Stars and Stripes is providing some details of the 2014 RIMPAC exercise (“23 nations heading to Hawaii for RIMPAC as exercise details emerge”) to be conducted June 25 to August 4, and it appears the Coast Guard will have a significant role to play, including significant interaction with the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN).
Referring to PLAN participation “…an oiler, frigate and destroyer will participate in a “maritime interdiction operations” task force under a U.S. Coast Guard cutter commanding officer, Lt. Lenaya Rotklein, a spokeswoman for the Navy’s 3rd Fleet in San Diego, said Monday.
“The maritime interdiction operation involving the Chinese destroyer, frigate and oiler was referenced in December by the Navy as being under the Coast Guard cutter Waesche and including two Royal Brunei Navy ships, a French frigate, a U.S. frigate and the Pearl Harbor-based cruiser USS Port Royal.”
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
Because the CG appoints O-6s to command WMSLs/WHECs, versus every other country, which assigns O-4s and O-5s to vessels of similar size/capability, the USCG commands that part of the exercise by default as the SOPA?
It may also e that the Chinese feel more comfortable dealing with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has enjoyed generally good relations with the Chinese, plus it is a Maritime interdiction exercise, and they is something the Coast Guard does all the time. .
Those 4-stripes of the O-6 come in real handy when it comes to determining the order of returning/sailing back into Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC.
I participated in two of them – one of Jarvis (we nuked a Soviet AGI via flashing light one night!) and then later got to participate in TP’ing a frigate from 1000′ up, using the flare launchers out the back of a C-130. We were imitating an attack the Argentinian’s conducted on the British during the Falklands war in which a cargo plane flew over some British Navy ships, initially ignored, that tried to aerial bomb a British Navy ship.
Believe it or not, that simulated attack was actually planned by a British exchange officer!
…and the TP’s of the frigate, that’s a no-shitter!!!
It is an interesting sight to see 25-50 rolls of cheap gov’t TP unraveling like a curtain in front of a speeding Navy frigate – There is video of it out there somewhere!
Oh man! I gotta find that video. Sounds awesome!
Here is the CCGD11 news release: http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2167954/
Most significant, “Coast Guard Cutter Waeshe, homeported in Alameda, will serve as the Surface Action Group Commander for 10 ships from the U.S, China, Japan, Brunei, France and Mexico.”
Waesche arrives for RIMPAC http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2185913/
List of participants: http://www.cpf.navy.mil/rimpac/2014/participants/
A CG news release on what is happening one week into the exercise: http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/07/rimpac-2014-white-in-a-sea-of-gray/
An interesting development. In addition to the invited ships, the Chinese have an AGI (an intelligence ship) operating off Oahu: http://news.usni.org/2014/07/18/china-sends-uninvited-spy-ship-rimpac
Nothing illegal, but it does look like bad manners.
A Coast Guard Report: http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/07/rimpac-2014-combined-cooperation/
US Naval Institute has a report on the Chinese hospital ship, Peace Ark, participating in RIMPAC and in the final paragraph notes, “Peace Ark was placed under U.S. Coast Guard Command for the operational parts of RIMPAC, and was expected to exercise with forces from Canada, Norway, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines. The Chinese fleet will return to China on Aug. 4.”
Here is a wrap-up. Not a lot on how it actually went, but some nice photos: http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2014/08/rimpac-2014-aligning-maritime-forces/
The Chinese are coming back for RIMPAC 2016. http://navaltoday.com/2016/02/26/china-confirms-participation-in-us-naval-exercise-amid-south-china-sea-tensions/?uid=171
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