The Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley conducts sea trials off the coast of Key West, Florida, on April 5. The Donald Horsley is the Coast Guard’s 17th fast response cutter and was commissioned in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 20, 2016. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Eric D. Woodall)

Below you will find a Fifth District news release. It focuses on the actions of the crew of a Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, NC, C-130J during the seizure of a small boat (panga) smuggling cocaine of the coast of Costa Rica, but there is another story here. The vessel they are cooperating with is USCGC Donald Horsley, a Webber class 154 foot cutter, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. That means she was operating almost 1,300 nautical miles from her home port. These “Fast Response Cutters” continue to exceed our expectations. 

Eyes in the sky: one air station’s Herculean efforts to stop drug smugglers

Editors’ Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Corinne Zilnicki

It was completely dark in the middle of the Caribbean Sea on the evening of October 3, 2018.

Dense bands of cloud shrouded the moon, obscuring all light. Storms intermittently rumbled to life, dampening the darkness with sheets of rain.

Five thousand feet above the sea, a large white airplane sliced through the gloom, its telltale orange stripe and Coast Guard shield obscured by the shadows.

Pilots and crew members inside the HC-130 Hercules airplane did not mind the obscurity; in fact, it was a critical part of their mission.

They had been sent into the black, windy night to search for a particular vessel, a Panga boat suspected of transporting cocaine northward. Beyond their “search box,” a targeted area in international waters off Costa Rica, the aircrew was armed only with the HC-130’s sensory equipment, years of training and their own intuition.

Petty Officer 1st Class Matt Lotz, a seasoned mission system operator aboard the Hercules, utilized all three to locate the target. Wrestling with various filters and scan methods, he used the plane’s installed camera to spot and track the Panga boat down below, despite the pitch-black night.

Still hovering far overhead, the Hercules crew initiated the “end game,” the final stage of the mission during which aircrews help surface assets locate targets. Coast Guard Cutter Donald Horsley, the nearest asset, steamed toward the Panga and launched a small boat crew to close the final distance.

Little did the crews know, the end game would be rife with difficulty that night.

“The small boat crew experienced some technical difficulties,” said Lt. Patrick Spencer, aircraft commander of the HC-130. “Matt thought outside the box. He figured out a way to talk directly to the small boat so he could direct them to the target.”

Acting as the boat crew’s aerial navigator, Lotz guided them within 50 feet of the Panga.

The pursuit was short, but lively, with the Panga crew leading the Coast Guard team in wild arcs through the darkness.

With the Hercules aircrew serving as their eyes in the sky, Cutter Donald Horsley’s crew seized 600 kilograms of cocaine that night, a haul valued at approximately $17 million.

“When we get to see the end game, the actual drug bust, it gives the crew a sense of accomplishment,” said Lt. j.g. Zachary Georgia, an HC-130 pilot at Air Station Elizabeth City who routinely participates in Joint Interagency Task Force South’s counter-narcotics missions.

The sense of pride and the exciting departure from routine are two reasons that the air station’s members voluntarily deploy to Central America each year, according to Georgia.

In 2018, HC-130 crews from Air Station Elizabeth City conducted more than 100 JIATF South aerial patrols, directly contributing to the arrests of 34 suspected drug smugglers and the interdiction of 27,000 kilograms of narcotics, worth over $745 million.

“Keeping these harmful drugs off the streets of America is significant,” said Capt. Joseph Deer, commanding officer of Air Station Elizabeth City. “Without these intercepts and the deterrent presence of law enforcement authorities, the flow of drugs into the U.S. would be exponentially higher.”

While working in Central America, the aircrews operate from several different locations, and their patrol coverage varies wildly during their deployments. When the crews receive task direction from JIATF South, they are directed to search an expansive area, to investigate a known target, or to insert themselves into the end game of an ongoing case.

“Flexibility is key,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Trevor Tufts, an aviation maintenance technician in charge of the HC-130’s mechanical functions while airborne. “We don’t actually know where we’re going until we get the pre-mission brief each day. I’ve had the location change 10 minutes before departure.”

While their predominant goal is to help stop the trafficking of illicit drugs, the deployed Coast Guard crews have to adapt to ever-changing circumstances on the fly.

“During my last JIATF mission, we were out looking for drug smugglers, but we found a boat that had capsized instead,” Georgia said. “So the search and rescue case took precedence.”

Coast Guard aircrews work with a diverse array of entities and agencies while deployed in support of JIATF South, including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and law enforcement agencies of surrounding nations. But according to the Coast Guard crews, the HC-130 Hercules airplane is what truly distinguishes them from their many teammates.

“We can offer twice the range of some of the other planes working down there,” Spencer said. “We simply have the best plane for the mission.”

