Vice Adm. Andrew J. Tiongson, Commander Coast Guard Pacific Area

The US Naval Institute has a pod cast interview of the PACAREA Commander.

Initially, there were questions about the Coast Guard’s response to the fires on Maui and Tropical Storm Hillary’s landfall in Southern California.

There was a lot of talk about the Coast Guard being a trusted partner, both internally and internationally, and the cooperative relationship the Coast Guard has developed with island nations in the Pacific, that have resulted in 13 bilateral agreements including some “enhanced” ship-rider agreements that permit the Coast Guard to act on behalf of island nations, even if there are none of their citizens aboard.

He said Harriet Lane should be in the Pacific before the end of the year.

He also talked about his potential role as Commander, Defense Force, West, under NorthCom.

There were some of surprises.

• The Canadian Coast Guard has leased a commercial vessel and the USCG is providing a law enforcement detachment. I presume they are operating in the Western Pacific because there would be no reason to use a USCG LEDET in Canadian Waters.
• That the House version of the budget includes four additional Webber class FRCs, three more for Guam and another for Honolulu.
• The Coast Guard is opening a “Center for Excellence,” a regional activity center, in Hawaii, that will provide training in fisheries enforcement and environmental response for friendly nations. Should help form cooperative relationships across the Pacific.

I was also pleased to learn that VAdm. Tiongson had had a tour on USS NORMANDY (CG-60) as part of the U.S. Coast Guard – U.S. Navy exchange program. Apparently, it did not hurt his career.

The interviewer, Host Bill Hamblet, said he presumed PACAREA had the lion’s share of Coast Guard assets. VAdm. Tiongson did not answer that, but I can’t let it pass, because in my view the Coast Guard is still underrepresented in the Pacific.

About 84% of the US EEZ is in PACAREA, but LANTAREA will have 55% of the National Security Cutters. LANT has 81.5% of the WMECs (22 out of 27, counting Harriet Lane as in the Pacific), and 76% of the current 54 FRCs. Current plans are for PACAREA to have only 18 of the 65 FRC currently funded, less than 28%.

The situation may not be quite as bad as it looks, because LANTAREA assets are actually closer to the Eastern Pacific drug transit zones than PACAREA assets, so LANTAREA assets to operate frequently in the Eastern Pacific, but the asset distribution is still off, and PACAREA’s workload has been increasing with the emphasis on IUU fishing in the Pacific.

United States Exclusive Economic Zone – Pacific centered NOAA map