“U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, Mexican Navy and Royal Canadian Navy participate in North American Maritime Security Initiative” –D11

Posted on April 7, 2023 by Chuck Hill

Illustration of a Mexican Navy Oaxaca class Offshore Patrol Vessel. ARM Hidalgo is a vessel of this class.

Below is a news release from District 11 you can also see on the Coast Guard News website. There are additional photos there. I have put together photos to illustrate the type vessels involved.

190729-N-AD499-1166 SEATTLE (July 29, 2019) The Royal Canadian Navy Kingston-class coastal defence vessel HMCS Edmonton (MM 703) participates in a parade of ships in Elliott Bay during the 70th annual Seattle Fleet Week. Seattle Fleet Week 2019 is a time-honored celebration of the sea services and provides an opportunity for the citizens of Washington to meet Sailors and Coast Guardsmen, as well as witness firsthand the latest capabilities of today’s maritime services. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Victoria Foley/Released)

220209-N-IW125-1091 KEY WEST, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2022) The Navy’s 14th Independence-variant littoral combat ship, USS Savannah (LCS 28), pulls into Truman Harbor in Key West, Fla. Feb. 9, 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nicholas V. Huynh)

NEWPORT, OR, UNITED STATES
08.16.2019, Coast Guard Cutter Active (WMEC 618) transits across the Pacific Ocean near Newport, Ore., in support of Operation Pacific Fortune on Aug. 16, 2019. The Active is a 210-foot Medium Endurance based out of Port Angeles, Wash. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Steve Strohmaier)

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The U.S. Coast Guard, along with the U.S. Navy, Mexican Navy (SEMAR) and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) participated in the North American Maritime Security Initiative (NAMSI) exercise off the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico March 27-31.

First instituted in 2008, NAMSI is an interagency and tri-lateral forum among U.S., Mexican and Canadian maritime commands intended to develop and refine maritime operations, as well as synchronize training and operational interoperability amongst forces of the three nations. The three participating nations actively seek opportunities to operate together and strengthen their cohesive approach to enhance regional maritime security in North America.

The U.S. Coast Guard District 11 and SEMAR collaborate extensively under NAMSI, conducting an average of four multinational passing exercises each year. The NAMSI Pacific Exercise (PACEX) 2023 is a full-scale Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE) based exercise that facilitates MLE operations with a SAR nexus built in. The exercise is intended to strengthen the crew’s knowledge in handling various situations and offers unique training scenarios like communication drills or maneuvering exercises.

“This exercise provides U.S., Mexico and Canada the opportunity to develop and refine our training and operations as partner nations,” said Rear Adm. Andrew Sugimoto, commander, U.S. Coast Guard District 11. “We take pride in our ability to strengthen partnerships and interoperability among the nations’ sea services.”

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Active and the U.S. Navy Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Savannah (LCS 28), joined the SEMAR ship ARM Hidalgo and the RCN ship HMCS Edmonton, off the coast of Manzanillo in support of the NAMSI PACEX 2023. The operational units were supported by aviation assets from the U.S. Coast Guard and SEMAR, as well as the respective command centers in U.S. Coast Guard District 11, U.S. Navy 3^rd fleet, SEMAR Tenth Naval Region and SEMAR headquarters.

The crews of Active and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Benjamin Bottoms also deployed in support of Operation GREEN FLASH (OGF). OGF is the operationalization of NAMSI procedures leveraging U.S., Canadian, and Mexican maritime forces, with the intent of disrupting transnational criminal organization activity that occurs in the shared maritime environment. U.S. Coast Guard District 11 organizes annual iterations of OGF which strengthens the relationship between the major stakeholders under NAMSI. Historically, there have been two iterations of OGF a year, averaging 30 days each.

“The cutter Active’s crew was excited to conduct this mission alongside our partners given its importance for the safety and security of the shared maritime environment,” said Cmdr. Brian Tesson, commanding officer, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Active. “The partnerships between the U.S., Mexico and Canada strengthened our overall maritime security posture while reinforcing the mutual esprit de corps between our services.”

“Sea Serpent ASW system successfully used by US Navy” –Navy Recognition

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Chuck Hill

Sea Serpent system deployed from a boat (MIND photo)

Navy Recognition reports,

“On September 27, 2022, MIND Technologies Inc., a Texas/U.S.-based company providing underwater research solutions, announced the successful demonstration of its Sea Serpent ASW system during the U.S. Navy’s Coastal Trident 2022 exercise.”

