Operation Pacific Viper: U.S. Coast Guard Takes On Drug Cartels And Human Smugglers

Counterterrorism magazine published my piece on the U.S. Coast Guard’s Operation Viper.

You can read the piece via the above and below pages.

U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Celebrates 75 Years

Lisa Ferdinando at the DoD News offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2016 — The United States Coast Guard Reserve is celebrating 75 years of service to the nation.

USCG reservists have served in every major conflict or crisis the nation has faced since the inception of the component, according to Rear Adm. Kurt B. Hinrichs, the Coast Guard's director of reserve and military personnel.

Since the creation of the Coast Guard Reserve with the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Reserve Act of Feb. 19, 1941, its mission has remained deeply rooted in national defense, Hinrichs said.
More than 200,000 reservists served in World War II. Reserve-staffed Port Security Units have deployed to Haiti and the Middle East, and continue to support maritime security efforts with Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

About half of the reserve force deployed after 9/11 for homeland security missions, Hinrichs said. Reservists served from 2002 to 2014 on teams that worked with U.S. Army personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan to inspect shipping containers, he noted.

Reservists are the Coast Guard's "force in garrison" who have supported domestic missions such as the response to Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, he said.
"The Coast Guard Reserve could not be the ready, reliable surge force on which the nation relies if not for the hard work and dedication of each and every one of its 7,000 members," he said.
"In turn, they could not continue to answer the call if not for the unwavering support of both their families and their employers," he added.

Senior Reserve Enlisted View

The highest-ranking enlisted reserve member, Coast Guard Reserve Force Master Chief Eric Johnson, said he is continually impressed with the highly skilled force.

Reservists strengthen the Coast Guard with their dedication, commitment, valuable outside experience and diversity of thought, Johnson said. Reservists and their families make many sacrifices to serve the nation, he said.

The serve in a variety of rates, including boatswain’s mate, food service specialist, gunner’s mate, health service technician, public affairs specialist, and marine science technician.

"I am thankful for everything they do and the way they do it," he said. "The excitement and energy that they put into being members of the Coast Guard Reserve, it's always a pleasure to see it."

Deployed After 9/11

Senior Chief Petty Officer Marguerite DeMartino, a public affairs specialist, was among the thousands of Coast Guard Reservists called up for duty following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
DeMartino, who has been in the Coast Guard Reserve for more than a quarter century, said it has been a fulfilling experience to serve her community and nation.

"I lived my dream," she said.

(Editor’s Note: In addition to being a writer for DoD News, the author, Lisa Ferdinando, is a public affairs specialist in the Coast Guard Reserve.)

Note: You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Coast Guard via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2014/04/semper-paratus-always-ready-look-at.html

And you can read my column on my ride-along on a Coast Guard 25-foot Defender Class Response Boat via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/09/semper-paratus-coast-guard-is-always.html

New Law Requires Cruise Lines To Publicize All Crimes Committed On Board

Foxnews.com offers a piece on the new law regarding crimes on cruise lines.

Cruise lines will now be mandated by law to publicize and provide details on all crimes committed on their ships.

A new provision of the Coast Guard reauthorization bill, signed into law Dec. 18, also stipulates that cruise companies post information about crimes that are alleged or under current investigation, reports Cruise Critic. The Department of Transportation will host a website to be updated quarterly where consumers can check out details of the reported crimes including names of the perpetrators, both passenger and crew member offenders.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2014/12/31/new-law-requires-cruise-lines-to-publicize-all-crimes-committed-on-board/

Semper Paratus, "Always Ready": A Look At The Role Of The U.S. Coast Guard

Back in 2004 I wrote a piece on the role of the U.S. Coast Guard for Counterterrorism magazine.

You can read the piece above and below:

U.S. Coast Guard's Wide-Ranging Mission Set Increasing, Commandant Says

By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2012 - If something touches the nation's waters, the "multi-mission" Coast Guard probably has some responsibility for it, according to that service's only four-star officer.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr. told the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service the complex mission set has evolved over the service's 221-year history, since Congress in 1790 authorized the building of 10 vessels to enforce federal tariff laws and prevent smuggling.

"We were the maritime force of the nation when the nation couldn't afford a Navy," Papp said, noting the Coast Guard predates the Navy by four years. Over time, he added, the Coast Guard has amassed a wide range of responsibilities: stopping drugs, saving lives, screening and inspecting vessels, maintaining aids to navigation, enforcing fisheries laws and pollution standards, and even searching foreign ports for sources of harm to the United States.

