Photos: FBI Hostage Rescue Team conducts training in Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team conducted a four-day training exercise in and around Charleston this week.

Agents practiced helicopter and jet-ski rescues in the Charleston Harbor, the Intracoastal Waterway, and off the coasts of Kiawah and Sullivan’s Islands.

The FBI said that Charleston “is the perfect location for the FBI’s specialty teams to train.”

Multiple state, local, and federal agencies participated in the exercises. FBI Columbia Special Agent in Charge, Susan Ferensic, said that partnering with other agencies is important “so that we are all prepared and work cohesively in times of crisis.”

The following agencies and organizations either participated in or supported the exercise:

• FBI – Columbia Field Office 
• United States Air Force 1st Combat Camera Squadron 
• United States Air Force 4th Combat Camera Squadron 
• United States Coast Guard – Station Charleston 
• National Park Service  
• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources 
• South Carolina Law Enforcement Division 
• Medical University of South Carolina 
• Charleston County Sheriff’s Office 
• Charleston County Consolidated Dispatch 
• Charleston County Volunteer Rescue Squad 
• Charleston Police Department 
• Charleston Fire Department 
• Mount Pleasant Police Department  
• North Charleston Police Department 
• North Charleston Fire Department 
• St. Johns Fire Department  
• Charleston Branch Pilots Association 
• Barrier Island Ocean Rescue 
• Priority 1 Air Rescue 
• Town of Kiawah Island 
• Kiawah Island Golf Resort