Interagency Task Force News

Admiral James Steele Gracey, USCG (retired), 17th Commandant of the Coast Guard, passed away on Sunday, April 5, 2020, in Falls Church, Va., at the age of 92.Born in Newton, Mass. in 1927, Adm. Gracey graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1949. Adm. Gracey was a 1956 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School where he earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration.His career included diverse tours both ashore and afloat, including Commanding Officer, LORAN Station Ocean Cape…

Oregon Coast Guard cutter returns home following counter-drug patrol, $83 million worth of cocaine seizedThe crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alert returned home following a 60-day counter-drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, seizing more than $83 million worth of cocaine during the deployment.The crew interdicted two suspected drug smuggling vessels, yielding more than 5,700 pounds of seized cocaine while patrolling international waters in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South.

The crew aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623) returned home Friday to Astoria after a 60-day counternarcotic patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.While patrolling international waters off the coast of Mexico and Central America, Steadfast’s law enforcement boarding teams intercepted and stopped eight separate vessels suspected of smuggling illicit drugs. The eight boardings resulted in the discovery and seizure of approximately 13,123 pounds of cocaine worth…

The crew aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast (WMEC-623) returned home Friday to Astoria after a 60-day counternarcotic patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. While patrolling international waters off the coast of Mexico and Central America, Steadfast’s law enforcement boarding teams intercepted and stopped eight separate vessels suspected of smuggling illicit drugs. The eight boardings resulted in the discovery and seizure of approximately 13,123 pounds of cocaine worth more than $200 million wholesale. The 210-foot cutter deployed to the Eastern Pacific Ocean in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force South with the primary mission of detecting and interdicting illegal drug traffickers.

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returned to homeport from a 94-day patrol in drug trafficking zones of the Eastern Pacific, after seizing approximately 17,203 pounds of cocaine from suspected smugglers, April 8, 2016. The drugs were seized from nine suspected drug smuggling vessels. The contraband is valued at more than $260 million. Harriet Lane’s crew worked in conjunction with detachments from the Coast Guard’s Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team (PACTACLET) from San Diego…

The U.S. Coast Guard will offload more than 47,000 pounds of cocaine worth over $721 million Thursday at 9:30 a.m., which was seized in 23 separate interdictions in the eastern Pacific Ocean by U.S. and Canadian forces operating in international waters off the coast of Central and South America. Senior U.S. and Canadian officials will be at the offload to discuss new tactics used by transnational organized crime groups and to highlight international cooperation in combating the threat posed by these dangerous groups. U.S.

Hepburn and Sons has hired Rear Admiral Sam Perez as Chief, Advisory Services. Rear Admiral, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, earned his Masters of Art degree in Strategic Planning from Naval Postgraduate School and completed a year-long tour of the Federal Executive Fellowship (FEF) Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Perez served in the U.S. Navy for 36 years, following commissioning from the United States Naval Academy in 1980. His at-sea commands included command of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 and command of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1. During his tour as the Deputy Director Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS), Perez was assigned to Operation Unified Response as part of the U.S. response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

The U.S. Coast Guard marked the end of a record year in counterdrug operations as the crew of Cutter Waesche from Alameda, California, offloaded more than 39,000 pounds of cocaine in San Diego Thursday, October 27. The Coast Guard and its interagency partners removed more than 416,600 pounds of cocaine worth over $5.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2016, which ran from Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016. The service’s previous record was 367,700 pounds of cocaine removed in Fiscal Year 2008. “This impressive record not only reflects the extraordinary accomplishments of the men and women of the U.S.

Charles D. Michel, vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, was promoted to the rank of admiral at Coast Guard Headquarters Wednesday. Following passage of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015, the president nominated Michel for promotion to the rank of admiral to align the leadership structure of the Coast Guard to that of the other armed services and recognize the important role of the vice service chief at the national level. “I am humbled to be the first Coast Guard vice commandant promoted to the rank of four-star admiral,” Michel said.

Coast Guardsmen on the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber offloaded approximately 515 kilograms of cocaine interdicted in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Caribbean Venture worth an estimated wholesale value of $17 million at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Florida, Friday. On November 15, a Joint Interagency Task Force South maritime patrol aircraft located a suspicious go-fast vessel with multiple packages aboard southeast of Isla Beata, Dominican Republic. The HNLMS Friesland, an offshore patrol vessel from the Royal Netherlands Navy, responded to the report and interdicted the vessel with four suspected smugglers and suspicious packages on deck. A U.S.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Diligence is scheduled to return to their homeport in Wilmington Saturday following a 45-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea. During their patrol, the Diligence crew conducted search and rescue operations off the west coast of Cuba and conducted drug interdiction operations in the vicinity of Columbia and Panama. In anticipation of Aviation Standardization, a three-day assessment of the Diligence crew's flight operations capabilities scheduled for early October, the crew practiced flight operations their first evening underway. An MH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Savannah in Savannah, Georgia, met the cutter crew to conduct deck landings, helicopter in flight refueling (HIFR) and vertical replenishment (VERTREP) exercises.

