Coast Guard Cutter Dallas returns home from four-month deployment

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Dallas will return to its homeport of Charleston Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. after a historic four-month deployment in the Gulf of Guinea off West and Central Africa, and the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Dallas crewmembers were deployed under the command of the Navy’s 6th Fleet based in Naples, Italy and carried out multiple missions in support of the Navy in countries throughout Africa and Europe.

The crew of the Dallas was the second United States military ship to bring humanitarian assistance supplies to the Republic of Georgia following the conflict between Russian and Georgian forces in August. The crew loaded more than 76,000 pounds of hygiene products, infant care, and food items onto the ship’s flight deck in Souda Bay, Crete, and delivered it to Batumi, Georgia, Aug. 27 for further distribution to those affected by the fighting.

During the first half of the deployment, the crew trained with navies and coast guards in Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Sao Tome and Principe and Senegal as part of the Africa Partnership Station, a 6th Fleet initiative aimed to strengthen maritime safety and security in west and central Africa.

The Dallas visited Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain on the second half of the deployment. Dallas crewmembers trained with maritime partners in Malta, Bulgaria and Turkey during the visits. In Spain, the crew hosted 50 of America’s civilian public opinion leaders who were selected to participate in the 76th Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, a Department of Defense program established in 1948 designed to expose business, public sector, and academia leaders with little or no military experience to the working of the armed forces and national defense issues.

“Many Americans do not realize the role of the Coast Guard in representing America’s maritime interests throughout the world,” said Capt. Robert Wagner, commanding officer of the Dallas. “Deployments like this showcase how America’s naval services work cooperatively to achieve what’s important to our nation.”

The Dallas is expected to remain in port for three months before departing for the next patrol.

Visit to Deployed Cutter Underscores Coast Guard’s Global Reach

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

ROTA, Spain – Civilian leaders who visited here today had seen the Coast Guard in action in U.S. waterways, patrolling ports and harbors, interdicting drug smugglers, and sometimes conducting heroic search-and-rescue missions as depicted in the movie, “The Guardian.”

So Coast Guard Capt. Robert Wagner, commander of Coast Guard Cutter Dallas, greeted Joint Civilian Orientation Conference participants here today with the rhetorical question he knew all had on their minds: “What is the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dallas doing in Rota, Spain?”

In addition to its historic role protecting U.S. coastlines from external threats while promoting safe navigation, the Coast Guard has had a little-known or -understood role supporting U.S. combatant commanders overseas for the past 15 years, Wagner told the group.

“We are an armed force of the military at all times, and our missions are global,” he said. “U.S. interests don’t stop at our borders, so the Coast Guard pretty much hits all seven continents.”

Since leaving its home port of Charleston, S.C., this summer, the 378-foot USCGC Dallas has demonstrated the broad scope of the Coast Guard mission and the way it works cooperatively with the U.S. military to advance U.S. interests.

The 170-member crew, most half the age of the 41-year-old vessel that saw duty in Vietnam, first traveled to West and Central Africa to support U.S. Naval Forces Europe’s Africa Partnership Station, Wagner said.

This initiative aims to build partnerships with regional militaries to help them build capacity to improve maritime safety and security in the region.

The crew visited several African nations and participated in the first collaborative at-sea exercise between U.S. and Equatorial Guinean naval assets in decades, Wagner told the group. The Coast Guardsmen shared their expertise in search-and-rescue procedures, boarding, search and seizure techniques, counterterrorism operations and other operations.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Les Swert, a gunner’s mate with two and a half years in the Coast Guard, recalled the gratification he found teaching the Cape Verdean Coast Guard how to conduct interdiction operations.

“It was great. Their crew came on our boat, and we did joint boardings from our boat, but under their authority because it was their country,” he said. “It was good training, and they pulled a lot of good out of it.”

But Dallas’ higher-profile mission came later in the deployment, when it delivered humanitarian assistance to the Georgian city of Batumi in late August after Russia invaded Georgia earlier that month.

Dallas delivered 76,000 pounds of food, milk, juices and hygiene items as part of Operation Assured Delivery, the U.S. military’s support to the Georgian government’s request for help.

Wagner recalled what it felt like to be the only ship supporting the operation, with a draft that enabled it to pull directly into port to offload its 80 pallets of cargo. “It was clearly one of the highlights of the deployment,” he said.

“Being greeted by crowds of Georgians, all so happy that we were there, felt really great,” he said. “We became the faces of America, representing all those people who donated those supplies and reached out to offer help.”