The Sea Serpent system is described by Mind Technologies as,

“…based on COTS Seismic Arrays, applicable for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), and Waterside Security (WSS) applications.

“…designed for rapid deployment from USV platforms or as a ‘clip-on’ capability to existing light- and medium-weight Coast Guard (emphasis appkied–Chuck) or Naval vessels

“…modular and scalable, with lengths from 50 m to over 12,000 m acoustic aperture available

“Processing uses a scalable, app-based architecture and includes multiple beamforming options, as well as broadband, narrowband/LOFAR, and DEMON processing

“Other apps will include Automatic Detection and Tracking (ADT) and Target Motion Analysis (TMA)

“The architecture is fully open to allow third-party/government processing and supports private cloud operation for distributed tracking, multi-static processing, and data fusion.”

All the reports I have seen were based on the company’s news release so we don’t have an independent evaluation of its success.

An exercise with the United States Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Team-West was leveraged to conduct Advanced Naval Technology Exercise experiments with wearable sensors and remote physiological monitoring.

Coastal Trident is a series of annual exercises conducted by Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Port Hueneme Division. Apparently the Coast Guard has participated in the exercise in the past. It certainly seems to be something the CG should be interested in.

“U.S. Maritime Forces Arrive for UNITAS LXIII hosted by Brazil” –Seapower

Posted on September 4, 2022 by Chuck Hill

LOOKING BACK: The US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Escanaba (WMEC 907), Brazlian Navy ship BNS Bosisio (F 48) and Argentinian navy ship ARA Almirante Brown (D-10) move into formation for a photo exercise during the Atlantic phase of UNITAS 52 on May 4, 2011. The formation included a total of ten ships from the US, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. (Photo: US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Steve Smith)

The Navy League’s on line magazine, Seapower, reports on the upcoming 63rd UNITAS exercise,

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Navy and Marine forces are set to arrive in Rio de Janeiro in support of UNITAS LXIII, the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise scheduled to take place Sept. 8-22, the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command / U.S. 4th Fleet said in a Sept. 1 release.

This year’s exercise is hosted by the Brazilian navy and will included 20 participating nations, 19 ships, one submarine, 21 aircraft, accounting for approximately 5,500 total military personnel that will conduct operations principally off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

USCG Pacific Area Tactical Law Enforcement Team (PAC AREA TACLET) will be there, but apparently no other Coast Guard units.

Notably, Argentina is not participating.

“Coast Guard, North Slope Borough Search and Rescue to conduct exercise near Utqiagvik, Alaska” –D17

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Chuck Hill

Utqiagvik, the city formally know as Barrow, AK (File photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

This may look like a routine announcement, but I found it interesting because of where it is, and the fact that it will include “Coast Guard helicopters, and Coast Guard cutters” –both plural. Utqiagvik, Alaska, formerly Barrow, is the Northern most city in Alaska, 71°17′26″N, 284 nautical miles above the Arctic Circle. The helicopters will probably come with the cutters (maybe not?), but what cutters? USCGC Healy, an icebreaker, seems likely, but there has got to be at least one more. Maybe Alex Haley, out of Kodiak, or a Bertholf class NSC on Alaska Patrol?

Hopefully we will hear more.

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Alaska

Coast Guard, North Slope Borough Search and Rescue to conduct exercise near Utqiagvik, Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska – The 17th Coast Guard District and North Slope Borough Search and Rescue are scheduled to conduct an exercise near Utqiagvik, Alaska, August 31, 2022 through September 3, 2022.

The exercise is a small-scale search and rescue mission offshore of Utqiagvik named Operation Itqanaiyaq, meaning Get Ready or Get Prepared in Iñupiaq. The purpose of the exercise is for the Coast Guard and North Slope Borough Search and Rescue to practice procedures for maritime distress response.

The public will notice an increase in emergency responder and military presence in the vicinity of Utquiagvik during the exercise dates. The increased presence will consist of Coast Guard helicopters, and Coast Guard cutters.

“This search and rescue exercise provides a great opportunity for the Coast Guard to train alongside the North Slope Borough in an Arctic environment,” said Lt. Lindsay Wheeler from the 17th Coast Guard District. “We never know when we will need to respond with our aerial or surface assets to help find and rescue missing or injured people.”

