6 armed boats
to aid Coast GuardA new security team
of 80 will add more
firepower next year
By late next year, the U.S. Coast Guard here will be staffed with a new highly trained law enforcement team equipped with six armed boats for homeland security missions, according to its Pacific region boss.
Vice Adm. Terry Cross, commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area, said yesterday that Hawaii's Maritime Safety and Security Team -- one of three that will be established next year -- will mean there will be at least 80 Coast Guard sailors added to its active-duty force here of 1,150. Its cadre of reservists will climb to about 184 from 150.
"These will be people highly trained in law enforcement procedures," said Cross, whose jurisdiction extends from the Rocky Mountains into the Pacific Basin -- encompassing more than 73 million square miles.
"They will be trained to board vessels and rappel out of Coast Guard helicopters. They will be equipped with six 25-foot-long, very fast and heavily armed boats. The teams will be very mobile. The boats can be towed by trailers or loaded into C-130 aircraft."
There are three teams already funded, working out of Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. "During the last Orange Alert," Cross said, "a team was moved from Los Angeles to Alaska."
One of the reasons Hawaii was chosen is because "it is a major port," Cross said. "It is critical to the economic well-being for the people and the state of Hawaii. It is also the home of the most important and largest naval installation this nation has."
The Coast Guard fleet in Hawaii now consists of two high-endurance cutters -- the Jarvis and the Rush -- three 110-foot patrol boats, one 87-foot patrol boat and two 225-foot buoy tenders, Cross said. One of the buoy tenders, the Walnut, was sent to Iraq last year along with a helicopter and crew from Barbers Point Coast Guard Air Station.
Besides maritime homeland security, Cross said his mission in the Pacific also includes maritime safety, maritime law enforcement, marine environmental protection, aids to navigation, polar ice operations and national defense.
Immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Coast Guard's homeland security mission went to more than 50 percent of its time and resources from less than 5 percent.
"It's now about 20 percent," Cross said.
But he noted that the quick rescue of a 56-year-old Hawaiian Airlines pilot with a few minor cuts and bruises after he crashed his home-built plane into the ocean Sunday about 25 miles southeast of Lihue was a benefit from the Coast Guard's ongoing homeland security mission.
"The helicopter just happened to be on a homeland security mission," Cross said, "and was able to divert to the swimmer in under 30 minutes. It would have been closer to an hour to get a crew to a helipad, warm up the engines and then try to find the pilot."
Over the past several years, the number of Coast Guard members has increased by nearly 12 percent to about 40,000 active-duty members.
The 14th District, which includes Hawaii and Guam, has the highest retention rate of first-term sailors; about 65 percent opt to remain in uniform after serving their initial four-year enlistment, Cross said.
"People here have useful work, and they feel welcomed by the local people," Cross added.
"Those are two important things in retaining people."