| Marine Assault Team | |
|---|---|
| Unit Gempur Marin اونيت ڬمڤور مارين | |
 The official crest of UNGERIN | |
| Active | March 2006 - present |
| Country | Malaysia |
| Agency | Royal Malaysia Police |
| Type | Police tactical unit |
| Part of | Marine Operations Force |
| Headquarters | Port Klang,Klang,Selangor |
| Motto | Gempur, Tangkas, Cekap Blitz, Agile, Efficient |
| Abbreviation | UNGERIN |
| Structure | |
| Operators | Approx. 60(as December 2014)[1][2] |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | SAC Yusof Bin Mamat |
| Notable commanders | SAC Abdul Rahman Bin Ahmad |
| Notables | |
| Significant operation(s) |
|
TheMarine Assault Team (MAST) (Malay:UnitGempur Marin,Jawi: اونيت ڬمڤور مارين), formally known as theUNGERIN is a maritime counter terrorism and tactical unit of theRoyal Malaysia Police'sMarine Operations Force. Having become fully operational in 2007, the UNGERIN conducts anti-piracy and counter-terrorism operations in the coastal waters surrounding Malaysia and assists the marine police to respond swiftly.[3]
UNGERIN operates out of the RMP's Marine Police Main Base inPort Klang,Selangor.
For most operations, the unit is supported by various Malaysian special forces units, includingPasukan Gerakan Khas when crimes takes place in Malaysian waters.[4]
Established in March 2006, theUnit Gempur Marin was created under the Royal Malaysia Police with the first name as theUnit Selam Tempur due to the pressing need of suppressing pirate attacks alongside the coastal area of theMalacca Straits and open sea area ofSouth China Sea which were continuously widespread from time to time despite various efforts done to overcome the problem.[5] Throughout the year of 2006, 239 cases of pirate attacks were reported according to statistics of the International Maritime Bureau,Kuala Lumpur.
As a result of concentrated efforts byIndonesia, Malaysia andSingapore, the piracy activities were drastically reduced.[6] Nevertheless, law enforcement agencies from the three countries continue to be vigilant against pirate activity in the Straits of Malacca.[7]
For the unit's restructuring, the name of UST was changed toUnit Gempur Marin orUNGERIN in the year 2008.[1] Its eventual goal is to have 200 operators on standby with UNGERIN.[4]
The roles of the RMP UNGERIN are predominantly focused on, but not restricted to thelittoral andriverine waterborne domains, including:
For this, UNGERIN operators are to patrol the following places:[4]
Based on this critical need, a specific doctrine from RMP led to the establishment of a marine elite unit performing said task. Approximately 30 members of the squad (69 Commando personnel were sent to this unit), and the unit will be upgraded to a strength of 100 in the future with 70 personnel employed in stages in the duration of two years after receiving approval from the Public Service Department, which are divided to three detachments, to guard the waters ofMalacca Straits and the Sulu Sea. This unit was basically trained by the69 Commandos of PGK. Then, they were trained by theUS Navy SEALs from a training exercise code-namedFusion Mint.[8] Training is also carried out with the aid ofUS Coast Guard[citation needed]
The unit is currently being trained inLangkawi andKota Kinabalu. Most of these instructors were Navy SEALs personnel. Besides the advanced diving training, they will be trained with other advanced training, including tactical warfare,HALO jump,marksmanship,sniping, bomb disposal,direct action,sabotage,counter-terrorism, andintelligence gathering as well as paramedic training, along with special missions which are normally handled by special forces.[9][10]
On 2 February 2007, UST anti-terror marine police and 69 Commandos trained abroad with theJapan Coast Guard (JCG),Royal Thai Marine Police (RTMP) and Thai Marine Department (TMD) for the combating maritime robberies exercise at waters of Ku Tarutao,Thailand, four nautical miles from the Malaysia-Thai border. The Japan Coast Guard deployed the PLH22 YASHIMA 5,000 tons patrol vessel toLangkawi for this mock exercise.
UNGERIN has recently participated with theRoyal Malaysian Navy on 28 March 2009.[11]
UNGERIN has been trained in maritime capabilities such as:
On qualification, Marine Police of the UNGERIN wear the blue berets[1] with light blue hackle and camouflage uniform, as the uniforms were worn by paramilitary and special forces of RMP. All tactics of maritime commandos are exactly similar to those of theUK Special Boat Service as well asUS Navy andUSMC special forces units.
As part of UNGERIN's restructuring, all marine police bases would be made coastal police stations with forward bases to double as coastal police posts for UNGERIN forces to rapidly respond to maritime threats.[12] Furthermore, the unit is very active in developing and testing methods and tactics for these missions.
UNGERIN officers are frequently seen armed with anM4A1 carbine when a maritime operation or a raid is being conducted while theWalther P99QA pistol is used as the standard-issue sidearm.
They also use a varied arsenal of weapons such asGlock 19 pistols,Heckler & Koch HK512 andRemington 870 shotguns,Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine guns,FN SCAR-H battle rifles,[13]Accuracy International Arctic Warfare sniper rifles andHeckler & Koch PSG1 marksmen rifles,Heckler & Koch HK11 general purpose machine guns,M203 grenade launchers andColt CM901battle rifles.
The unit has its ownRHIB navy transport speedboat with the capability of holding ten passengers and traveling at 60+ knots. Two engines with 250 brakehorsepower increase its maritime operational capabilities.[14] On 11 July 2007, the RMP purchased tenMarine Alutech Watercat M14 PSC class landing craft vessels fromMarine Alutech OY AB Service. These have 22 passengers capacity and 30 knots speed, and are possibly equipped with 12.7mmNSV machine gun, 40 mm grenade launcher and 120mPatria NEMO mortar for use by marine police as well as UNGERIN operatives foramphibious assault duties even in shallow waters.[15][16]
For equipment, UNGERIN basically uses commercial scuba diver equipment. All operatives are equipped with lightweight PRO-TEC helmets, fire-resistantNomex coveralls, or BDUs (battle dress uniform), plate carriers for carryingammunition and specialist equipment, tactical gloves,balaclava or protective face covering, protective eyegoggles,gas masks, flashlight (usually aSurefire orHeckler & Koch brand), combat steel reinforced boots,flexi-cuffs, and thigh ammo.Ballistic vests including rigid plate inserts, are standard issue. These vests are labelled with "POLICE", RMP insignia, or not labelled, to allow for easy identification. They often use drop legholsters, while some officers prefer hip holsters.
The operators was sent to Lahad Datu, Sabah as part of the Malaysian security forces team to secure the area from an armed terrorists known as Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo (Malay:Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Kesultanan Sulu dan Borneo Utara). Other than the official duties of storming, searching and "cleaning up" the villages the terrorists entered, the UNGERIN has also been busy doing something similar, but in charge of coastal areas. Led byASP Mohd Aris Jambul as a Field Commander of Marine 4th Region, an UNGERIN operators perform to secure a 20 km beachhead from Kampung Tanduo to Kampung Tanjung Batu, Kampung Labian, Kampung Sungai Bilis and Kampung Sungai Nyamuk, to be currently unoccupied.[17][18]
Marine Operations Force (MOF) plans to combining two of its elite unit, UNGERIN and MOF Diving Unit, into one special command. As December 2014, there are only 60 divers from MOF Diving Unit and 60 operators from UNGERIN which is relatively small if compared to other Malaysian special units.[19]
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