Shows the kind of new demands the Coast Guard is getting.
HONOLULU — The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL 757) returned to their home port in Honolulu on Monday following a five-month deployment to the Western Pacific.
Throughout the deployment, Midgett operated under the tactical control of the U.S. 7th Fleet, supporting efforts to promote a free and open Pacific. The cutter and crew conducted numerous joint operations, professional exchanges, and capacity-building activities with partners and allies from the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Japan.
“I am exceptionally proud of this crew’s dedication and operational excellence throughout our Western Pacific patrol,” said Capt. Brian Whisler, commanding officer of Coast Guard Cutter Midgett. “From strengthening alliances through complex multinational exercises like Balikatan to executing a real-world search and rescue mission, our crew consistently demonstrated the immense value and adaptability of the Coast Guard. Our engagements with allies have enhanced collective readiness, and our shared commitment to strong maritime governance continues to support security, freedom, and prosperity in the region.”
A cornerstone of the deployment was Midgett’s participation in Exercise Balikatan 2026. The cutter led a critical search and rescue exercise while operating alongside 11 multinational naval assets and contributed to the largest multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.
During operations in the Philippines, Midgett conducted a Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) that included the first vertical replenishment between U.S. and Philippine Navy assets and incorporated the Philippine Coast Guard’s new capabilities into a bilateral search-and-rescue exercise. Midgett’s crew also provided targeted training to the Philippine Coast Guard in preparation for its first-ever participation in the Rim of the Pacific 2026 exercise, conducting subject-matter exchanges on division tactics, supply logistics, and maritime law enforcement.
Beyond operations in the Philippines, Midgett’s regional engagements extended across the broader Western Pacific. In the Republic of Korea, the crew joined the Korea Coast Guard for a multinational maritime exercise and participated in a trilateral seminar with the Japan Coast Guard focused on coordinated approaches to complex maritime missions.
While in Singapore, the crew co-hosted a multinational group sail with the Republic of Singapore Navy, sharing expertise on unmanned aircraft system operations and compliant boardings.
Maritime forces from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japan Coast Guard, and Midgett conducted Pacific Atlas 26-1 off the coast of Japan. The exercise served as an inaugural logistics demonstration designed to validate communications, logistics procedures, and sustainment concepts that support strategic deterrence and operational flexibility in the Western Pacific.
The crew’s rigorous training proved lifesaving when Midgett was diverted to support a search-and-rescue mission near the Federated States of Micronesia. Demonstrating the Coast Guard’s core humanitarian mission, the crew successfully located and rescued a family who had been missing at sea for seven days.
During the patrol, Midgett was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force.
Commissioned in 2019, Midgett is the eighth Legend-class national security cutter and one of two homeported in Honolulu. The cutter’s primary missions are counterdrug operations, homeland defense missions, defense readiness, and the vessel regularly deploys throughout the Pacific.
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