Small boats on the front lines of maritime security.

As the profile of the U.S. Coast Guard's homeland security mission rises, the role of small boat operations is becoming central to the effort.

These missions vary from safety inspections of family sailboats to climbing onto smugglers' speedboats to make arrests. In each case, the young guardsmen on small-boat crews operate in an array of unique circumstances.

On the cutter USCG Mellon, for example, two teams are trained to take out a 23-foot, 9-inch boat on interdiction missions. On a recent patrol to Central America, these small "over-the-horizon" boats were used in joint counter-drug operations with armed helicopters.

"You're always in close quarters," said Chris Smanse, chief warrant officer on the Mellon. "You can't get that personal space most [law enforcement] people get on land."

There is also a feeling of isolation on the water, and of self-reliance. "You can't make a call and know that 10 or 15 cop cars will come as backup," Smanse said. "When you're out there, you're it."

The bulk of Coast Guard boardings, however, are in response to drunken boaters, unsafe practices and troubled boaters.

The post-9/11 emphasis on security is keenly felt on the water. "We've taken a more aggressive posture, rather than a reactive one," Smanse noted. "But it always amuses me to hear people say the Coast Guard is coming around to homeland security missions. A lot of these things have been driven to the forefront, but through history, the Coast Guard has been doing these things."

The crews working with the helicopter interdiction team went through a special training regimen at the Coast Guard's Special Missions Training Center at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

"It's a fast-paced school, and there's no room for mistakes," said Chief Bosun's Mate Charlie Salles, who drives the boats on interdiction missions and trains other crewmembers on how to handle the powerful craft.

Riding the high-speed boat turns the human body into a shock absorber. Knifing through the waves at nearly 40 knots, each six-foot swell turns into an obstacle that needs to be overcome. Over the headsets, each impact is accompanied by a grunt, or in the case of newcomers, small yelps. The driver, who answers to the call sign "Boats," slows and speeds the craft as appropriate, maneuvering through or around each swell.

Over-the-horizon boats are designed with an edged, fiberglass plastic hull that grips the water, but a risk exists that that edge won't catch, making the craft skip sideways once, and eject the passengers upon impact. This is called a chine-walk, and at 40 knots the effects can be deadly.

Behind the driver are the navigator and communications personnel, one working the GPS satellite coordinates and the other setting a direction using waypoints on a screen. Behind them are two gunners.

Each crewmember can speak through microphones. The boat also is in touch with aviation units and maritime patrol craft, to vector in on a person in need of rescue, or a go-fast being chased. "The whole reason we have the OTH [over the horizon] is to work with the helicopter," said Capt. Mark Campbell, commander of the Mellon.

True to the Coast Guard's culture, the boats are used in a variety of ways, but its core function is to quickly project the cutter's presence, and expand its reach. Since the Mellon is an aging ship, having this capability is vital, Campbell noted.

During night missions, the OTH lights up a blue strobe light, the international mark of a law enforcement vessel. Piloting a speedboat at night makes it exponentially harder to navigate the waves, and is an overall bumpier, more violent ride. Increasingly, go-fast interdictions are occurring at night, meaning the crews must be comfortable in that environment. They don't use night-vision goggles. Instead, they rely on the ambient light from stars and moon, and the direction of the hovering helicopter, to vector in on the target boat.

"When you're out chasing somebody, you tend to forget about the multiple, painful impacts," said Salles over a headset, maneuvering the craft through a series of five-foot swells.

Without the benefit of an armed helicopter, these pursuits can stretch for up to a dozen hours, with both predator and prey stopping to refuel: the go fasts from their on-board fuel drums, the OTH from the cutter. Few go-fast busts occur without helicopter support, but the OTH'S speed brings a vital capability to get on the scene to end the chase started by the helicopter.

The crew is armed with M-16 rifles for warning shots, 9 mm side arms and 12-gauge shotguns with slugs for disabling fire and non-lethal ordnance. Over-the-horizon boats can disable a go-fast boat if the circumstances require, but since the weapon of choice is a shotgun, the risks rise because of the close proximity.

"It's not easy, but it's doable," noted Campbell. "If you find yourself without the helicopter because it's out of fuel or breaks, we train for that contingency."