SANTA RITA, Guam — Aboard the USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143), Lt. j.g. Mary Sims sets an example of excellence on the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean. She was honored in March 2024 with the prestigious inaugural Sector Guam Officer Excellence Award for the second half of 2023 for her unwavering devotion to duty and outstanding leadership.

While she’s been doing incredible work for nearly two years, Sims serves as the executive officer and a boarding officer. She played an essential part in groundbreaking maritime operations, including the first-ever execution of enhanced maritime bilateral agreements with the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of Palau. She also set an outstanding example as a boarding officer during 16 boardings of foreign-flagged fishing vessels, illuminating the issue of illegal fishing and capturing data on potential violations documented and turned over to the partner nation or regional fisheries management organization for further action. Her unwavering commitment to maritime law and steadfast support of good maritime governance represent the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.

While serving as acting commanding officer, she showcased outstanding skills and tactical sense by spearheading the cutter effort in two complex nuclear missile submarine escorts with U.S. Navy Submarine Squadron 15. Further demonstrating her diplomatic skills, Sims arranged a meeting between the Frederick Hatch crew and the BAP Unión crew, a Peruvian Navy tall ship voyaging around the globe and calling on Guam.

But her efforts go well beyond geopolitical concerns and tactical strategy. During the M/V Mama Loling towing operation, she showed resilience and fortitude in the face of hardship by expertly navigating the Frederick Hatch in eight-foot seas and hazardous weather to save five mariners and their damaged 39-foot research vessel in the Northern Mariana Islands threatened by an oncoming tropical cyclone. Her bravery and sound reasoning saved lives inspired the crew and honored the highest ideals of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Furthermore, Sims is an admirable contributor to community engagement and public service. During the cutter’s historic visit to Tacloban, Philippines, she led the organization of 14 community engagement activities over four days. This visit helped to build connections and improve diplomatic contacts with the local community and Philippine Coast Guard colleagues. On many occasions, Sims shared her experience with women and girls across the Pacific, which embodies the spirit of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) initiatives, as her presence not only showcases the importance of gender inclusivity within security operations but also serves as a potent symbol of empowerment, inspiring community resilience and fostering a more inclusive approach to regional peace and security efforts.

A native of Alabama, she has several siblings, including her sister Emma, who is also in the U.S. Coast Guard, assigned to USCGC Lawrence Lawson (WPC 1120) as the executive officer, out of Cape May, Jew Jersey. Sims is an avid runner, plays on a thriving local rugby team, and follows her faith.

In her upcoming assignment at U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area LANT-35, operations department maritime security enforcement, Sims will continue to excel and significantly contribute to the Coast Guard’s mission. Her transfer signifies the trust and confidence in her abilities to tackle new challenges and uphold the highest service standards as she concludes her tour here in Guam; her legacy of dedication, leadership, and commitment to excellence will continue to inspire her colleagues and leave an ever-lasting mark on the U.S. Coast Guard’s legacy! Bravo Zulu, Lt. j.g. Sims, and best wishes for continued success in your future endeavors.

-USCG-

U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam
The U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam team focuses on maritime safety, security, and stewardship in Oceania. With a primary presence in Guam and Saipan and over 300 members across Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the team maintains a strong U.S. presence in the Micronesia sub-region and adjacent areas, closely tied to local communities.

About USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143)
The Frederick Hatch is the 43rd 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter named for a surfman and lighthouse keeper who was a two-time Gold Life Saving Medal recipient. The Service commissioned the ship along with its sister ships, Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) and Oliver Henry (WPC 1140), in Guam in July 2021.

Video from the day of the event is available here.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Coast Guard held a heritage recognition ceremony Tuesday in Virginia Beach to honor the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dependable (WMEC 626) and its 56 years of service to the nation.

The ceremony, which served to celebrate the Dependable’s legacy, underscored the cutter’s reputational motto, “Count on Us – Credibility Built on Excellence,” in the presence of cutter leadership, current and former crew members, families, and friends.

The event also marked the ship’s exit from active-duty service for an indeterminate time, placing it in commission, special status. The 210-foot Dependable served as a Coast Guard Atlantic Area asset and was most recently homeported in Virginia Beach at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek – Fort Story.