“U.S. Coast Guard participates in multilateral search and rescue drill off Palau” –News Release

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Chuck Hill

PACIFIC OCEAN (July 19, 2022) – Capt. Charles Maynard of the Royal Navy, serving as deputy mission commander of Pacific Partnership (PP22), renders honors as Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) ship JS Kirisame (DD 104) passes Navy River Class vessel HMS Tamar (P233) during a multilateral search and rescue exercise (SAREX) coordinated with the U.S. Navy, Republic of Palau, U.S. Coast Guard, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Royal Navy in support of PP22. Now in its 17th year, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brandie Nuzzi)

Below is a press release reporting a multinational SAR exercise involving units from the United Kingdom, Japan, and the Republic of Palau as well as the US Navy and Coast Guard. (46 photos here)

There are some noteworthy aspects to this exercise.

Re the USCG: First that there is a Coast Guard liaison officer to the Compact of Free Association States, Lt. Cmdr. Field Cassiano. Second, USCGC Myrtle Hazard, commissioned just over a year ago has conducted “sovereignty and fisheries patrols with five Pacific island nations.” She has been very busy.

Re growing Allied interest: The participation of Britain and Japan is relatively new.

The UK has recently shown renewed interest in the Pacific after decades with virtually no forces in the Pacific. The Royal Navy vessel in the exercise, HMS Tamar, is one of two River Class Batch II Offshore Patrol Vessels that have embarked on a five year deployment to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are plans to permanently deploy a task force to the area and there is also a growing partnerships between the UK and Japan.

Since WWII, Japan has generally kept a low profile in international affairs but with the emergence of an agressive and overtly hostile China, Japan has started to assume a leadership role in the region. She has transferred offshore patrol vessels to several nations in SE Asia. For the first time, Japan is starting to maket weapons internationally. I found it interesting that the Japanese participant in the SAR exercise was a destroyer rather than a Japan Coast Guard vessel. I have yet to see any evidence, the Japan Coast Guard is taking on an expeditionary role, as the US Coast Guard has done.

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia / Sector Guam

U.S. Coast Guard participates in multilateral search and rescue drill off Palau

Editors’ Note: To view more or download high-resolution photos click on the images above. Photos courtesy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandie Nuzzi, USN.

SANTA RITA, Guam — In a bid to strengthen relationships and interoperability, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a multilateral search and rescue drill alongside longtime partners from the United Kingdom, Japan, and the Republic of Palau in late July.

“We thrive on these opportunities, and we all came away with a deepened appreciation for the work of our respective agencies,” said Lt. Cmdr. Field Cassiano, Coast Guard liaison officer to the Compact of Free Association States. “Anyone who spends time in the Pacific is no stranger to the region’s vast distances and limited resources. Evolutions like this provide invaluable face-to-face interaction and enable us to work through challenges before an incident or crisis.”

Such events range from something akin to the search for Amelia Earhart to the far more common activity of a small skiff of fishers gone missing. It could also include a large-scale response for a disabled cruise ship or search and rescue of the crew of a commercial vessel like the car carrier Cougar Ace which heeled over at sea before being towed into port in 2008.

In this drill, the USCGC Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) crew, with support from the U.S. Coast Guard Fourteenth District and U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia / Sector Guam, worked with the crews of the Palau Patrol Ship PPS Kedam, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship JS Kirisame (DD 104), and Royal Navy River Class vessel HMS Tamar (P233).

“Thoughtful planning led to realistic scenarios that were positively challenging, which demanded teamwork, shared vision, and high-level navigational expertise,” said Lt. Jalle Merritt, commanding officer of USCGC Myrtle Hazard. “It is fully in the realm of possibility that our partners and we will be called upon to support those in need, in heavy weather, near reefs, with a limited time to respond. Through drills such as those conducted this week, our multinational maritime response team remains ready to not only meet but exceed the needs of those our team serves.”

With decades of experience and one of the largest maritime rescue regions in the world, the U.S. Coast Guard in the Pacific works together with partners and neighbors to provide life-saving coverage throughout the region. The United States maintains several formal agreements with partners under strict compliance with international laws and regulations. These agreements include Search and Rescue (SAR) agreements with Japan, Australia, and the Republic of Palau, among other regional nations.