Air Station Elizabeth City is home to five HC-130J Super Hercules airplanes, the more advanced version of older HC-130H airplanes, which Tufts said is an important distinction. The J-model of the HC-130 touts increased air speed, increased flight time, a camera equipped with infrared sensors, and a 360-degree surface search radar, all features that help aircrews efficiently hunt down drug smugglers.

Mission system operators like Lotz arguably benefit from the airplane’s equipment the most; as the person simultaneously communicating with JIATF South and other entities, monitoring the radar for possible targets, recording footage of action down below, and directing the movements of surface assets, he said he appreciates the HC-130’s various trappings.

“For an MSO, it’s our time to shine,” Lotz said. “I love it. I’d do it forever.”

While only a fraction of Air Station Elizabeth City’s 300 members deploy to Central America during their tour, their commanding officer said the unit is fully committed to supporting the JIATF South mission for the foreseeable future, and that everything they accomplish is achieved through a group effort by all five commands on base.

“We will continue to build on the excellent program that those before us have put in place, ever improving our training and equipment for those that follow in our footsteps,” Deer said. “I am confident the 300 professionals at Air Station Elizabeth City are up to the challenge.”

Sensor Operators on C-130J

Defense News Network brings us a quick view of the full mission bridge and CIC simulator at Training Center Petaluma.

Found this on Facebook, posted by fellow CIMSEC member Armando J. Heredia. That lead me to the original source. You can find more photos there. 

US Government opens new training facility for Philippine Coast Guard

The Philippine Coast Guard and United States Government jointly held the ceremonial ribbon cutting and soft opening of the newly constructed Outboard Motor Center Training Facility in Balagtas, Bulacan today, February 11, 2019.

The event was graced by the Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Elson E Hermogino; United States Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, John C Law; and the Deputy Director of the Joint Interagency Task Force-West (JIATF-W), Capt Earl Hampton Jr USN (Ret).

The Outboard Motor Center of Excellence will enhance the Philippine Coast Guard’s capacity to train and sustain its workforce and equipment. It consists of classrooms, barracks and an outboard motor maintenance lab built under local contract managed by the U.S Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

The facility is a joint project between the PCG, U.S Coast Guard, the JIATF-W, the Joint U.S Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG), and the U.S Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs which is approximately worth 156 million Pesos.

In its inventory, the PCG has 300 aluminum boats and 50 rubber boats with outboard motors deployed nationwide.

The PCG frontline units rely heavily on these aluminum and rubber boats in fulfilling its mandate. These assets are primarily used in the coastal law enforcement patrols, search and rescue operations and monitoring of environmental laws compliance.

Last year, at least 40 PCG personnel were sent to US Coast Guard Training School in Virginia to undergo different shipboard courses to include training on the maintenance of outboard motors. For this year, the US Government will place a mobile training team inside the training facility in Bulacan to train qualified PCG personnel to become instructors.

Photos by Tanod Baybayin

Photo by Danny Cornelissen

MarineLink has a short article about modern fiber ropes/line/cable. Really this is clearly a commercial for rope/line manufacturer, Phillystran, but it does have some interesting information about one of the basic tools of the Coast Guard.

Burma (Myanmar) (dark green) / ASEAN except Burma (Myanmar) (dark grey) illustration by ASDFGHJ

NavyRecognition is reporting that Myanmar (formerly Burma) has decided to form a Coast Guard.

“The Myanmar government is to establish a coast guard force to safeguard its 2,080-km-long coastline and territorial waters, according to a coordination meeting held at the Ministry of Transport and Communication on January 22.”

Myanmar has an EEZ of 532,775 square km or about 4.6% of that of the US, but it does extend our to 200 miles from the shore. They also have some offshore islands, and a claim to continental shelf.

We don’t know what sort of organization or equipment the new Myanmar Coast Guard will have, but their Navy (19,000 personnel) has an eclectic collection of vessels and equipment from China, Russia, India, the US, and Israel, plus some indigenously produced vessels built in a naval shipyard provided by China.

Myanmar has had human rights issues.

It is not unlikely that they might welcome some training assistance from the US Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz,. U.S. Coast Guard photo illustration by Petty Officer 1st Class Jetta Disco.

MarineLink gives us an interview with the Commandant.

The first question was about the Polar Security and the Commandant gave the sort of answer we have come to expect, essentially, we need six icebreakers, at least three of them need to be heavy, and we need one now.

The second question was about head count and the Commandant made the point that we are down in personnel and purchasing power compared to a decade ago. There was a comment that I find particularly encouraging, “We’ve done a ‘mission requirements’ analysis that Capitol Hill assigned to us.” It is not clear if this is essentially a manning study, which I suspect it may be, or if it perhaps includes other resource requirement. For quite some time, I have suggested we need to do an updated Fleet Mix Study. The last (and only) one was done about ten years ago.