U.S. Coast Guard Vice Adm. Charles Michel formally assumed the role of vice commandant of the Coast Guard during a ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Monday. As vice commandant, Michel will oversee the Coast Guard’s operations, strategic development, organizational governance and management of the service’s more than 58,000 employees and 30,000 volunteers. "I am humbled and honored to be given this important opportunity to further serve the American people and the men and women of the United States Coast Guard,” said Michel. Michel became the 30th vice commandant of the Coast Guard after serving as the service's deputy commandant for operations…

A U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) aircrew dropped medical supplies to a Colombian fishing vessel 900 miles northwest of Galapagos Island, Sunday, the USCG informs. At approximately 10 p.m., Saturday, Coast Guard 11th District watchstanders received a call from personnel aboard the fishing vessel Sea Gem, a Colombian-flagged purse seiner, requesting medical supplies for two injured crewmembers aboard. The operator of the vessel reported they were conducting routine fishing operations in air and on water when their helicopter’s cabin caught on fire.

Day after day, the U.S. Coast Guard continues to conduct its 11 statutory missions with its limited resources. It is challenged to Invest in long-term operational capacity while continuing to carry out its daily missions. “We’re a small service, but as always, we do punch above our weight class,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft during the 2015 Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Virginia. While the Coast Guard may have drifted off course with its ambitious and holistic Deepwater recapitalization effort…

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine agents and interagency partners disrupted two separate drug smuggling attempts off the coast of Costa Rica resulting in the interdiction of more than $74 million in illegal drugs. Fla. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine agents and interagency partners disrupted two separate drug smuggling attempts off the coast of Costa Rica resulting in the interdiction of more than $74 million in illegal drugs. On Jan. 20, a Jacksonville-based OAM aircrew aboard a P-3 was on a patrol approximately 190 miles northwest of Isla de Coco when they detected a suspicious speedboat. U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard aircraft continued to maintain surveillance until a maritime asset could intercept the smugglers.

The guided-missile frigate USS Kauffman (FFG 59), departed Naval Station Norfolk today for the ship's final deployment and will operate in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility. Kauffman's final deployment also marks the last scheduled deployment by any Oliver Hazard Perry-Class frigate and in September the ship will be the last operationally-active frigate to decommission. At that time, the only remaining frigate in the U.S. Navy will be USS Constitution, Navy's ambassador that was launched in 1797 and remains the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. During Kauffman's final deployment, the crew will support the United States Southern Command and the Joint Interagency Task Force South's Operation Martillo.

Spend dollars up on dredging, cubic yards moved down. Combined with a reduction in the USACE federal budget, the situation threatens a perfect storm for domestic requirements. U.S. dredging this decade, measured in cubic yards, is only half as active as it was in the early 1960s, with maintenance down slightly since then and new work off considerably, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or USACE. The nation’s spending on dredging in unadjusted dollars has swelled tenfold since the 1960’s, however.

The crew of  the Coast Guard Cutter 'Legare' returned to their homeport of Portsmouth Monday following an 8-week patrol in the Caribbean Sea in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force South. While patrolling near Puerto Rico in early August, the Legare crew launched their embarked helicopter to locate a go-fast vessel. When the vessel refused to stop as directed by the helicopter crew, they used approved tactics, including disabling fire, to compel the vessel to stop. Legare’s small-boat crew boarded the disabled vessel and subsequently recovered 41 bales of cocaine from the water…

Admiral Paul Zukunft, the new U.S. Coast Guard Commandant, could fill the BWT leadership void. Global efforts to combat the spread of invasive species in ballast water are hampered by a leadership void so serious that in April the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) discouraged further ratifications of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) invasive species convention. Admiral Paul Zukunft, the new U.S. Coast Guard Commandant, could fill that void and get those efforts onto the right track. The United States has been blessed with strong Coast Guard Commandants.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informs that Administrator Gina McCarthy has released a new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan that lays out steps that federal agencies will take during the next five years to protect water quality, control invasive species and restore habitat in the largest surface fresh water system in the world. McCarthy, who chairs the federal Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, released the plan at a meeting of Great Lakes Mayors in Chicago. “The new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan lays out the steps we need to take to get us closer to the day when all Great Lakes fish will be safe to eat, all beaches will be safe for swimmers and harmful algal blooms will not threaten our drinking water supplies,” said McCarthy.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Air and Marine P-3 aircrew operating out of National Air Security Operations Center (NASOC)-Jacksonville, Florida, detected a suspicious vessel carrying more than 1,100 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $82.3 million. While patrolling the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 9 during a counter-drug mission, an aircrew aboard a P-3 Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft spotted a high speed vessel moving through an area routinely used by drug smugglers. With the assistance of an additional CBP P-3 Long Range Tracker (LRT), OAM agents coordinated with the U.S. Navy to intercept the vessel. A U.S.

The Guarding Our Great Lakes Act, a bipartisan legislation designed to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of invasive Asian carp, has been introduced by U.S. Congressman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). Additional cosponsors of the bill include Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Congresswoman Candice Miller (R-Mich.) and Congressman Gary Peters (D-Mich.). In 2012, Rep. Camp and Sen. Stabenow secured passage of the Stop Invasive Species Act, to expedite the Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, which was supposed to formulate a plan to prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Paul Clark is scheduled to offload approximately 4,100 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated wholesale value of $3.7 million at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Wednesday. While on a routine patrol, a Joint Interagency Task Force South maritime patrol aircraft detected a suspicious go-fast vessel south of Jamaica. The crew aboard the aircraft notified the crew of the Paul Clark and vectored the cutter to intercept and conduct a law enforcement boarding of the suspect vessel. Once aboard the go-fast vessel, the Coast Guard boarding team removed 103 bales of contraband that later tested positive for marijuana.