AFM RAPID DEPLOYMENT TEAM

Armed Forces of Malta's RAPID DEPLOYMENT TEAM

1. army
June 2011 | Sunday Circle 27
ARMY
Sunday Circle | June 201126
Discreetly tucked in a quiet corner at
Haywharf Base, at the Armed Forces of
Malta’s Maritime Squadron headquarters,
a small billet which looks very much like
several others on the quayside, hosts a small
unit of specialized military operators who
perform delicate and high-risk operations at
sea. Their insignia, a winged sword crossed
by a thunderbolt, a rope and an anchor,
already says a lot about what the Rapid
Deployment Team (RDT) is all about.
In recent years the Armed Forces of Malta
(AFM) have often been associated with
innumerable search and rescue (SAR)
operations at sea or bomb disposal incidents.
The AFM’s local share of many guard duties
at various vulnerable points like foreign
embassies, banks or government buildings,
are coupled with their keeping a surveillance
watch of the local nautical activities of these
islands’ waters and beyond, especially in
summer. In fact, reacquiring the control
of hijacked ships, freeing of hostages, and
capturing of smugglers, are all scenarios
which the AFM’s RDT are trained to tackle.
As I walk into their office, I am greeted by
Duncan*, one of the RDT’s veterans. Today is
training day, and the men are busy rehearsing
vessel boarding techniques together with
another AFM detachment of troops. “In a
matter of months, some of us will deploy to
the Indian Ocean to perform counter-piracy
duties,” Duncan explains to me. He is one
of the first recruits who formed the RDT
in 1997, when the primary mission was to
counter illegal activities at sea. we Own
tHe NiGHt FaBiO GiangOLini meetS tHe AFM?S
RAPID DEPLOYMENT TEAM, A SMALL UNIT OF
SPECIALIZED MILITARY OPERATORS WHO PERFORM
DELICATE AND HIGH-RISK OPERATIONS AT SEA
Photography by Alan Carville

2. army
Sunday Circle | June 201128
At the time, the Italian Military Mission’s
instructor cadre oversaw the selection
and training of the first intake’s recruits.
Instructors from the 9th Assault Regiment “Col
Moschin”, Italy’s premiere special forces and
counterterrorism unit trained the RDT in a
vast array of specialties which included hostage
rescue techniques, close quarters battle, unarmed
combat, precision shooting, and vessel boarding
tactics from fast boats and helicopters.
Benefitting from bilateral relations with other
countries, the RDT subsequently went on
honing their skills through training courses
imparted by law enforcement agencies like the
DEA or HM Customs, and by foreign special
forces like the US Navy SEALs and the Special
Intervention Group of the Italian Carabinieri.
Very soon after its inception, the RDT saw
itself addressing narco-trafficking and people-
smuggling on the high seas and all along the
Maltese coast, indented with its natural coves,
able to hide P1 championship calibre fast
speedboats for their nightly run across the
North Malta Channel to Sicily. Equipped with
their own state-of-the-art powerboat, the RDT
soon emerged as a match for these criminal
activities at sea.
The surge of the illegal migration phenomenon
imposed a change of tactics, given that the
majority of criminal operations at sea take place
at night. “Thanks to our superior equipment
and training, we can confidently affirm that
we literally own the night, aided with our night
vision capabilities,” one of the men explains to
me. The RDT is also tasked to conduct complex
operations, such as boarding a hijacked vessel to
apprehend hijackers and free hostages.
A recent real-life scenario exemplifies what the
RDT are called upon to do: last September, they
were deployed some 20 nautical miles east of
Malta to regain control of a Libyan refrigeration
boat, hijacked by 16 Egyptian stowaways. The
RDT boarded the vessel and apprehended the
hijackers, and the boat was brought in to Malta
for further investigations.
Fast-roping down from a helicopter is one of
the many skills the RDT operators have learnt
to perfection. A four-man team (or “brick” as it’s
called), flies out in a leading helicopter, preceded by
another carrying two snipers. Upon reaching the
target vessel, the latter orbits around the objective,
in a position capable to provide covering fire to
the other aircraft inserting the RDT via fast rope
on the vessel’s deck below. The action is fast and
well-rehearsed like a military ballet, that develops
into a thorough search of the boarded vessel, and
apprehension - or neutralizing - of any hostiles.
The RDT’s arsenal varies from sub-machine
guns to pump action rifles, and pistols to sniper
rifles. That’s augmented with a modest array
of state-of-the-art equipment, which includes
holographic gun sights and “flashbang” stun
grenades. These disorientate any hostiles when
tossed into confined spaces like rooms or ship’s
cabins, long enough for the RDT operators to
take down the area without firing a single shot.
But what does it take to join the RDT?
“Motivation is probably one of the most
important qualities that candidates must
possess,” Duncan explains to me. “You can be
the fittest person in the world, but without
self-discipline and the ambition to succeed, a
candidate will never get through our selection
course.”

3. interview
Sunday Circle | June 2011110
Candidates are all volunteers, and must pass a gruelling four-week
selection course, which includes a timed 200-metre swim in full
combat gear, countless push-ups and pull-ups, completing the AFM
assault course, and achieving top scores in skill-at-arms down range
with a variety of weapons. Over time, new RDT recruits become
proficient in room breach-entry techniques, ship or oil-rig boarding
and clearance, small boat maneuvering tactics that include hostile
beach reconnaissance, and hostage rescue operations.
When I sit down with Duncan after the vessel boarding
demonstration, he tells me what it is like to be in the RDT, allowing me
to delve into the life and emotions of these brave men. He explains to
me the reasons why young men decide to join their team, instead of
opting for a much comfortable life on “civvy street”. “Soldiers enlisting
in the AFM are attracted by a variety of things: each individual seeks to
contribute their share in serving Malta. Some do so by serving at the
Maritime Squadron, since they would have a flair for sea-going duties,”
he tells me. “After each mission’s successful completion, each team
member feels a unique sense of satisfaction. That is what motivates us
daily to form part of this elite team.”
I ask him how he and his colleagues deal with the emotional stress
brought about by dealing with dangerous situations. “A training maxim
states: ‘Train like you fight, fight like you train!’ Each RDT member relies
on his comrades’ teamwork and especially on his individual training
regimen and that is what gives him confidence in the face of danger.”
Balancing personal life with work is not easy, and the members of the
RDT consider themselves as a family. “Being part of the RDT is very
demanding, and that is not just because we are on call 24/7, ready for
deployment in the shortest possible time. The high importance and
value of training is not easily quantifiable in words, but it serves to gel
the team and hone drills, practices, or reactions-to-contact, as well as
fostering a strong sense of brotherhood with my team. It’s also difficult
for our families to fathom fully what we do and the dangers we live
by. The media is followed by everyone, so all our relatives know well
how dangerous working out at sea can be, both on our in-boarding
operations and during interdiction missions.”
As I leave the base, I can see the men lined up in front of their quarters:
they’re taking a break from the ship boarding exercise. Some of them
have ditched their distinctive dark navy-blue uniform for a new green
digitalized camouflage pattern. It’s the new combat dress-uniform
that they will wear when, in a few months time, they will be serving
on th Indian Ocean as part of the EU-led counter-piracy operation
“Atalanta”, their first major overseas deployment.
Fabio Giangolini is the editor of the World News, Special Operations and
Counterterrorism sections on the Italian military magazine “Tactical News”.