Not surprisingly, considering the orientation of the interviewer, there was  much discussion about the Marine Inspection/Prevention side of the Coast Guard. 

There was a question about virtual aids to navigation and it appears the Commandant put to rest fears that we would be replacing physical aides to navigation with virtual ones, but rather that we would be adding AIS to physical aids. We would sometimes use virtual aids after a disaster, when needed to restore safe navigation as quickly as possible.

Best you read the interview, rather than just my interpretation.

Just Passing this along. 

R 301515 JAN 19
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-7//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS //N01650//
ALCOAST 020/19
COMDTNOTE 1650
SUBJ:  WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT – 2018 HOPLEY YEATON CUTTER EXCELLENCE AND SUPERIOR CUTTERMAN AWARDS
1. The Douglas Munro Chapter of the Surface Navy Association is honored to announce and
congratulate the recipients of the 2018 Hopley Yeaton Cutter Excellence and Superior
Cutterman Awards. Each of the winners were selected from amongst a highly competitive pool
of nominees. This year’s winners are:
   A. Cutter Excellence Award (Large Cutter): CGC HAMILTON (WMSL 753)
   B. Cutter Excellence Award (Small Cutter): CGC BRISTOL BAY (WTGB 102)
   C. Superior Cutterman Award (Officer): CWO Jared Crotwell – CGC BRISTOL BAY (WTGB 102)
   D. Superior Cutterman Award (Enlisted): SK2 Mathew Wilson – CGC JAMES (WMSL 754)
2. Hopley Yeaton Cutter Excellence Award (Large):
   A. Masterfully balancing law enforcement operations in the Caribbean Sea, Eastern Pacific,
and natural disaster response, the crew of CGC HAMILTON seized 4,983 kilograms of cocaine,
detained 19-suspected narco-traffickers, and directed post-hurricane response operations in
2018. The crew conducted two separate and simultaneous multi-vessel (go-fast) interdictions
employing airborne use of force and multiple synchronized long-range cutter boat intercepts.
In the middle of a major dockside availability, CGC HAMILTON executed a storm-evasion sortie
ahead of Hurricane FLORENCE after restoring severely degraded systems and equipment. The
cutter went on to lead a Surface Action Group of seven cutters, executing vital command
control on behalf of Sector North Carolina, conducting damage assessments of Wilmington and
the Cape Fear River, and assisting Stations Oak Island, Wrightsville Beach, and Ft. Macon
by removing debris and repairing station response infrastructure.
   B. Honorable Mentions for the Large Cutter Award are:
      CGC HARRIET LANE (WMEC 903)
      CGC SPENCER (WMEC 905)
      CGC MACKINAW (WLBB 30)
3. Hopley Yeaton Cutter Excellence Award (Small):
   A. The crew of CGC BRISTOL BAY capably balanced critical maintenance periods and operational
commitments, and sailed 143 days away from homeport, amassing 2,010 underway hours, 112% of their
programmed employment standard, with less than 24 hours of unscheduled maintenance on a 39 year
old cutter. CGC BRISTOL BAY performed 80 direct assists of commercial vessels during 1,174 hours
of icebreaking, which facilitated domestic and international trade on the Great Lakes. The crew
played a pivotal role in completing 2018 OPERATION SPRING RESTORE, servicing 129 floating aids
in 12 days following a casualty to another buoy tender and providing a reliable aids to
navigation constellation to mariners. Servicing 207 floating aids in total, CGC BRISTOL BAY
achieved an annual Aid Availability Rating of 99.7%, exceeding targeted standards.
   B. Honorable Mentions for the Small Cutter Award are:
      CGC DONALD HORSLEY (WPC 1117)
      CGC BAILEY BARCO (WPC 1122)
      CGC BONITO (WPB 87341)
4. Hopley Yeaton Superior Cutterman Award (Officer):
   A. CWO2 Crotwell, a 13 year cutterman assigned as Engineer Officer aboard CGC BRISTOL BAY,
compressed maintenance efforts into port calls achieving a maintenance currency rating of
89.1%. As a result, CGC BRISTOL BAY did not log a single day of unscheduled Charlie amidst
1,174 operational hours of icebreaking. CWO2 Crotwell also led CGC BRISTOL BAY through a 60 day,
$512,000 dockside availability. While many of the crew experienced some measure of rest and
recuperation after a grueling year of 2,010 underway hours and 143 days away from homeport,
CWO2 Crotwell carefully managed completion of 19 contracted work items while leading preparations
for Tailored Ship’s Training Availability. Routinely arriving to the cutter before dawn and
departing with merely enough time to say goodnight to his family, he worked an exhaustive pace
to repair the unit’s weight handling gear. Displaying innovation and skill, he designed a
trouble-shooting process to isolate the source of hydraulic power loss on the buoy handling crane.
   B. Honorable Mentions for the Superior Cutterman Award (Officer) are:
      CWO2 Justin Young-CGC HEALY (WAGB 20)
      CWO2 James Cullers-CGC WAESCHE (WMSL 751)
      CWO2 Adam Barton-CGC WALNUT (WLB 205)
5. Hopley Yeaton Superior Cutterman Award (Enlisted):
   A. SK2 Wilson, a six year cutterman, serves as a Pursuit Crewman and Gunner on CGC JAMES’ law
enforcement team. In 2018, SK2 Wilson participated in 3 interdictions resulting in the seizure
of 1,957 kilograms and detention of 11 suspected narco-traffickers. Additionally, he served as
a boat crewman during Airborne Use of Force recertification and coordinated internal
“Boat Colleges” to train and qualify aspiring coxswains and crewmen. Tirelessly working 12 hour
shifts, SK2 Wilson supported Hurricane MARIA response operations for nearly two weeks to
reconstitute Sector San Juan and assist with transporting parts, critical food supplies, and
passengers critical to relief efforts. When not directly involved in reconstitution efforts,
SK2 Wilson led and participated in work parties to clear storm debris at Sector San Juan and
Coast Guard housing in Puerto Rico. SK2 Wilson leaps at every challenge and opportunity
presented to him. SK2 Wilson stands qualified engineering machinery watches, serves as a
small boat engineer and crewman, chairs the LDAC, serves on the unit’s boarding and pursuit
teams, and fills flight quarters billets, all while delivering exceptional performance in his
role as an SK2 and pursuing a college degree. SK2 Wilson processed $126K in backlog funding
in less than three days overcoming latent underway internet connectivity and a hectic pace
of operations to ensure all funds were properly obligated.
   B. Honorable Mentions for the Superior Cutterman Award (Enlisted) are:
      ME1 Kelly Brockett-CGC MUNRO (WMSL 755)
      BMC Christopher Hopton-CGC DILIGENCE (WMEC 616)
      BMCS Matthew Jordan-CGC BLACKTIP (WPB 87326)
6. The SNA will coordinate with OPCONs to recognize this year’s winners.
7. Bravo Zulu and great work to all of this year’s Hopley Yeaton Award recipients and nominees.
As always, we continue to be impressed by the sheer volume of praiseworthy nominees, as well as
the high quality award write-ups. Thank you to all commands for submitting and reviewing nominations.
8. RDML Michael P. Ryan, Assistant Commandant for Capability, sends.
9. Internet release is authorized.