The admiral said he sums up the service's 11 statutory missions this way: "We protect those who use the sea, we protect the nation against threats from the sea, and we protect the sea itself."

The admiral said to meet those missions, a "good Coastie" needs specific qualities, some of which – such as patriotism and selfless service -- are common to service members of all branches. The defining characteristic for Coast Guardsmen, he added, is a love and understanding of the sea in its turbulent moods.

"You have to understand that everything that occurs on the ocean ... is multiplied in terms of difficulty, particularly when you're doing it at night or in the midst of a storm," Papp said. "And that's when the Coast Guard gets its work done."

Looping back to the mission mix, the commandant said adaptability is the other Coast Guard essential.

"Rather than be able to focus just on defense, or just on law enforcement, a Coast Guardsman's got to be versatile ... and have some level of knowledge and competency in a broad range of activities," he explained.

The admiral noted a Coast Guard cutter crew's January rescue of six Iranian mariners in waters off Iraq highlights one of the service's lesser-known efforts.

"A lot of people say, 'You're the Coast Guard; what are you doing over there?'" he noted. "[But] it's not just U.S. coasts. There are a lot of coasts around the world ... [and] we offer the United States options in terms of national security."

Papp said most people don't realize the Coast Guard has operated in the northern Arabian Gulf for nine years, filling "a niche capability for the Department of Defense that Central Command needed."

Iraq has offshore oil platforms that produce 90 percent of the country's wealth, but a territorial dispute between Iraq and Iran means those platforms are under constant threat, he explained. Coast Guard patrol boats, along with Navy patrol craft, provide security for those platforms under command of the Coast Guard's Patrol Forces for Southwest Asia, he said.

"That's just one example of Coast Guard people overseas," he said.

The Coast Guard pushes the boundaries of the United States' maritime security, the commandant said, because port security begins where ships that end up in U.S. ports start out -- places like Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and Singapore.

Papp said since 9/11, the Coast Guard –- as the nation's representative to the United Nations International Maritime Organization -- has pushed for treaties to help in increasing America's port security.

"We now are able to send inspectors overseas to verify the security procedures in the ports of countries that wish to trade with the United States," he said. That effort involves a couple of dozen U.S.-based traveling inspectors and small Coast Guard commands, each also about two dozen strong, in Europe and the Far East.

"That is really what I view as a low-cost effort ... to help provide security," Papp said.

U.S. ports are the other end of the Coast Guard's layered port security.

"We've done a great job over the last 10 years in restoring and rebuilding our boat fleet in the ports, repopulating our Coast Guard stations and sectors, and creating something we call deployable specialized forces ... which are basically [special weapons and tactics] teams afloat," he said.

Papp said he worries about maritime security's "middle layer" -- vast expanses of ocean.

"Our country needs to have a persistent presence to intercept any identified threats that might be coming toward the United States," he said. "That's really our weak point right now."

High-endurance ships that can stay on station and survive the weather are critical to that middle range, he said, and the large Coast Guard cutters built to provide that presence are now more than 40 years old.

"They're falling apart, they're very expensive to maintain, and we need to be about the process of getting those rebuilt," Papp said.

The constricting federal budget will make that "very difficult," he acknowledged.

"We've always liked to consider ourselves a lean and agile force," the commandant said. "But ... because people keep pushing responsibilities to [us,] [we] end up doing more with less, which is something that's cursed us over the years."

The Coast Guard's increased missions are within the service's capabilities, but not its funding, Papp said.

"Unless somebody's going to infuse massive amounts of money into the Coast Guard budget, we can't handle this on our own," the admiral said. "We'll do the best we can with the resources we have, and I will identify the resources that are needed for our country, but then we've got to come up with an all-of-government solution."

The Coast Guard has worked hard since 9/11 to build its uniformed strength back to what it was in 1990, Papp said. "But we've taken on a whole lot more responsibilities over the last 10 years as well," he added.

Note: I wrote a piece on the Coast Guard for Counterterrorism magazine a while back. You can read my piece via the below links:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard1.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard2.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard3.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard4.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/CoastGuard5.jpg

I also wrote a column about my visit to the U.S. Coast Guard station in Philadelphia and my ride aboard a Coast Guard boat on the Delaware River.

You can read my column via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2009/09/semper-paratus-coast-guard-is-always.html

My Threatcon Column: Semper Paratus, The Coast Guard is Always Ready

I live within minutes of a potential terrorist target - the Port of Philadelphia - so I'm thankful for the diligence and dedication of our intelligence, law enforcement, military and homeland security personnel.