The Dependable was commissioned in November 1968 and built by the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio. It is the first cutter to bear its namesake in U.S. Coast Guard history.

The Dependable spent its first 27 years serving in the Gulf of Mexico at two different homeports. While stationed in Panama City, Florida, Dependable and crew rescued recreational boaters, saved disabled vessels, and assisted with deadly oilrig fires.

Of note, the cutter interdicted 120 tons of marijuana from the M/V Heidi in 1978. Dependable earned the coveted Golden Marijuana Leaf in 1981, after making the seizure of over one million pounds of marijuana throughout its career. The Dependable also played a key role in the 1980 Mariel Boatlift, the mass Cuban Exodus, for which it earned the Humanitarian Service Medal. In 1992, it was briefly homeported in Galveston, Texas, where the ship conducted various missions from the Caribbean Basin to the North Atlantic Ocean.

After completing a two-year, Major Maintenance Availability upgrade in 1997, the Dependable relocated to Portsmouth, Virginia, for three years before heading to Cape May, New Jersey, in 2000. The cutter later underwent a Mission Effectiveness Project in 2005 to modernize select onboard systems, prolonging its lifespan.

In January 2010, the Dependable responded to the Haiti Earthquake. Between 2011-2016, the cutter supported Operation Atlantic Venture off New England, and also numerous law enforcement operations throughout the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean, interdicting thousands of pounds of cocaine and marijuana. In 2013, the Dependable made history by making the biggest drug bust in the Coast Guard First District area of responsibility. The bust was worth an approximate street-value of $20 million.

By 2016, the Dependable shifted homeports to Virgina Beach, where crews continued a varied mission set with a focus on narcotics smuggling during Operation Bahamas. The cutter also responded to Hurricane Florence in 2018, supporting response operations.

Most recently, in December 2023-February 2024, while taking part in Operation Vigilant Sentry, Dependable located and deterred four unlawful voyages with approximately 100 migrants aboard. During the same patrol, Dependable’s crew rescued 33 people aboard a 25-foot vessel in distress 6 miles off Haiti’s coast during heavy seas. Crewmembers conducted the search and rescue mission in 8-to-12-foot seas with winds gusting to 46 mph, saving all aboard the vessel.

“This is a fine ship, built long ago by American shipbuilders, tradesmen, and craftsmen,” said Vice Admiral Kevin Lunday, Commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area. “But a ship doesn’t become a Coast Guard cutter because we paint it white and put a racing stripe on the side. It becomes a cutter when we breathe life into it by crewing it with the finest young women and men from across these United States, ensuring they are well led, well trained, and ready for the mission.”

The Dependable now transitions into an inactive shipyard status as part of the Coast Guard’s greater “AY24 Force Alignment Initiative,” a program to temporarily adjust operations to better reflect the approximate 10% shortage of enlisted members while the Service reassigns personnel and assets to ensure the essential mission readiness demanded by the American public.

This initiative will enable the Coast Guard to meet growing demands for the service’s unique capabilities and authorities during the workforce recruitment and retention challenges facing all U.S. military service branches.

“The Coast Guard cannot maintain the same level of operations with our current shortfall – we cannot do the same with less,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Heath Jones in a joint statement. “Conducting our missions is often inherently dangerous, and doing so without enough crew puts our members and the American public at increased risk.”

Once at the shipyard, Dependable’s current crew will transfer to new units, a step taken to help ensure the Coast Guard’s ability to prioritize lifesaving missions, national security, and protection of the Maritime Transportation System with no degradation to these critical services.

“I am proud and humbled to have served with and led the men and women of the Dependable,” said Cmdr. Kristopher Ensley, the cutter’s commanding officer. “These sailors represent everything that is right about our Coast Guard and our Nation: they have lived with honor, respect, and an absolute devotion to their duty. Over the past 10 months, I have seen them care for each other, care for our ship, and execute our missions – protecting America, enforcing our laws, and saving lives. They have lived up to the 56 years of legacy of Dependable’s history. They have lived up to the standard set by our motto: the Coast Guard and America have been able to ‘Count on Us.’”