Petty Officer 3rd Class Chad Hermann, an electronics technician who spent four years in the Navy before joining the Coast Guard, remembered the thrill of seeing people on the piers waving the U.S. flag as well as the Georgian flag as the Dallas approached. “You couldn’t help but feel really good about that we were to help them,” he said.

“It gives you a lot of pride being out there doing what we did,” agreed Petty Officer 3rd Class Andrew Boscarillo, a fellow electronics technician. “I mean, who doesn’t want to help people?”

For the Dallas crew, the mission brought an unaccustomed level of exposure. They watched live TV broadcasts of their ship as it pulled into port. “It was real-time news, and the ship and the crew were in the thick of it,” Wagner said.

After seeing TV images of Wagner greeting the cheering Georgians, Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Pritchett later teased his commander that he’d become a rock star. “He told me, ‘No, you are all the rock stars,’” Pritchett said.

Public interest in the Dallas and its humanitarian mission went beyond TV news. Internet searches using the terms “Coast Guard” and “Georgia” spiked. Blogs started batting around quips about a misguided navigator landing his Coast Guard vessel in Georgia.

“It just shows you that most Americans really don’t appreciate the global role of the Coast Guard,” Wagner told the JCOC participants. “We really do protect America’s interests everywhere around the world.”

The civilians got insight into how the Coast Guard carries out its diverse roles as they toured the ship, watched a demonstration of law-enforcement tactics the crew uses and learned how they train to respond to a fire or other onboard emergency. They took every chance they got to chat with the crew about their jobs and their experience in the Coast Guard.

John Sullivan, group publisher and chief executive for Atlantic Media Co., said he was impressed with the caliber of the “kids” he met aboard Dallas. “They all seem to have really found themselves, and it’s obvious that they’re really proud of what they do,” he said.

A highlight for many in the group was a zip around the harbor in an “over-the-horizon,” rigid-hulled inflatable boat used to pursue high-speed vessels. They suited up in life vests and helmets, getting a sense of the boat’s speed and handling abilities as it banked into curves at speeds up to 45 miles an hour. Sky Dayton, founder of Earthlink, was one of the braver participants who accepted an offer to take the controls.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ray Bryant, Dallas’ head mechanic, called the JCOC visit a great opportunity to increase awareness about the Coast Guard’s diverse roles. “A lot of people don’t know what we do, period,” he said. “We work far beyond U.S. borders, and we are truly ‘multitaskable.’”

The message resonated with the civilian leaders.

“I had no idea of the breath of activities the Coast Guard is engaged in,” said Nancy Hawthorne, chief executive officer for the Clerestory advisory firm in Boston. “When you think of the Coast Guard, you think of the guys who do rescues. … I didn’t realize that they play such a big role in national defense.”

The group’s visit to USCG Dallas was the second stop in a week-long trip to military activities throughout U.S. European Command. Yesterday, the group visited USS Iwo Jima off the coast of Crete.

The first U.S. defense secretary, James V. Forrestal, created the JCOC program in 1948 to introduce civilian “movers and shakers” with little or no military exposure to the workings of the armed forces. Nearly six decades later, it remains DoD’s premier civic leader program.

Coast Guard Cutter Dallas arrives in Sevastopol, Ukraine

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — The Charleston, S.C.-based U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Dallas (WHEC 716) pulled into port here Sept. 1 to participate in previously scheduled theater security cooperation activities with the Ukrainian Navy.

The visit by the 378-foot, high-endurance cutter, which has been scheduled since Spring 2008, represents one of the many routine visits to the Black Sea region by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard in recent years designed to strengthen global maritime partnerships and foster greater maritime safety and security capabilities with Black Sea nations.

Included in the training will be shipboard damage control, law enforcement training and vessel boarding procedures.

“The principal aim of visits like these is to increase interoperability by developing the individual and collective maritime proficiency of partner nations, as well as promoting friendship, mutual understanding
and cooperation,” said Capt. John Moore, commander of Combined Task Force 367, under which the Dallas is operating.

The Dallas is on a regularly scheduled deployment and has been under the command of the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet since May 25. Earlier in the deployment, Dallas participated in Africa Partnership Station and conducted similar training with navies and coast guards throughout West and Central Africa.

On Aug. 27, the cutter became the second U.S. military ship to deliver humanitarian aid supplies to Georgia as a part of Operation Assured Delivery, the ongoing U.S. mission to bring relief supplies to the conflict-torn country.

