“The events we have participated in allow us to exercise functions we often train for, but rarely on this scale or with the particular nations involved with RIMPAC, and that is what makes this opportunity so remarkable,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Lukowiak, an operations specialist aboard Waesche. “From counter-piracy to tactical maneuvering to gunnery exercises, we are gaining familiarity and learning best practices that will prove very valuable during future joint operations with the Navy or foreign partners.”

 

Smallboat Expertise

The Navy’s Coastal Riverine Force (CRF) was another participant in RIMPAC. The Coast Guard and Navy also have a heritage of cooperation within the CRF community. Coast Guard personnel are assigned to Navy CRF units, bringing operators who are skilled in smallboat operations and port security missions. The Coast Guard also brings critical law enforcement authorities not held by Department of Defense components.

“We may be a Navy command, but the Coast Guard is an integral part of our structure,” said Capt. Charles Lund, Coastal Riverine Squadron 11 (CORIVRON 11) commanding officer. “The only difference between us is the name on our uniform.” Based out of Seal Beach, California, CORIVRON 11 conducts port and harbor security, high-value unit security and escort, surveillance and reconnaissance, insertion and extraction of small units, and command and control for supporting and assigned units. CRF units also operate ashore in support of ground operations, protection of critical maritime infrastructure, and theater security cooperation missions. CORIVRON 11 was part of the RIMPAC HA/DR exercises. “Humanitarian aid is really something the Coast Guard is very good at, and as a Navy asset, we are learning from our Coast Guard brothers and sisters who are embedded in this unit,” Lund said.

Coast Guard personnel are fully integrated into CRF units, serving as company commanders and platoon leaders, and in leadership positions within the communications, intelligence, logistics, and weapons departments. Chief Petty Officer Tony Tredo, platoon leader, 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, brings years of Coast Guard smallboat and port security experience to the CRF. He’s the lead chief petty officer and one of CORIVRON 11’s trainers, responsible for ensuring 12 boatcrews and more than 60 personnel are fully capable and ready to respond to any mission.“Having deployed with a PSU [Port Security Unit] and working with the Navy in Guantanamo Bay, I came to CORIVRON with a skill set in smallboat operations, specifically CONUS [stateside] operations,” Tredo said. “The unit recognized this and put me into a leadership position where I can leverage my Coast Guard expertise.

“This has been a great experience. It’s been fun to work with so many new people who are fresh. We get to train them from scratch,” he said. “We get all different specialties here in the smallboat community. They get to build a new skill set then take it back to the fleet.”

The arrangement is mutually beneficial. “As Coast Guard members, we also gain a lot from being a part of this type of unit. The Navy’s expeditionary units are experts in this field. They are highly experienced in operating in remote locations and establishing the command and control systems required to execute both security and humanitarian missions. The lessons and skills we learn from the Navy will help us be more effective in our response operations,” said Lt. Cmdr. Paul Green, CORIVRON 11 communications and information systems department head.

 

Fortune Guard and Tradewinds

The Coast Guard took part in Exercise Fortune Guard 2014, a multinational event designed to build capacity to enhance regional weapons of mass destruction counter-proliferation capacity in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Vessels and special operations boarding teams from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, Republic of Korea navy and coast guard, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force participated in an at-sea live exercise aboard the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187) near Hawaii.

The Coast Guard also works closely with Caribbean navies and coast guards. Tradewinds 2014, a joint and combined exercise designed to enhance the military and law enforcement capabilities of Caribbean partner nations in maritime security and disaster response training, took place on and around the island of Antigua. Participants from the U.S. military, Royal Canadian Navy, and military units from 11 Caribbean nations conducted maritime training in search diving methods, smallboat handling skills, engineering, military law enforcement, and operations center protocols at Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force military installations on the island.

 

U.S. Maritime Forces

The Navy and Coast Guard sometimes can take advantage of unique training opportunities. A pair of MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile in Mobile, Alabama, helped certify the pre-commissioning unit of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD 25) for aviation operations. The Jayhawks flew parts and supplies to Somerset, and conducted more than 60 daytime and night-vision goggle deck landings, vertical replenishment sling loads, and refueling operations. The training took place while the 684-foot Somerset was transiting the Gulf of Mexico on its way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for commissioning.

The two services will continue working together to provide the full range of capabilities necessary for America’s security. And by working closely together, each service can build upon the mutual respect and trust that comes from being shipmates. This year, the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., has designated 2014 as the “Year of the Coast Guard.” Each year the fountains at the memorial are filled with water from the seven seas and Great Lakes. This year the water was collected by more than 100 Coast Guard units from the lakes, rivers, seas, bays, and oceans they navigate.

“The value of a strong national fleet has proven to be vital to our country, whether in peacetime or in war,” stated McQuilkin and Brown. “The Navy and Coast Guard best serve our nation when we deliberately prepare our force to work together and make our National Fleet end state complementary and non-redundant. The current and future threats in the maritime domain are complex and our national security and global economy have never been more dependent upon stable and free seas. Our Plan will ensure that our future force is flexible, adaptable, and capable to meet emerging security challenges as a united sea-service force.”

This article first appeared in the U.S. Coast Guard 225th Anniversary Special Edition of Coast Guard Outlook.