Posted on 12/01/2006 4:14:26 PM PST by devane617
KEY WEST - The U.S. Coast Guard, one of the key lines of defense in the Florida Straits on homeland security, drug smuggling and migrant interdictions, took eight of its 10 Key West-based patrol cutters out of action indefinitely Thursday because of structural problems.
The decision, announced by the Coast Guard's top commander, Adm. Thad Allen, who flew to Key West to tell crews personally, will create a hole in surveillance and law enforcement of the Florida Straits at a potentially critical time, with the failing health of Fidel Castro.
''I would say there is no good time for this,'' said Commander Brendan C. McPherson, a spokesman for the admiral.
Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard and former commander of District 7, which includes Key West, said a contingency plan is in the works to ensure that the hole is filled.
''We know we require a credible presence in the Straits of Florida,'' he said. ``No matter what happens [with the fleet], there will be a credible presence in the Straits of Florida.''
The eight cutters -- the Atty, Manitou, Matagorda, Metompkin, Monhegan, Nunivak, Padre and Vashon -- were tied up at the Key West Coast Guard base Thursday. Allen said he did not know if the cutters will sail again.
Their crews -- the cutters normally carry 16 -- will be reassigned, many to double up with crews on other boats, Allen said.
''These are really proud sailors and to have their cutters tied to the dock is a hard thing to take,'' said Chris O'Neil, Coast Guard spokesman for District 7. 'But we are a military organization and take our orders, say `Aye, aye' and press on. We're there to save lives and protect the country and we're going to do that regardless of the platform available to us.''
Allen said he knows firsthand that under normal circumstances there can't be a drop in patrolling of the waters between the United States and Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. A sudden mass migration, he said, would be a ''totally different scenario'' and the Coast Guard and other agencies would deploy all necessary resources to the area.
UPGRADE AT FAULT
The eight patrol boats were part of the Coast Guard's $24 billion modernization program called Deepwater, which replaces or updates the aging fleet of boats and aircraft.
The 110-foot cutters were converted to 123 feet, to add an automated small-boat launch and make room for additional communications and navigation systems. The plan was to convert all 49 of the 110-foot cutters.
McPherson said the modifications were meant to tide the Coast Guard over while new patrol boats are designed. ''These patrol boats were already at the end of their life cycles,'' he said.
But the conversions stopped in June 2005 when problems began to show up: decks cracked, hulls deformed and shafts became misaligned shortly after they came out of the repair yards in 2004.
Coast Guard engineers, joined by counterparts from Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, which were awarded the Deepwater contract, tried to correct the problems. During this time, the boats' use in heavy seas was limited.
But when additional problems began to crop up, Allen decided to dock the boats for a more thorough review.
''This is kind of a bittersweet moment for us,'' he said. ``These cutters were converted as part of the initial Deepwater project and have the technology and capability on them that the folks down here love.''
PROTECTION PLANS
The patrol boats serve multiple missions, including search-and-rescue, migrant interdiction, drug interdiction, fisheries enforcement, general law enforcement and recreational boating safety.
Allen said each cutter was expected to operate about 2,500 hours a year. Now Key West is left with just two operating cutters, an 87-footer and a 110-footer. But cutters from other areas of the country routinely patrol the Florida Straits.
Options to pick up the slack include relocating vessels, authorizing more hours for other boats and increasing air surveillance.
The Coast Guard has about 250 cutters and 200 aircraft around the country, with 52 cutters and 39 aircraft assigned to District 7, which covers Florida.
Makes you wonder why they want to announce it to the world.
Setting a trap?
Wouldn't want to interdict refugees fleeing the collapse of Castro Cuba after he officially "dies," now would we?
It sounds odd to me. So what is they are having problems with the cutters. As long as they will float, use them until they quit.
Also, why didn't someone see this coming?
Lots of unanswered questions.
should read: "So what if"
Sounds like a judgement-call. Do you tie-up your fleet and try to get ahead of the news, or do you wait and hope Dana Milbank at the Washington Post doesn't get hold of the story and use it to club you.
use s/b uses
When 80% of your resources are out of service due to poor design of the upgrade or shoddy work at the shipyard it's kind of hard to hide it.
Well, the crewmen on board when it stops floating might object to that. Serious men who are officers in the military put the lives of their crew first.
Sounds like the overhaul left them in danger of structural failure. So if they send them to sea there is a chance that they'll no longer float and leave the crew to drown. That what you want?
It would be better to shift other resources to the area before you make the announcement. You have 80% of your crews sitting around doing not much at all -- that's not good. Our southern border seems to be fading before our eyes.
Well, the Navy and Department of Transportation have (shamefully) starved the Coast Guard of money and resources for decades, so I guess the CG cutter fleet finally (and literally) reached its breaking point. Now, they're going to have to scramble to fix a mighty big whole in our coastal defenses off Florida.
Well, they could put out a MayDay call!
/sarcasm>
There is no way the Coast Guard should have a majority of their assets at the end of their life cycle all at the same time.
This is going to be a serious problem
The drug cartels are going to pour their poison into the country.
Any comments or input?......
Key West, Fla. -- Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, speaks to the crew of the 123-foot patrol boats about his decision to stop service of the fleet of eight in Key West. Adm. Allen travelled to Key West specifically to inform the crew face-to-face about his decision and tour several of the patrol boats moored at the pier. Coast Guard photo by PA1 Dana Warr.
Hard to believe isn't it? With as much attention given to drug interdiction, and illegals from the "ISOM(s)", one would think this would be a priority issue.
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