Coast Guard Cutter Dallas Delivers Aid to Georgia

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – The Coast Guard Cutter Dallas has finished off-loading humanitarian relief supplies in the Georgian city of Batumi and has left port, a Defense Department official said here today.

Since Russia invaded Georgia on Aug. 9, all of the U.S. aid that has gone to the nation has been humanitarian relief, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

Defense officials said that Russia still has troops in Georgia and is not living up to the terms of a cease-fire agreement.

The Dallas unloaded 34 tons of aid at the port, raising the U.S. total to 947  tons of supplies. To date, 53 air sorties also have been flown to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia.

Whitman said the USS Mount Whitney is the next American ship that will deliver supplies to Georgia. The ship will swing by the Greek island of Crete to pick up supplies at Souda Bay before arriving at a Black Sea port next week.

The Defense Department so far has spent $7.2 million on airlift and humanitarian supplies. The U.S. government total so far has been $22 million in aid.

“The United States is going to be there for Georgia for the long term,” Whitman said.

As with any mission, the nature of the mission to Georgia will change, Whitman said. “Not just the United States, but [also] the international community is going to be looking at reconstruction missions, economic stimulation, security needs — all those types of things.”

Supplying immediate needs to prevent civilian suffering will remain the focus of U.S. policy in the Caucasus nation for now, Whitman said.

“But over time, we will be looking at the full range of ways in which the United States will be able to support Georgia in the future,” he said.

Coast Guard Cutter Dallas delivers aid to Georgia

BAT’UMI, Republic of Georgia - The Coast Guard Cutter Dallas pulled into port on Wednesday delivering humanitarian relief supplies as part of Operation Assured Delivery, the United States military’s ongoing effort to support the Georgian government’s request for humanitarian assistance.

Dallas will offload 80 pallets with more than 76,000 lbs. of humanitarian assistance supplies. The goods include hygiene items, food, milk and juices. Bat’umi port currently provides an established distribution hub to quickly dispense the aid.

“The crew of Dallas really wants these goods to make a difference in the lives of the Georgian people,” said Capt. Robert Wagner, commanding officer of Dallas. “When we received the order to deliver these supplies, the men and women of this ship responded quickly at every turn.”

USS McFaul (DDG 74) arrived in Bat’umi Sunday delivering 155,000 pounds of aid to Georgia. USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) is scheduled to deploy for Georgia at the end of the month with more supplies. U.S. Navy C-9, C-40 and C-130 aircraft have flown tens of thousands of hygiene kits and more than 30 tons of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) into the country over the past week.

Dallas is on a regularly scheduled deployment to the Sixth Fleet area of responsibility. Previously, Dallas participated in Africa Partnership Station, an initiative to build partnerships and improve maritime safety and security in West and Central Africa.

Here is the Pentagon Channel report on the Dallas arrival.

Cutter Dallas Port Destination in Georgia Changes

The Associated Press is reporting that a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Tbilisi,  Georgia says that plans to have the Coast Guard Cutter Dallas dock in the Georgian port of Poti have been canceled.   The spokesman, Stephen Guice told the AP that the Dallas would dock in Batumi instead.

While Guice said that he did not have information on why the plan was changed, the port at Poti is reported to have suffered severe damage during the Russian occupation.  In addition to the damages, Russian forces are posted on the outskirts of the city and a U.S. ship docking there would probably be seen by the Russians as a threat.

The Dallas was scheduled to dock in Porti with its cargo of humanitarian aid on Wednesday morning.

Coast Guard Georgia Relief Video Report

A Pentagon Channel report on the Georgia relief efforts being carried out by the Coast Guard Cutter Dallas. Includes an interview with the Commanding Officer of the CGC Dallas (WHEC 716)

Coast Guard Cutter Dallas Leaves for Georgia With Aid

By Navy Lt. Cmdr Corey Barker, European Command public affairs

STUTTGART, Germany — Coast Guard Cutter Dallas (WHEC 716) departed Souda Bay, Crete today with 50 pallets of humanitarian relief supplies bound for Georgia.

The 378 ft long high endurance cutter is home ported in Charleston, SC and is currently operating with Sixth fleet based out of Naples, Italy.

“Naval surface vessels like Dallas give us the capability to provide larger amounts of relief supplies because they can carry more than airlifts and provide a platform for vertical lift capabilities,” Navy Lt. Brian Badura, spokesman.

Headquarters, U.S. European Command, based in Stuttgart, Germany, is coordinating sustained airlift and maritime support essential in getting humanitarian supplies and medical supplies to the citizens of Georgia.

The ship is scheduled to arrive in Georgia early next week.