He went on to tell Borger about a new program that would add small detachments of reservists with law enforcement experience to the police departments of large Coast Guard bases. Borger was definitely interested. THE CGPD Morales started work on the project two years ago with—you guessed it—an old shipmate. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Anthony Hord and Morales go back two decades to their time on the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous. Side note: while there, Hord, a gunner’s mate, told Morales all about his experience at TACLET North in the late 1990’s. The Coast Guard is, indeed, very small and interconnected, and doubly so for its deployable specialized forces community. But, as the current chief of security for the busy Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Hord was thrilled to have connections to the right person to help expand the unit’s police department. The massive Coast Guard Yard occupies a space of more than 100 acres, and 13 tenant commands share the location. On an average day, several thousand people pass through the unit’s gates, and the Yard might receive 50 or more deliveries. The Yard’s PD is responsible for providing force protection, patrolling the facility, and searching commercial vehicles coming through the gates. Together, Morales, Hord, and a team of stakeholders worked out the kinks of the year-long pilot program, which added 13 new billets for reservists at the Yard PD, with the potential to expand to other PDs. They worked with many offices on billet locations and policy, including staff from the Assistant Commandant for Reserve, as well as staff from DCMS-34, which is the chief security officer under the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support. “This program went from concept to employment in 18 months,” said Morales, who worked with Hord as well as the chiefs of the other seven CGPDs to find a way for divisions of reservists to qualify and merge with the active duty MEs staffing the police departments. Already, two ME reservists augmenting the Yard PD (who were brought on active duty as part of the response to coronavirus) qualified in half the time it usually takes. Hord attributed this to their civilian law enforcement experience, and foresees the same result with his new Reserve division. “The police officers come in, and they’re already proficient in the basics,” said Hord. “We just have to teach them the Coast Guard way, within policy. Once they get used to the policy part specific to the unit, they’re up and running.” In addition to the surge staffing capability, Hord saw an added bonus to plussing up his staff with reservists: mentorship of the unit’s many nascent active duty MEs just out of A-school and beginning their law enforcement careers. As a former instructor at the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy, he recognized the effect of adding seasoned police officers to CGPDs. “Some of the applications we read were amazing,” he said. “Some of these members coming in have 15 years of experience, not just patrol experience. We’ve got some who’ve been in drug units, some have been detectives, so they’re bringing all that experience and knowledge in. A program like this is helping out the unit, it’s helping our guys.” Top: Joseph Borger, left, was last stationed at the Maritime Security Response Team East before leaving active duty in 2007. Middle: As an agent with the U.S. Secret Service, Borger works on the counter assault team for presidential security. Bottom: Reserve maritime enforcement specialists, many of whom have a double law enforcement career, are part of a new pilot program augmenting Coast Guard police departments. Issue 2 • 2021 . RESERVIST 21
