JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Mar. 27, 2007)--Petty Officer 1st Class Bronson Suyat and Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Yakab of Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron in Jacksonville point rubber guns at a helicopter aircrew from HITRON. The two are posing as drug smugglers aboard a Coast Guard tactical training boat, which is designed to mirror a high-speed drug smuggling boat used in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea known as a go-fast. The aircrew must use simulated suppression fire and extreme maneuvers to avoid being hit by the �smugglers.� This training prepares HITRON aircrews that deploy aboard Coast Guard cutters to known drug transit zones through out the Pacific and the Caribbean stopping smugglers. The armed helicopter interdiction unit has stopped 114 go-fasts since 1998 preventing more than $8 billion worth of illegal narcotics from hitting U.S. streets. USCG photo by PA1 Donnie Brzuska
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