The official blog of the U.S. Coast Guard
Coast Guard service members from Port Security Unit 309 and Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant often conduct missions very different from each other. Despite having different missions, these units often operate jointly with other Coast Guard assets and with international partners. In early June, members from both units collaborated to interdict illegal drugs approximately one mile from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay’s shoreline.
Port Security Units (PSU) are part of the Coast Guard’s Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) and have become the pinnacle of the national defense mission, which spawned the formation of the Coast Guard Reserve itself. PSUs need highly-motivated members in the boatswain’s mate (BM) and maritime enforcement specialist (ME) ratings to fill critical billets in Waterside and Shoreside Security Divisions, which are necessary to meet the Coast Guard’s readiness conditions for overseas deployments supporting maritime security operations.
More than 100 Coast Guardsmen from U.S. Coast Guard Port Security Unit 305, based in Fort Eustis, Virginia, are executing multiple missions alongside Department of Defense partners who staff the Maritime Security Detachment (MARSECDET) at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during a nearly year-long deployment.
Today begins our Week in the Life 2017 series. This series will provide you with an insider’s view of what a typical week looks like for Coast Guard members. We will take you from coast to coast, showing you the different aspects of life in the Coast Guard. From standing watch or training on the water to supporting our frontline operations, we will highlight the day-to-day lives of Coast Guard men and women throughout the country and overseas. Let’s start the journey!
Today, the Coast Guard is the nation’s oldest continuously serving sea-going service and conducts 11 different missions. One of those missions is Defense Readiness. Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia is at the forefront of the Defense Readiness mission. Today, PATFORSWA’s mission is to train, organize, equip, support and deploy mission-ready Coast Guard Forces in support of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and national security objectives.
Coast Guard reservists assigned to Port Security Unit 301 in Cape Cod, Mass., provided port security and communications support in Anchorage, Alaska, during the 2014 National Exercise Program’s Capstone Exercise. During the exercise, the Port of Anchorage, which processes approximately 90 percent of all cargo arriving in Alaska, was heavily damaged by the simulated earthquake and knocked out of commission.
The Coast Guard has eight port security units and each one is capable of deploying around the world within 96 hours to provide maritime and landside security to U.S. assets and personnel. The unit’s full-time staff – which includes an active duty lieutenant commander, gunner’s mate, machinery technician, yeoman and storekeeper – fills a critical role in the day-to-day life of the port security unit; they ensure the unit is ready to go when called.
During Combined Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore Exercise, the Wheeler simulated providing fuel for the more than 1,200 personnel involved in the exercise by pumping water through the pipeline to large bladders on shore. These bladders would then be used to fuel military vehicles and equipment in a real-world scenario.
Port Security Unit 311 is an expeditionary unit responsible for providing port security in support of military or humanitarian operations worldwide, ready to deploy within 96 hours of notification and establishing sustained operations within 24 hours. The unit deploys on the frontlines of global operations but in order to get there they need support; that support is led by Chief Petty Officer Stepheni Norton.
With air temperatures hovering around freezing every night, steaming hot showers were a welcomed luxury for more than 1,200 deployed Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force personnel at Camp Baldwin, especially once the camp was transformed into a giant mud pit after steady rain showers drenched the clay grounds during the day. Camp Baldwin, a large-scale, temporary military camp built in the middle of a Korean Marine base in Pohang, South Korea.