Energy dept. commandos: 'as good as the military'.

• Author: Fein, Geoff S.

The Department of Energy is seeking to beef up its team of commandos, which is trained to help protect nuclear weapons facilities in the United States. The Composite Adversary Team (CAT) is the Department of Energy's equivalent to the Defense Department's special operations forces. Unlike conventional security forces, CAT operators train to think like terrorists. Acting covertly, they find ways to challenge DOE's security measures at nuclear weapons facilities. The protection of nuclear power plants, however, is the responsibility of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

CAT team members are the cream-of-the-crop of DOE's security guards. Joining the ranks isn't easy. Positions are not advertised. Recruiters periodically visit DOE sites, review personnel records and interview potential candidates, said Glenn Podonsky, director of the DOE office of independent oversight performance assurance. He said he is looking for individuals who have the physical and mental capability, as well as the ability to work effectively as part of a team.

The mission that CAT teams perform today used to be assigned to U.S. special operations forces, including Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Delta Force. That arrangement did not work out, said Podonsky, because SOF units were bring deployed constantly and could not devote adequate time to DOE. Another problem was that SOF tactics sometimes don't fit the DOE missions, he said.

Army Rangers had been tasked once to protect a DOE site, but they were "ill prepared to thwart off dangers," Podonsky added.

"We decided to develop our own team," said Podonsky. "We're as good as, if not better than, any military organization we have today."

There are 26 CAT members, in addition to 12 to 15 trainers.

Once accepted into CAT, guards are expected to change their mindset gradually, Podonsky said.

"They have been trained in a defensive posture, now they muse train in an offensive posture," he said. "We get them to think as terrorists would, get them used to weapons that terrorists use."

Teams go through a week of training about two to three times a year. There are no full-time CATs. Team members are pulled from their regular guard duty to take part in exercises. The idea is for CATs to apply the knowledge gained in the training for their sites, said Podonsky.

Trainers are people with "real world experience," said Podonsky, although he declined to discuss the professional backgrounds of trainers. They "run the gamut from former POWs to...