Photograph of Ellsworth P. Bertholf, Commandant of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service from 1911 to 1915 and Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1915 to 1919. Coast Guard photo.

We all know August 4th as Coast Guard Day, but it was actually January 28, 1915 that the Coast Guard was formed by the joining of the Lifesaving Service with the Revenue Cutter Service by Act of Congress.

Take a look at the law in the link above. Its is pretty detailed and shows how different things were then. Of course it has been 104 years.

Thanks to brymar-consulting.com for reminding me and providing the link

USCGC Kimball (WMSL 756) arrives in Honolulu Dec. 22, 2018. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Sara Muir/Released)

Commissioning of at least two recently delivered vessels have been delayed due to the partial government shutdown.

The seventh Bertholf class NSC USCGC Kimball was to have been commissioned in Hawaii in January. Not sure when the rescheduled commissioning is.

USCGC Robert Ward (WPC-1130) was to have been commissioned Feb. 2, but it has been postponed until March 2 (I plan to go)..

Problem of course is that there may be another shutdown before these rescheduled commissionings.

The Coast Guard Cutter Robert Ward (WPC-1130) is shown shortly after mooring for the first time at its homeport at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach, Oct. 31, 2018. The Robert Ward is the second of four new Fast Response Cutters to be stationed in San Pedro. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Brandyn Hill)

Pardon me a moment while I rant. 

Forcing people to work without pay is called slavery. It was supposed to have been abolished in the US more than 150 years ago. When a worker is hired, military or civilian, they and the employer enter into a contract. When the government fails to pay its workers, it has broken that contract. Private enterprise could not get away with this.

It is not that the money was not available. The Treasury continued to receive taxes. It is not like the government was not going to ultimately pay people who actually did no useful work during this period, so the American Tax payer has had to pay people not to work.

All that is required is to change the law to permit people already hired to be continued to be paid until their employment is terminated.

This is not political. This is good government. This is doing what is right by your employees. Congress on both sides should want this. Republicans should want to deny some future Democrat President the opportunity to hold Congress and the American people hostage to a presidential agenda, just as surely as Democrats want it now.