Month: November 2025

• The Coast Guard uses a mock ship to help train its personnel for close-quarters combat and drug interdictions.
• The “ship in a box” can be customized for different mission sets and objectives.
• In some scenarios, actor traffickers are apprehended quietly, while others involve force.

USCG TACLET SOUTH OPA-LOCKA, Florida — Inside the Coast Guard’s “ship in a box,” elite Tactical Law Enforcement Teams rehearse the split-second decisions that make or break a real drug interdiction.

The Coast Guard is seizing record drug hauls at sea. To keep pace, its elite boarding teams train inside a mock ship where the hallways, hatches, and hidden threats are designed to prepare them for the moments when a boarding takes a turn.

From the outside, the “ship in a box” concept looks like a stack of cargo containers, but it’s meant to mimic a large vessel. The inside is customizable, with movable walls and doors to change the layout.

It’s here that the Coast Guard’s elite TACLET, the specialists who engage in high-pressure boardings of boats suspected of carrying illegal drugs like cocaine and marijuana to the US, prepare for all the ways an interdiction might go down.

Business Insider recently got a look at a demonstration of a team training in the “ship in a box,” watching how specialists boarded the vessel, swiftly moved through it to take control, apprehended “traffickers,” and in two instances, neutralized hostile crew members. It’s this kind of training that keeps teams sharp, specialists said.

The “ship in a box” sits on TACLET South’s Opa-locka base, with multiple levels and entry points. A small Coast Guard boat waits alongside it — the team’s starting point for the boarding.

Hanging a ladder from the railing of the ship, the team climbed aboard, keeping eyes and guns trained. Once aboard, they began to work toward taking control of the vessel, from the propulsion systems to suspected traffickers and drugs to any potential weapons or threats that could endanger the operation.

A few scenarios played out inside the “ship in a box.”

In one, the four Coast Guard personnel moved into one room where a drug trafficker stood, unaware of their presence. Not wanting to reveal their status on board, they quietly signaled for him to put his hands up, checked for weapons, and restrained him. In another situation, they woke up two sleeping traffickers.

These were calmer, smoother moments in the interdiction process. The next situation, though, put the team in danger.

In one hallway, an armed smuggler spotted the Coast Guard coming in through a door and began to raise his gun. The team quickly opened fire, putting him on the ground before he could take a shot. They then moved toward a nearby room, eliminating another armed crew member.

Once the threats were neutralized, the ship was secure.

In a real interdiction, the next steps would be questioning the crew, confirming the vessel’s origin, cataloging the drugs, and beginning the long process of building a case.

The “ship in a box” demonstrates the higher level of training that TACLETs have to have. “We train for the ability to do a non-compliant level boarding where we may need to engage threats during a boarding and be able to move through space and execute close-quarters combat skills,” said Cmdr. Chris Guy, commanding officer of the TACLET South.

Right now, the Coast Guard is interdicting substantial quantities of drugs, mostly cocaine, during long deployments in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean. Just last week, the service broke its record for the most cocaine seized by one vessel in a single deployment. Continued demand has raised the bar, prompting more training and flexibility.

“You never know what you’re going to see out there, and we’re trained to react to whatever may happening,” said Lt. Matthew Lesyk, a specialist with TACLET South.

• Lace Larrabee is a 41-year-old who felt that Thanksgiving was a burden she carried alone.
• After divorcing her husband nearly two years ago, she has started dating her girlfriend.
• The two women share the load now when it comes to celebrations.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lace Larrabee, a touring stand-up comedian. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Until this year, I had always been the person in my relationships who planned and implemented holiday plans — first with my long-term boyfriend and then with my husband. It all fell on me.

Gatherings with family and friends to celebrate is a priority for me, but my past partners never seemed interested in birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I just took it all on myself.

We got divorced, and 6 months later, I met someone new

I remember that for past Thanksgiving meals, I would spend the day before prepping the food and wake up early on Thanksgiving to finish cooking and decorating. I wanted it, the celebration, and so it was all on me.

I recently wrote about it on Threads, and found that so many women resonated with how I have felt about holidays in the past. I wasn’t alone. It’s common to see that women are the ones on whom the burden of celebrating falls.

In July 2024, my husband and I split, and I moved out of the house.

Just over six months later, I met Alix, a woman who was taking a stand-up comedy class I was teaching.

After the class finished, Alix got in touch to say she was interested in me. I told her I was interested in her too, but said she didn’t want this — I was complicated and had lots going on. She replied: “Yes, I do.”

We started dating in the spring and have been together since.

She likes to plan with me for the holidays

Right away, we became partners, not just companions, when it came to planning for activities, events, and celebrations.

I remember telling Alix I really wanted to go to a concert in Florida with her. She told me she would love to go with me. She was just as enthusiastic as I was. We booked an Airbnb together, shared expenses for travel, and she planned a romantic way to officially ask me to be her girlfriend, thinking through every detail to make it special for me.

We have planned a Fourth of July weekend getaway, a birthday celebration, and Halloween together. I haven’t had to force her; she’s wanted to share the load of these celebrations with me.

Our families are spending Thanksgiving together

Months ago, Alix told me she wanted to host Thanksgiving at her house, bringing both of our families together to celebrate.

After creating a menu together, Alix created a group chat with everyone invited, asking each person to share what they would bring.

Together we made seating arrangements. Together we decorated (the house is decorated for Christmas, and the table for Thanksgiving). Together we shopped. Together we’ll cook. Together we’ll clean.

It has been so unlike any Thanksgiving I’ve ever hosted previously. Before, it had always felt stressful, frustrating, and overwhelming to do it all alone. But this Thanksgiving is different, because I now have a partner to share it with. I’m doing this with someone. I didn’t know holidays could be like this. It makes me look forward to all the celebrations to come.

Growing up, my dad and mom always shared the burden of everything. They were partners. It was something I had always wanted in my own relationships, but I never had it, until now.