Left to right: USCGC Benjamin Bottoms, USCGC Forrest Rednour, and USCGC Robert Ward. 28 January 2023 in Long Beach, Terminal Island, California. Photo: Maritime Hawaii

The Navy League’s on-line magazine reports on a small international exercise, Panamax 2026 which involved Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia as well as the US and Panama. Apparently the only US participants were Coast Guard.

The US participants were staff from District SW and USCGC Robert Ward (WPC-1130). This exercise illustrates why I think Atlantic Area should be responsible for all Coast Guard operations in 4th Fleets operating area.

USCGC Robert Ward is home-ported in San Pedro (Long Beach), the closest patrol cutter homeport to the Pacific end of the Panama Canal. Its transit distance is 2939 nautical miles. At 14 knots one way that 210 hours or about nine days. The nearest homeport for an Atlantic Area WPC is Key West only 1106 nautical miles from the Pacific end of the Panama Canal, That is 79 hours or less than four day’s transit, so round trip, a Key West Cutter would should take 262 hours less, saving almost eleven days.

No, a Key West based FRC probably cannot average 14 knots through the Panama Canal, but a West coast FRC is going to have to stop for fuel somewhere along the way probably adding a day to transit each way. A Key West FRC would arrive with about a half a tank of fuel remaining.

Actually every port in Atlantic Area is closer to the Pacific end of the Panama Canal than any port in Pacific Area. Portland, Maine is more than 700 miles closer than Long Beach.

The Western boundary of the 4th Fleet AOR, 92W, is actually a little East of Duluth, Minnesota and runs through Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

The Navy isn’t stupid. They don’t have two fleets, one on either side of Panama. 4th Fleet is responsible for all of South America, but the Panama Canal is the center of gravity. Defending it is their job one.

I would love to see a squadron of Webber class WPCs based near the Pacific end of the Panama Canal. It would put them on the door step of the Eastern Pacific Drug transit zone. Six cutters could keep two in the drug transit zone virtually full time.

Panamanian Lt. Cmdr. Eduardo Batista, right, acting commander of Panama’s National Aeronaval Service’s naval command, speaks during the pre-sail conference for Exercise Panamax 2026 in Panama, Aug. 3, 2026. Alongside Batista is U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Patrick Frost, the deputy chief of enforcement for Coast Guard Southwest District, who is serving as the Pacific Task Force commander for the exercise. Photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard | Chief Petty Officer 3rd Class William Kirk.