← Back to Gallery

FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT)

Hostage Rescue Team members debrief after a training exercise at their headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.
Hostage Rescue Team Operators train for close-quarters battle
HRT mobility exercise
Hostage Rescue Team Operator Jumps From Aircraft
FBI Hostage Rescue Team trains on a helicopter in the deserts of Arizona in 2007. Photo by Glenn Grossman, LAPD, used with permission.
Charleston Police SWAT team members with a police dog enter a barn during a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) training exercise held August 5-7, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Photo of FBI agents using a rope ladder to climb into a hovering Black Hawk helicopter during a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) training exercise held August 5-7, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina.
An FBI helicopter lifts firefighters from a fireboat during a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) training exercise held August 5-7, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Hostage Rescue Team operators participate in a training exercise.
An HRT operator takes a position during a training exercise. Operators are expert marksmen, proficient in close-quarter fighting, and have the tactical ability to breach fortified strongholds and launch assaults with speed, precision, and—if necessary—deadly force.
An FBI Black Hawk helicopter delivers members of the Columbia Field Office’s SWAT team during a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) training exercise held August 5-7, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Photo of special agent bomb technician at work during a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) training exercise held August 5-7, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Photo of FBI agents climbing down a rope suspended by a Black Hawk helicopter during a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) training exercise held August 5-7, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina.
HRT Mobility Team trainees help life an “injured” boater into a helicopter during a Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) training exercise held August 5-7, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Hostage Rescue Team operators consult a map during a night exercise.
HRT operators participate in a training exercise. In a critical incident such as a terrorist attack or hostage situation, first responders are usually local and state-level law enforcement and might include SWAT teams and crisis negotiators. If a situation cannot be resolved at that level, federal assets such as the HRT may be called in.

See Also: