This story was reported by US Naval Institute in the post, “George Washington CSG in the South China Sea After Philippine-Chinese Clashes.”

“We’re committed to supporting our treaty partners, and obviously we’ve already done quite a bit. In fact, there was a U.S. Coast Guard vessel in the region at the time that this happened and actually helped stand between the two sides and allowed the individual who was injured to be rescued and brought back for medical treatment,” Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ Meeting last week.

These Sentinel-class cutters were previously deployed to the Middle East but have since shifted to Southeast Asia since the start of the U.S.-Iran conflict.