KEY WEST, Fla. – The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk is scheduled to return to its homeport of Key West at 1 p.m. Monday following the completion of a 107-day deployment to West Africa.
The crew of the Mohawk deployed to the West Coast of Africa to work with partner nations building the capacities and capabilities necessary to make their borders stronger and less porous.
The Mohawk completed an extensive three-and-a-half-month patrol transiting more than 27,000 nautical miles, conducting extensive joint maritime training and operations with law enforcement detachments and naval forces of Morocco, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal. The Mohawk conducted at-sea boardings of several suspect vessels and assisted in the seizure of illegal drugs.
“We demonstrated tactics, techniques and procedures that partner nations can employ using their own resources to strengthen their borders and improve their maritime domain awareness,” said Cmdr. Robert Hendrickson, Mohawk’s commanding officer.
The crew also volunteered more than 400 hours of community service. They refurbished school classrooms and equipment in Casablanca, Morocco, and built a cookhouse at an orphanage in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
“The crew showed the good will of the United States in this strategically important part of the world through their professional and personal interaction with their counterparts and also in the communities with our community relations projects,” said Hendrickson. “I could not be more proud of their professionalism, initiative and adaptability.”
As a multi-mission, 270-foot medium-endurance cutter, the Mohawk’s crew conducts a wide range of Coast Guard missions, including search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, homeland and coastal security, and environmental and natural resources protection.
