Nets' security director caught 'Captain Phillips' pirate in 2009

The Brooklyn Nets have acquired a lot of high-end NBA talent over the past few seasons.

But the team's upgrades have taken place off the court, too. Before last season, for example, they hired Frederick Galloway as the team's assistant director of team security. Galloway had just spent six years as an investigator on an FBI counter-terrorism team, and before that he worked in the NYPD's intelligence division.

It turns out, the specifics of Galloway's resume are even more impressive than they read.

With the team taking in a screening of the new Tom Hanks movie Captain Phillips recently, Galloway spoke with the New York Post about the movie...which is based on a true story...that he was a part of.

Yes, Galloway was a member of the team that rescued the real-life Phillips from captivity and brought pirate Abduwali Muse to the United States to be brought to justice.

The entire piece is worth a read, but here's an excerpt from Galloway's recounting of the events:

"I was at home, and I got [an email] that an American tanker ship, the Maersk Alabama, had been hijacked off the Coast of Aden, which was our responsibility. So, I had to put a team together and get out there."
...
"They debriefed us before we got on [the helicopter] and they told us there were reports there are [rocket-propelled grenades] out there looking to shoot down this helicopter because of the pirate situation. So we had two gunners on the helicopter who were looking around [for shooters]."

As for the film and how Hanks' portrayed Phillips? "The movie was good," said Galloway. "Sometimes you were sitting there and you remember the emotion of why you were there. Then you look at Tom Hanks portraying Captain Phillips and you go, ‘Wow. He really captured it.’ He was really good."