Created in 1983 and based at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, the HRT is the U.S. government’s non-Department of Defense full-time counterterrorist tactical team.

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Also the HRT routinely trains with other federal tactical teams such as the DEA's FAST Team, United States Border Patrol's BORTAC unit or the United States Capitol Police's CERT. Since its inception, the HRT has been involved in many of the FBI's most high-profile cases, executing numerous operations involving domestic militant groups, terrorists, and violent criminals.