Historically, the U.S. Coast Guard and Palau hold regular search and rescue engagements to improve cooperation and processes between the Service and counterparts in Palau. This drill, one facet of Pacific Partnership 22, comes on the heels of a very successful humanitarian assistance and disaster relief workshop with 120 personnel trained.

Charles Maynard of the Royal Navy, serving as deputy mission commander of PP22, was on hand to oversee the exercise, part of PP22’s Palau phase.

The coordination between partner nations during PP22 enhanced understanding and cooperation and prepared those involved to respond in the case of a natural disaster or other humanitarian assistance and disaster relief scenario. Pacific Partnership contributes to regional stability and security through exchanges that foster enduring partnerships, trust, and interoperability between nations.

Now in its 17th year, Pacific Partnership is the most extensive annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific.

The Myrtle Hazard is the 39th Sentinel-class fast response cutter. The ship arrived in Guam and commissioned along with its sister ships, Oliver Henry and Frederick Hatch, in July 2021. In the time since, the crew has participated in Operation Blue Pacific, conducting sovereignty and fisheries patrols with five Pacific island nations.

For more U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam news visit us on DVIDS or subscribe! You can also visit us on Facebook at @USCGSectorGuam.

-USCG-

Fire on Peruvian Corvette Operating Under CO Midgett’s OPCON

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Chuck Hill

Peruvian Navy corvette BAP Guise (CC-28) makes a pass during a ship maneuvering exercise during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022 on July 13, 2022. US Coast Guard Photo

The US Naval Institute reports,

At least two people were injured in a fire that burned for several hours on a Peruvian warship participating in RIMPAC 2022, a Navy official said Sunday…

Two personnel, in “critically stable” condition, were evacuated from the Combined Task Force surface vessel by a French helicopter from frigate FS Prairial (F731), Robertson said. They were taken to U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Midgett (WMSL-757) then to carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and then to shore.

As we learned earlier,

Coast Guard Cutter Midgett is commanding Combined Task Force 175, which includes ships from France, Peru and the U.S. Navy, and is conducting air and missile defense, gunnery, mass rescue and anti-submarine warfare exercises.

This latest report gives us a little more information on the compositon of Combined Task Force 175. In addtion to USCGC Midgett, Peruvian corvette BAO Guise (CC-28), and French surveillance frigate FS Prairial (F731), it also includes Arleigh Burke class Flight IIA guided-missile destroyers USS Chafee (DDG 90) and USS Gridley (DDG-101).

“JUST IN: Coast Guard Aims to Learn from Navy at RIMPAC” –National Defense

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Chuck Hill

The crews of the Coast Guard Cutters Midgett (WMSL 757) and Kimball (WMSL 756) transit past Koko Head on Oahu, Hawaii, Aug. 16, 2019. The Kimball and Midgett are both homeported in Honolulu and two of the newest Coast Guard cutters to join the fleet. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew West/Released)

We are finally getting some information about the Coast Guard’s participation in RIMPAC 2022, and some of it may be a bit surprising.

A Coast Guard CO will command a task force,

Coast Guard Cutter Midgett is commanding Combined Task Force 175, which includes ships from France, Peru and the U.S. Navy, and is conducting air and missile defense, gunnery, mass rescue and anti-submarine warfare exercises.

The surprise, of course, is anti-submarine warfare. Midgett might simply simulate the high value unit to be protected, but Midgett will embark an MH-60R. The “Romeo” version is an ASW helicopter.

The 418-foot Midgett, a national security cutter and the largest class in the Coast Guard fleet, will also sail with a Navy MH-60R helicopter on board.

“Part of that is, how do you sustain that particular airframe? How do you support it for a long-range, two-month or three-month deployment?” he said. The Coast Guard is hoping to convert some of its airframes to ones used by the Navy going forward.

I might add, where do you store the sonobuoys, torpedoes, and other weapons?

(I have felt for a long time there are opportunities for attaching Navy Reserve units, that might include ASW Helicopters and their crews and sonar equipment and supporting personnel, to Coast Guard cutters as mobilization assets.)

Will the helicopter operate from Midgett as part of a Sink-Ex? Will Midgett get to participate in a Sink-Ex?

All the Sink-Exs seem to target ships of frigate size or larger. It would be good to have some smaller targets for less capable weapon systems.

What about the USCGC William Hart (WPC-1134), that will also be participating? Her only activity mentioned is to help set up a SAR exercise,

“As part of RIMPAC, the Hart will deploy two groups of mannequins at sea for the Midgett and a Japanese cutter to find and recover in a mass-rescue operation.”

