DOE Special Response Teams (SRTs)
Department of Energy Special Response Teams (SRTs) are elite tactical units trained and historically staffed by Wackenhut Corporation (now G4S Solutions) to provide security for US nuclear weapons and materials. SRTs are entrusted with transporting the nation's nuclear arsenals across the continental United States and possess arrest-on-site authority. In their operational heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, SRT members reportedly wore all-black outfits and gear with no identifying insignia.
Operations and Authority
According to a General Accounting Office report, beginning in 1987 Wackenhut subcontracted DOE guard services that included controlling access to sites, conducting patrols, responding to security alarms, performing property searches, providing protection for classified materials, and deploying special response teams at the behest of the Department of Energy. This broad mandate — combined with arrest authority, weapons training, and access to nuclear facilities — made SRTs among the most capable domestic security forces outside of dedicated military special operations units.
SRT operations are classified under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which provides a legal framework for classifying information related to nuclear weapons and materials as "Restricted Data" or "Formerly Restricted Data," separate from and superseding the standard military classification system. This means SRT activities can be designated as transclassified foreign nuclear information, effectively placing them beyond the reach of normal congressional oversight and Freedom of Information Act requests.
UAP Significance
UAP Gerb theorizes that DOE SRTs — or units modeled on them — may constitute the clandestine armed operators encountered by multiple military witnesses during UAP-related incidents:
- Rodrik Castle (1997): During the Hunter Warrior Advanced Warfighting Experiment at 29 Palms, Castle encountered armed operators in all-black, unmarked gear alongside a triangular TR-3B-type craft. Their appearance and equipment are consistent with historical descriptions of DOE SRTs.
- Jonathan Weygandt (1997): In Peru, Wagant encountered a similar clandestine team during a UAP recovery operation. Wackenhut had established forward operating bases in Peru in the late 1980s and early 1990s, providing a plausible mechanism for SRT deployment in that region.
- Michael Herrera (2009): In Sumatra, Herrera encountered armed operators in unmarked gear alongside an octagonal craft, following the same pattern.
The theory that these operators were DOE SRTs rather than conventional military special operations forces is supported by several factors: their lack of identifying insignia, their apparent authority to operate independently of the acknowledged military chain of command, the administration of anthrax boosters to witnesses (suggesting proximity to nuclear materials), and the classification framework of the Atomic Energy Act which would explain the extreme secrecy surrounding their operations.