HONOLULU – The Coast Guard held a decommissioning ceremony for the Coast Guard Cutter Rush at Coast Guard Base Honolulu, Tuesday.
The ceremony honored 45 years of Rush’s service to the Coast Guard. Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray, Coast Guard Pacific Area commander, presided over the event. Since the cutter was launched in 1968, it has served the U.S. in a variety of roles including defense operations during the Vietnam War, counter narcotics patrols off Central and South America, fisheries enforcement throughout the Pacific, and search and rescue missions around the world.
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Rush line the deck during the beginning of its decommissioning ceremony at Base Honolulu, Feb. 3, 2015. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Melissa E. McKenzie)
Rush is the sixth high endurance cutter to be decommissioned, with six remaining in service on the West Coast. The Coast Guard Cutter Sherman will replace Rush in Honolulu and assume Rush’s responsibilities. These high-endurance cutters are being replaced by the more capable fleet of national security cutters, which perform critical homeland security, law enforcement and national defense missions around the world.
The Coast Guard is working with the State Department to transfer Rush to the Bangladesh Navy as part of a Foreign Military Sale through the Foreign Assistance Act.
Coast Guard Pacific Area is the Coast Guard’s regional command element and force provider for maritime safety, security, and stewardship in the Pacific. The unit’s Area of Responsibility encompasses six of the seven continents, 71 countries and more than 74 million square miles of ocean — from the U.S. to Asia, and from the Arctic to Antarctica.
Click the photo for more from the ceremony.
