ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Alameda-based Coast Guard Cutter BOUTWELL will depart Monday to participate in a deployment as part of the USS BOXER Expeditionary Strike Group ESG. BOUTWELL’s deployment will take six months to cover a route circumnavigating the globe.
BOUTWELL’s deployment represents the U.S. Coast Guard’s ongoing operational commitment to the Department of Defense and applies the Coast Guard stratgeic imperatives of Maritime Safety, Security and Stewardship in reaching out to foreign Coast Guards and Navies around the world. Additionally, this deployment supports the U.S. cooperative maritime strategy which integrates the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps’ sea power with the combined elements of national power: diplomacy, information, economy and military.
The 378-foot high endurance cutter is scheduled to conduct cooperative training engagements and professional exchanges with maritime agencies from several countries in the Western Pacific. The 179-member crew of BOUTWELL will provide training in areas such as shipboard damage control, search and rescue case planning and maritime law enforcement.
While the Coast Guard is most typically known for performing its suite of maritime safety, security and stewardship missions close to home, the service is also called upon to support Department of Defense missions far from U.S. shores. In earlier years, U.S. Coast Guard cutters on similar deployments have guarded Northern Arabian Gulf oil platforms in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, provided first aid response to Indonesian tsunami victims, and provided humanitarian aid to the nation of Georgia. During a 2006 deployment, Coast Guard Cutter MUNRO worked with Navy counterparts to interdict pirates off the Horn of Africa, which given recent world events, is a mission that BOUTWELL is prepared to encounter.
In addition to exciting and demanding operational missions, the crew of BOUTWELL looks forward to an opportunity rarely afforded to most mariners: making a trip completely around the world, or “entering the Order of Magellan.”
