Simulated Oil Tanker News

Coast Guard Trains Iraqi Marines in Maritime Security Operations

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 102 is teaching Iraqi marines valuable skills that will help them protect Iraqi infrastructure and territorial waters in the future. Embarked aboard USS Ogden (LPD 5) in the North Persian Gulf as part of Combined Task Force (CTF) 158, the eight-man Coast Guard team routinely trains the Iraqi marine platoons in Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations through a series of almost daily staged events. “We are basically teaching them use of force, tactical procedures in terms of boarding ships and how to handle a large crew,” said Lt. j.g. Torrey Bertheau, officer in charge of LEDET 102. Each of the Iraqi marine platoons spend a week aboard Ogden and use the ship as a simulated oil tanker. U.S.