Philadelphia is a target due in part to the Delaware River, which is one of the world's largest freshwater ports and the second busiest in the country in terms of tonnage. The river also supports one of the world's largest petro-chemical industrial complexes, with six major oil refineries along the river.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with the U.S. Coast Guard personnel who are responsible for guarding the Delaware River and its assets. I reported to the Marine Safety Office/Group Philadelphia's offices in South Philadelphia.

Called "Station Philadelphia," the Coast Guard pier-side facility is shared with the Philadelphia Marine Police and a Philadelphia Fire Department Unit. The Coast Guard operates a number of utility boats, including two 27-foot Boston Whalers and the newly acquired 25-foot Defender Class Response boats.

I met with Lt Commander Timothy E. Meyers, who gave me a tour of the station and explained the Coast Guard's many missions. Myers, an army brat who traveled widely with this soldier-father, said the longest he ever stayed in one place was the four years he attended the Coast Guard Academy.

Meyers joined the Coast Guard because he wanted to do something for the country and because he was interested in the wide range of exciting missions the Coast Guard performs.

"The Coast Guard performs missions such as search & rescue, enforcement of laws and treaties, recreational boating safety, marine environmental protection, short range aid to navigation and last and most importantly, homeland security," Meyers told me.

Meyers said that the Coast Guard coordinates their patrols with local law enforcement agencies, not only on the water, but also in the air. The Coast Guard is a member of a port security committee that meets monthly. The committee includes a large number of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as industry representatives.

"The Coast Guard is a member of the armed forces and a law enforcement agency as well," Meyers explained. "Now, with this new emphasis on homeland security, and as a new member of the Department of Homeland Security, there's a lot we can bring to the table."

Meyers said they identify incoming vessels 92-hours out from where they plan to enter port. Sea Marshals, the Coast Guard's law enforcement officers similar to Air Marshals, go out to the vessel and they'll "ride it in." A Coast Guard ship will often accompany the vessel into port.

During my visit I boarded one of the Coast Guard's 25-foot Defender Class Response Boats and we shoved off down the Delaware River. The boats have twin-Honda 225hp outboard engines and they can go more than 45 knots on the water.

That's fast.

The boats are armed with M16 MOD 8 mounts, fore and aft, and the boats also have advanced communications gear.

I rode with the crew on one of the two boats as they ventured out on patrol. I told the boat crew that I was a Navy veteran, so I knew something about boats and working on the river. After serving two years on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War, I went on to serve another two years on a Navy harbor tugboat at the nuclear submarine base in Holy Loch, Scotland.

Onboard the boat were a couple of members of the Coast Guard's Maritime Security and Safety Teams (MSSTs). The young petty officers were friendly enough to a writer and a ex-Navy guy, but they were a tough interview. They didn't want to talk about threats, targets or their training. With my own Navy/Defense Department security background, I understood and respected their reluctance to talk to the press.

One of the petty officers, who asked that I not use his name, told me that he had recently reenlisted in the Coast Guard for another six years.

"I love what I'm doing and I think it is important work," the petty officer told me over the noise of the boat's engines and the splash of the water as we sped along the Delaware River.

The MSSTs are a rapid response force assigned to vital ports like Philadelphia. Meyers, who came along for the ride, said that MSSTs were formed specifically for this mission after 9/11. All of the teams have designations that begin with 911 and the first one was 91101. The Philadelphia Detachment's designation is 91110.

"The MSSTs are SWAT teams on the water," Meyers said. "The MSSTs are rapid deployable. They can be sent where needed at a moment's notice."

The two Defender Class boats performed remarkable maneuvers out past the docked and anchored freighters and cargo ships. We also sped past the mothball fleet at the now-closed Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Based on my Navy background, I can attest to the fact that the Defender Class boats can out-run and out-maneuver nearly any craft on the water. With these boats on patrol, I doubt that any boat loaded with explosives could slam into a ship, as we saw with the attack on the USS Cole.

Perhaps the "Coasties," as the Coast Guard sailors liked to be called, were trying to make the old Navy man sea sick, as the boat made several fast, tight turns on the gray, choppy river. Thankfully, I upheld the Navy's reputation during the patrol.

"The Coast Guard is a humanitarian organization," Meyers explained when we returned to the pier. "Most people think of the Coast Guard as lifesavers and our homeland security duties are the same type of mission. It's keeping America safe, it's keeping our homeland safe."