Dependable is a 210-foot, Reliance-class medium endurance cutter with a crew of 76. Since commissioning in 1968, Dependable has executed counterdrug and migrant interdiction operations, enforced federal fishery laws, and conducted search and rescue missions in support of Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

More information about the U.S. Coast Guard’s AY24 Force Alignment Initiative can be found here.

For information on how to join the U.S. Coast Guard, visit GoCoastGuard.com to learn about active duty, reserve, officer, and enlisted opportunities. Information on how to apply to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy can be found here.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL 750) and crew returned home Monday following a 21,000-mile, 98-day Indo-Pacific deployment in support of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet.

Throughout the deployment, Bertholf led international engagements in the Republic of Singapore, Malaysia, and India, strengthening interoperability and maritime governance through joint at-sea exercises, professional engagements, and subject matter expert exchanges.

Bertholf departed Alameda on Jan. 2 as the Coast Guard’s first of multiple national security cutter deployments to the Indo-Pacific this year.

“The opportunities to work with our allies and partners throughout the Indo-Pacific increased our regional interoperability and greatly strengthened the bonds which we share as a seagoing service,” said Capt. Billy Mees, Bertholf’s commanding officer. “We greatly appreciated engaging in professional interactions, enhancing maritime capabilities, and reinforcing maritime governance in the area through promoting global connections, fostering unity, and advancing efforts to maintain an open and free Indo-Pacific region.”

While operating in the vicinity of Singapore, the crew of the Bertholf participated in multiple professional engagements and training exercises with members of the Republic of Singapore Navy, Singapore Police Coast Guard, and Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). Bertholf hosted U.S. Ambassador Jonathan E. Kaplan aboard for a tour and a chance for Bertholf’s crew to showcase the cutter’s operational capabilities.

Upon departure, Bertholf’s crew conducted at-sea exercises and subject matter expert exchanges with the Republic of Singapore Navy and MMEA, including a group sail through the Strait of Malacca.

Upon Bertholf’s service-first, historic arrival in Port Klang, Malaysia, the crew conducted several subject matter expert exchanges with the MMEA, Republic of Singapore Navy, Singapore Police Coast Guard, Japan Coast Guard, Korea Coast Guard, and Australian Border Force. The joint training included maritime law enforcement skills, small boat launch and recoveries, emergency rescue and carry procedures, and shipboard damage control tactics to bolster interoperability across the maritime domain of Southeast Asia. Bertholf hosted U.S. Ambassador Edgard D. Kagan and Malaysian dignitaries onboard for a U.S. Embassy reception on the cutter’s flight deck.

Bertholf’s final international port call was Port Blair, India, marking the first time a U.S. Coast Guard cutter has visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India situated between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

During the four-day engagement, Bertholf’s crew participated in sporting events and reciprocal tours, and Bertholf’s officers attended a formal reception at the India Coast Guard’s regional headquarters. Bertholf and India Coast Guard participated in the joint exercise ‘Sea Defender,’ with two days of at-sea exercises that included responses to shipboard drone and small boat attacks, shipboard damage control evolutions, pollution responses, counter drug interdiction and non-compliant vessel pursuit tactics, security boardings, flight operations, and an overnight group sail with the India Coast Guard across the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone to the Strait of Malacca.

Commissioned in 2008, Bertholf is one of four Coast Guard legend-class national security cutters homeported in Alameda. National security cutters are 418 feet long, 54 feet wide, and have a 4,600 long-ton displacement. They have a top speed of more than 28 knots, a range of 12,000 nautical miles, endurance of up to 90 days, and can hold a crew of up to 170.

The 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet. It routinely operates with allies and partners to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Coast Guard Pacific Area is responsible for Coast Guard operations spanning six of the seven continents, 71 countries, and more than 74 million square miles of ocean. It stretches from the shores of the West Coast of the United States to the Indo-Pacific, Eastern Pacific, Arctic, and Antarctic regions. Pacific Area strives to integrate capabilities with partners to ensure collaboration and unity of effort throughout the Pacific.