Hope Hart and Midgett get to exercise against high speed small surface targets.

“Predicting illegal fishing activity is tip of the iceberg for mature AI technology” –BAE

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Chuck Hill

BAE Systems technology applies machine learning analytics to automate low-level detection of activities of interest, such as fishing, from available data streams.

Below is a company press release, but it is an interesting one, with relevance to Coast Guard missions. The Obangame Express Exercise is one the Coast Guard has participated in, in the past. More info on the exercise here and here.

BAE Systems technology applies machine learning analytics to automate low-level detection of activities of interest, such as fishing, from available data streams.

The old “finding a needle in a haystack” analogy doesn’t begin to articulate the challenge associated with illegal fishing detection and identification. While a ship may be larger than a needle, the ocean is certainly larger than your biggest haystack. Add the need to not only find the ship, but determine its recent activities, anticipate future movements, and compare them with all other ships in the area — and do it in near real-time using open source data feeds.

At the Obangame Express event, which is the largest multinational maritime exercise in Western Africa, BAE Systems’ Multi-INT Analytics for Pattern Learning and Exploitation (MAPLE) as a Service, MaaS for short, was integrated with SeaVision, the U.S. Navy’s premier tool for unclassified interagency and coalition maritime data sharing. SeaVision is a maritime situational awareness tool that ingests maritime vessel position data from various government and commercial sources and simultaneously displays them on the same screen in a web browser.

“Military organizations use illegal fishing as a model application due to the unclassified nature of the available data,” said Neil Bomberger, chief scientist at BAE Systems’ FAST Labs^TMresearch and development organization. “Successful detection of illegal fishing activity helps address a serious challenge and highlights another use case for our mature artificial intelligence technology.”

Giving depth to data

While manual analysis of individual vessel tracks is possible, it gets exponentially more challenging and time-consuming for large numbers of vessels. BAE Systems technology applies machine learning analytics to automate low-level detection of activities of interest, such as fishing, from available data streams. This enables analysts to quickly answer time-sensitive questions, prioritize manual data analysis activities, identify higher-level trends, and focus on decision-making instead of manual data analysis.

During the event, BAE Systems’ MaaS technology processed streaming data and automatically detected vessel behavior events that SeaVision displayed as an additional data layer to support user-friendly and timely analysis. The technology provides full visibility into the data to allow the users to check whether the detected behavior warrants further investigation. This helps build trust in the automation and supports additional analysis.

Decades in the making

BAE Systems’ FAST Labs maritime sensemaking capabilities are rooted in artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. Backed by nearly two decades of development, their behavior recognition and pattern analysis capabilities continue to show significant utility in real-world environments.

The cloud-based artificial intelligence technology was matured via work on the Geospatial Cloud Analytics (GCA) program. In the months since the successful event, the FAST Labs organization has continued to develop and mature its autonomy portfolio. Elements of its autonomy technology have proven successful in multiple domains including air, land, and sea.

“This successful event delivers on the promise of mature artificial intelligence technology – easy to integrate, incorporating trust, and providing fast and actionable information in a real-world scenario,” continued Bomberger. “The event showcased how our artificial intelligence technology can be deployed in a cloud environment, integrated with a government tool, and used to address relevant maritime activities.”

Large Scale Exercise 2021

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Chuck Hill

This is the only thing I have found so far on Coast Guard participation in what may be the largest US Naval exercise since World War II.

Note, I don’t believe this is a Coast Guard video, it appears to have been made by the Marines.

How The Fleet Forgot to Fight” –CIMSEC

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Chuck Hill

USCGC Stratton (WMSL-752), left, and the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG-85) maneuver in formation during Talisman Sabre 2019 on July 11, 2019. US Navy Photo

Currently the CIMSEC web site is migrating to a new server so it is off line, but they have provided something a shorthand critique of how some think the Navy has fallen short, since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Coast Guard still has Defense Readiness as one of its eleven missions. We in the Coast Guard are highly dependent on the Navy helping us know what needs doing, but I don’t think we should fail to think for ourselves.

This short five page outline of what the Navy has been doing wrong may be helpful because we have probably been making some of the same mistakes, not just in our preparation to fight a “near peer” major conflict, but in our response to the terror threat, and perhaps in our on-going war with drug smugglers.

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