Members of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency recently (NGA) participated in a U.S. Coast Guard HITRON drug interdiction field training exercise in Jacksonville, Florida, NGA announced March 10.
NGA teammates Air Force Lt. Col. Caitlyn Defabo, Scott Wiley and Jay Humphrey observed the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron conduct a mock drug trafficking interdiction from the safe confines of a USCG spectator vessel in January 2025.
NGA supports operational Department of Defense aircrews like HITRON with material encompassing all phases of flight from pre-planning to enroute operations to mission completion. These materials include airfield foundation Ddata, standard instrument departures, airway structure, standard terminal arrivals, instrument approach procedures, and vertical obstructions.
USCG extended the opportunity to witness the interdiction exercise to the NGA teammates while they were attending the Coast Guard Aviation Association Roost in Jacksonville as part of NGA’s outreach team to the DoD.
The Coast Guard is the United States’ lead federal maritime law enforcement agency implementing national and international laws on the high seas and waters within U.S. jurisdiction, and HITRON is the USCG forward-deployed airborne force for policing narcotics zones in the Western Hemisphere.
Coast Guard HITRON operations started as an experiment in 1998 to halt the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. The Coast Guard needed a way to counter the threat of drug trafficking organizations that primarily use “go-fast” boats, high-speed smuggling vessels capable of traveling up to 75 miles per hour, over twice the speed of most Coast Guard cutters.
“[These teams] are uniquely qualified to conduct airborne use of force for noncompliant vessels, enhancing the Coast Guard’s ability to react to maritime security threats and to better secure our maritime borders,” said Defabo of HITRON aircrews.
HITRON units typically forward deploy aboard Coast Guard cutters for one to two months at a time, utilizing MH-68A helicopters as well as maritime patrol aircraft, such as the HC-130H Hercules, to hunt down suspected drug traffickers in “go fast” watercrafts.
“My experience attending the USCG HITRON demonstration exposed me to the abstract professionalism, esprit de corps and teamwork involved in accomplishing this complex mission,” said Humphrey, “What they do is important for the country. That fact reinforced just how important our work roles are within NGA, specifically those that support this critical role.”
Source: NGA
Stay in the know with breaking news from across the IC and IC contracting landscape by becoming a paid subscriber to IC News. Your support makes our work possible.
By 
