I recently adopted my first dog, a ten-month old Belgian Malinois that we named Aino. For those unfamiliar, Malinois are commonly used by both the military and law enforcement agencies as highly trained “force multipliers,” primarily for explosive and narcotic detection, as well as patrol, and tracking purposes, among other things.
After bringing Aino home, I started shopping for pet supplies, namely a collar and leash that can handle a 60-lb Malinois with a lot of drive. What I discovered is that, like so many other things these days, “Tacticool” is the flavor of choice for Belgian Malinois and German Shepard owners. Sure, both breeds are used as Military Working Dogs (MWD), but that doesn’t mean they need to dress the part for civilian duty, right?
What’s this have to do with a personal watercraft (PWC) being used by the United States Coast Guard, you wonder? Well, aside from being draped in all-black-everything, these “tactical personal watercraft” as the Coast Guard likes to call them, look kind of like Aino to me...
Sure, I could adorn her with an Olive Drab Green or Coyote Tan harness complete with custom patches that warn of her sharp teeth and ferocious sense of smell, but ultimately, she’s still just, well, a dog. A lot like these PWCs assigned to the Coast Guard’s Office of Rapid Response and Prototyping (CG-RAPTOR) program. They’re just jet-skis.
According to a report by Task & Purpose, “the Coast Guard has been busy in recent months, carrying out several major drug seizures in the waters near the U.S.-Mexico border. And this past month service members were spotted training with a new tool to help with interdictions: jet skis.” The report links to a video posted by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) showing these “tactical jet skis” being used in training exercises, where a team of Coast Guard frogmen can be seen riding the jet skis through poor visibility and large waves to make landfall at Coronado Beach in California.
But what makes them “tactical,” exactly?
From what I can discern in the video and photos shared by the DVIDS, these appear to be Yamaha FX Limited SVHO WaveRunners, a PWC that the Japanese brand sells under the “Luxury” category on their website. They even offer a limited-edition all-black iteration to celebrate their 40th anniversary, what they call “a bold tribute to 40 years of innovation, power, and unrivaled performance.” The PWCs being used by the RAPTOR program look pretty much the same, minus the gold accents.
According to Task & Purpose, the Coast Guard did not respond to questions about their new Jet Skis, but it seems that even the personal watercraft segment is getting the “Tacticool” treatment these days.
Cool, I guess.
