Posted on 07/24/2019 9:05:37 AM PDT by robowombat
Schultz: Coast Guard Expanding Western Pacific Operations
By: Dzirhan Mahadzir July 23, 2019 11:48 AM
Crew members from USCGC Munro (WMSL-755) conduct law enforcement from the cutter’s 35-foot Cutter Boat in the Central Pacific, Dec. 2, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
KUALA LUMPUR – The U.S. Coast Guard will increase its presence and deployments to Asia – particularly around Oceania and U.S. Pacific territories – and test out a new operational deployment concept in the region, service head Adm. Karl Schultz told reporters on Thursday.
“My vision for the Coast Guard is to expand our permanent presence and effectiveness in the region through expeditionary capabilities, which is why we are doubling down in Oceania,” he said. “In the next month, we’ll be deploying Coast Guard assets in a new operating concept to strengthen the community of island nations thorough Operation Aiga – that’s Samoan for ‘family’,” he said.
The operation is a 30-day deployment of a 225-foot Juniper-class buoy tender and a Fast Response Cutter to partner with Pacific island nations. The buoy tender’s presence is a proof-of-concept operation to see if it could function as a mothership to smaller patrol craft. If successful, Schultz said this could be the start of similar operations with partner nations. While he said he believed the Coast Guard will continue to contribute to security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and East China Sea, he added that the most suitable way for the Coast Guard to exert influence in the Pacific is to operate at a partner-nation level.
Adm. Karl Schultz, Coast Guard commandant, delivers the 2019 State of the Coast Guard Address at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach in San Pedro, Calif., on March 21, 2019. Coast Guard Image
“I anticipate that mothership-type operation with some patrol boats, maybe trying to lash up with Australian partners and New Zealand partners in the region, Japanese partners, really is that international face that offers an alternative to other actors in the region,” he said.
That commitment to capacity-building spans the wide range of its expertise – from transferring old American cutters to partners, to multinational security exercises, to bilateral search-and-rescue and law enforcement agreements, to the deployment of training teams to share technical expertise and build proficiency, he said.
“My goal for the Coast Guard is to be a partner of choice in the region. So, we tailor our services to the needs of the nation we are supporting,” he said.
Schultz said the Coast Guard deployed the National Security Cutters USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) and USCGC Stratton (WMSL-752) to the Asia-Pacific and that their deployments and operations were in support of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
“Our enduring role is not to replace or duplicate Department of Defense assets or capabilities, but to employ our unique authorities and capabilities to complement Department of Defense forces,” the admiral said.
Additionally, Schultz said in the next two to three years the Coast Guard will be homeporting three Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters in Guam.
“The addition of the Fast Response Cutters will increase Coast Guard presence throughout the region. Our increased capability and capacity will allow for more frequent and longer patrols to protect the Exclusive Economic Zone from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing and the threats that those activities bring, and against increasing drug trafficking threats to the region,” Schultz said.
USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) crew members observe the stars from Bertholf’s flight deck as the cutter and crew patrol the South China Sea on April 21, 2019. US Coast Guard Photo
In response to a USNI News question as to whether Coast Guard ships would return to participating in the U.S. Navy CARAT series of exercises in the region, Shultz stated as an example that the Coast Guard has been a continuous participant in the biennial RIMPAC exercises and expects to participate next year again with a National Security Cutter, as was the case in the 2018 RIMPAC.
The Coast Guard commandant was critical of the Chinese Coastguard and its activities in the region. He said, though, that the U.S. would not respond by matching a similar number of USCG ships in the South China Sea but instead would champion transparent engagement.
“In the face of coercive and antagonistic behavior, the United States Coast Guard offers transparent engagement and partnership,” he said. “There’s the Chinese Coast Guard – used to be under civilian authority, it is now through the People’s Military Police, a direct report to the CCP government. You look at the Maritime Militia. I think we are seeing behaviors out of the Chinese Coast Guard, out of the Maritime Militia, that are not consistent with the rule-based order.”
Schultz said that the Coast Guard’s specialized capabilities and expansive international relationships enables the United States to build partner-nation capacity and model the rules-based values and behaviors that the U.S. wants to see in the region.
“Through engagement, partnership and presence, we are a maritime bridge between the Department of Defense’s lethality and the State Department’s diplomacy.”
Coast Guard should be guarding OUR coast.
There is a lot more to this deployment than meets the eye.
It’s the Navy’s job to project American power in the western Pacific.
Back in the 1960’s before the advent of satellite navigation and weather watching, the Coast Guard maintained two cutters on 30-day missions in the central and western pacific. Their purpose was two-fold. To provide navigation aid, and search and rescue for commercial passenger air traffic between Hawaii and the west coast (Ocean Station November) and the same between Hawaii and Japan (Ocean Station Victor). The second was weather tracking including twice daily release of weather balloons for pressure and wind direction at altitude. To carry out these tasks, the cutters carried weather bureau staff on board together with a US public health service commissioned doctor.
When I served on the Taney, I participated in several November deployments and two at Victor with time in Japan for maintenance in between. We were gone nearly one-half year. During that time, the 30-days on station were occupied with drills, maintenance and boredom. We would drift most of the time to save fuel with the swells rocking the ship, getting underway only to maintain station or maneuver to avoid severe rocking. Navigation was performed both by star and sun navigation, and by a new (now obsolete) radio system called Loran.
When we were relieved on station we got mail, fresh food and old B&W movies. We had a ham radio operator on board and time was set up to talk to family on weekends and when the atmosphere would allow radio signals to carry to the US. Except for the lack of fighting, it must have been similar to what navy patrols must have been during WW-II.
I was going to say WTF...that’s what the Navy is for! Bring the Coasties home where they freaking belong!
Not to be judgemental or anything but with that gibberish this asshole sounds like a newly minted gung ho MBA Six Sigma dickheaded hyper ambitious CEO. "My vision..." screw your vision...guard our freaking coasts already! Somebody up the chain of command better rein in this schmuck.
Old Curmudgeon
In time of war the Coast Guard supplemented the Navy wherever needed. But where’s the war for them to be placed in the far western Pacific and Indian Ocean?
Something VERY political is going on.
When we were in the western pacific with the Ocean Station program, there was a definite need for services related to navigation, search and rescue, and weather prediction, especially with the increasing long distance passenger air travel.
While there may be a need for local navigation help (buoy tenders) and rescue assistance (small patrol boats) for US islands there, there is not a need for large scale high and medium range cutters in the far western pacific. I agree with others who say that those large assets belong much closer to US waters.
Cool
They are - we have several US territories there. US citizens.
Five Territories somewhat shy of 300,000 Americans.
Guam Pacific Ocean 159358
Northern Mariana Islands Pacific Ocean 77000
American Samoa Pacific Ocean 55519
Midway Atoll Pacific Ocean 60
Palmyra Atoll Pacific Ocean 20
Somebody’s go to watch those islands with china on the prowl.
A good book I came across this afternoon is this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Station-Operations-Coast-1940-1977/dp/0977920011/ref=sr_1_95
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