History

History The National Strike Force (NSF), originally comprised of three 17-member Strike Teams (located in Elizabeth City, NC; Mobile, AL; and Novato, CA), was established in 1973 as a direct result of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972. The NSF’s roles and responsibilities in supporting the National Response System have expanded under subsequent major environmental legislation including the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Following the enactment of the Graham-Ruddman Act in 1986 and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the National Strike Force, as it is currently configured, was established.  The Atlantic Strike Team in Elizabeth City, NC was decommissioned in 1986 and recommissioned in its current location of Ft. Dix, NJ in 1991. The addition of the National Strike Force Coordination Center (NSFCC) in 1991 took the NSF to a new level of organizational and support capability.  In addition to coordinating the activities of the three teams, the NSFCC has also increased NSF support activities.  These activities include the development and oversight of a national maintenance contract that is essential to the readiness of pre-positioned spill response equipment; the classification of private sector Oil Spill Removal Organizations (OSRO); the development of a publicly accessible database which lists the available world-wide inventory of spill response equipment; the implementation of an NSF logistics network; the development of an Incident Command System (ICS) training program; and the integration of the Coast Guard Public Information Assist Team (PIAT).

Today’s National Strike Force totals over 200 active duty, civilian, and reserve personnel and includes the NSFCC; the Atlantic Strike Team; the Gulf Strike Team; the Pacific Strike Team; the Incident Management Assist Teat (CG-IMAT) and the Public Information Assist Team (PIAT).

National Strike Force personnel have provided support and expertise in many notable incidents in recent history such as: the oil spill of the single-hull tanker ATHOS 1 in the Delaware River near Paulsboro, New Jersey in 2004; the Egypt Air crash in 1999; the flooding following Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina in 1999; the motor vessel SERGO ZAKARIADZE grounding on the doorsteps of historic El Morro Castle, San Juan, PR, in 1999; the Alaska Airlines crash off the California coast in 2000; the Pepco Oil Spill in Eagle Harbor, MD in 2000; the terrorist attacks on 11 September, 2001; and the floods following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005.

Last Modified: 9/25/2017