Super Secret Service Team Cracks Down on Attackers of US President

With powerful firepower, CAT agents are always ready to strike back at anyone plotting to attack the US president or the White House.

Members of the Counter Assault Team (CAT). Photo: Reuters

During his foreign trips, the US president is always protected by a powerful force of agents from the US Secret Service (USSS). In addition to the elite Presidential Protective Division (PPD) bodyguards, the USSS also has a team of "super secret agents" equipped with heavy weapons, ready to suppress any threat, according to the Washington Post.

This elite secret service force, called the Counter Assault Team (CAT), plays an important role in the US president's protection. CAT members are easily recognized because they always carry a large rifle on their shoulders or military backpacks containing modern weapons and equipment.

Unlike regular secret service agents (PPD) who only wear suits and carry pistols, CAT members always wear black combat uniforms and carry very powerful equipment. In the motorcade, the CAT team is arranged in a black van following the "Beast" carrying the president.

The role of CAT agents is clear: If the White House or the presidential motorcade is attacked, they will be the ones to "deliver incredibly powerful suppressive firepower" to the threats, according toDan Bongino,Former Secret Service agent who served as President Barack Obama's bodyguard and whose brother works in CAT.

Bongino said that in the event of an attack on the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, CAT would be the first to open fire to suppress and support. At that time, the PPD guards would try to move the POTUS (the acronym for the US President) to a safe place, while the anti-sniper team would be responsible for scanning the entire surrounding area to find hidden enemy snipers.

Because the CAT agents are classified as "special forces", they do not participate in removing the president from danger. Instead, they continuously attack the enemy with heavy firepower, creating an opportunity for the POTUS to safely enter the bulletproof "Beast".

"The presidential guard's job is not to fight, real life is not like the movies," Bongino said. "Their job is to get the president out of trouble, period. They don't have to shoot back, that's what CAT does."

To complete this rather heavy duty, CAT is equipped with the SR-16, a powerful carbine similar to the M-4 rifle but reserved for special forces and not sold on the market, according to Ronald Kessler, author of the 2010 book "Inside the President's Secret Service."

Strict selection

CAT agents carry SR-16s while escorting the US president. Photo: Defensereview

Bongino said that becoming a secret agent protecting the US president is difficult, and being a CAT member is even more difficult, because these "super secret agents" are required to be extremely physically and mentally healthy.

In addition to the general standards from USSS, CAT also sets its own extremely strict recruitment regulations. Up to now, no one, including the best athletes in the world, has been directly recruited into CAT's training school.

To become a CAT agent, candidates must have many years of experience working in the secret service. After a rigorous selection and application process, accepted candidates will have to undergo a week of preparation and 6 weeks of arduous training, causing many people, even those who have worked in the secret service for many years, to be unable to bear it and quit.

The challenges that candidates go through require them to be fast and strong, such as running 2.4 km within 9 minutes and doing push-ups with a suit of armor weighing more than 20 kg on their body. However, good physical strength is not enough, CAT agents must also have nerves of steel and the ability to use heavy weapons proficiently.

They will be put through stress tests to test their will, followed by extremely difficult shooting training. One such test requires candidates to sprint 400 meters, pick up a gun and hit a target, or swing a kettlebell dozens of times, then take aim.

According to former USSS director Ralph Basham, only about 10% of applicants pass the rigorous testing rounds and officially become CAT members. Basham said that this is a "very prestigious" position but not everyone can take on, and so far, only a few rare women have made it onto the CAT recruitment list.

In its history, CAT has never had to deploy forces to counter a large-scale attack from an enemy targeting the US president. Attacks involving multiple fighters targeting the White House or the head of the US have only appeared in movies.

In fact, Agent Tim McCarthy, who was shot while protecting President Ronald Reagan from an assassination attempt at the Washington Hilton in 1981, was a member of the PPD guard, not CAT.

Basham said CAT had only ever been considered for combat deployment once, when there was a suspected gas attack on the president, but he did not provide details. But the former Secret Service director said the role of CAT was irreplaceable.

"They go through every form of training and they're always anticipating and practicing every scenario you can think of. In my time, every last week of the month, they did nothing but training," he said.

"If the presidential guards get into trouble, the CAT team will come to the rescue. But no one will have to come to the rescue of the CAT team," Bongino emphasized.

The car carrying CAT members. Photo: Flickr

According to VNE