Tiongson speaks at a press conference before the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche offloads 18,219 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $239 million, on Dec. 6, 2023. U.S. Coast Guard

The Navy League’s on-line magazine, Seapower, has an interview with the Pacific Area Commander. There is a lot of good information here.

HC-130Js (and C-27Js):

CGAS Sacramento will “transition” to HC-130Js. Pacific Area certainly needs the long range aircraft because, while 84% of the US EEZ is in Pacific Area they have only three fixed wing air stations (Kodiak, Barbers Point, and Sacramento) while Atlantic Area has five fixed wing air stations to cover only 16% of the US EEZ.

What will happen to the C-27Js? No mention was made of these. They might go to Guam. That would be helpful in providing fixed wing search aircraft in the Western Pacific. Recently there was a SAR case in the Western Pacific. A C-130 was dispatched from Barbers Point, but the flight was so long the crew needed a day’s rest before the aircraft could be used in the search. On the other hand, Guam might not be an optimal location since it is so far West. There are other options.

Fast Response Cutters:

As I read the statement, the intention is to have a total of six FRCs in Guam and add a fourth in Hawaii.

His discussion about these little ships clearly indicates that their nominal five-day endurance (same as the preceding 110 foot WPBs) is being exceeded regularly.

“The FRCs, first off, are game changers for the Coast Guard in general. Back in the day, we had patrol boats that were limited in terms of the sea states they could handle, the food that they could carry, the number of crew members and certainly their duration at sea. The FRCs have changed that.”

Six WPCs in the same port is not unusual. District 7 has three different ports, each homeport to six or seven Webber class, but this may be a move toward replicating a PATFORSWA type organization to support 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific.

Large Patrol Cutters:

There was a brief discussion of the Offshore Patrol Cutters, but no indication of when they are expected to arrive in PACAREA.

A second “Harriet Lane or Indo-Pacific support cutter” is on PACAREA’s unfunded priority list. For some reason, I think this may happen.

Commercial Icebreaker Procurement:

Plans for the commercial icebreaker (Aiviq) were discussed. It will be homeported in Juneau, as reported here in March, but still has not been purchased and it will take two years to complete changes to make it fully operational.

The admiral was asked, “Is the commercial icebreaker going to be crewed by Coast Guardsmen or by a contract crew?” and there was no definitive answer. Should the Coast Guard adopt a hybrid crew, as has been done by some Navy vessels it would be a major change in Coast Guard policy.

The Eastern Pacific Drug Transit Zone: 

Atlantic Area cutters are not assisting in Eastern Pacific drug transit zone interdiction efforts, as they normally would, because they are heavily engaged in migrant interdiction operations.

Trusted Partner:

The Area Commander talked a lot about what being a trusted partner meant, about partnerships with Asian coast guards, and the outsized effect of having a few good people in liaison positions.