," Obama said during a visit to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida.

Obama is debating whether to send tens of thousands more troops to the country to curb the burgeoning Taliban-led insurgency. Doubts about bolstering the U.S. force grew after widespread fraud marred the Aug. 20 presidential election, raising doubt whether the U.S. and its NATO allies had a reliable partner in the fight against the militants.

Afghan officials scheduled a runoff election Nov. 7 between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah after U.N.-backed auditors threw out nearly a third of the incumbent's votes, dropping him below the 50 percent threshold required for a first-round win in the 36-candidate field.

Abdullah complained Monday that there were no assurances that the November vote would be fairer than the first balloting. He called for the head of the government's Karzai-appointed election commission chairman, Azizullah Lodin, to be replaced within five days, saying he has "no credibility."

Lodin has denied allegations of bias in favor of Karzai, and the election commission's spokesman has already said Lodin cannot be replaced by either side.

Another flawed election would cast doubt on the wisdom of sending in more U.S. troops.

With less than two weeks to go until the vote, disagreements have emerged between the U.N. and the Afghans on how to conduct the balloting.

Lodin said the commission hopes to open all 23,960 polling stations from the first round. The U.N. wants to open only 16,000 stations to cut down on the number of "ghost polling stations" that never opened but were used to stuff ballot boxes.

Meanwhile, security forces in Kabul fired automatic rifles into the air for a second day Monday to contain hundreds of stone-throwing university students angered over the alleged desecration of Islam's holy book, the Quran, by U.S. troops during an operation two weeks ago in Wardak province. Fire trucks were also brought in to push back protesters with water cannons. Police said several officers were injured in the mayhem.

U.S. and Afghan authorities have denied any such desecration and insist that the Taliban are spreading the rumor to stir up public anger. The rumor has sparked similar protests in Wardak and Khost provinces.