US Coast Guard’s Role in the Blue Pacific on the Rise

USCGC Harriet Lane (WMEC-903) arrived at its new homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawai’i on December 13 following a 36-day transit from the U.S. East Coast. The medium endurance cutter, which entered service almost 40 years in the past, just lately accomplished a 15-month life extension program in Maryland. 

In line with the Coast Guard, whereas Harriet Lane will have interaction with a variety of “Indo-Pacific companions,” it can significantly deal with partaking with the states of Oceania. Earlier this 12 months Vice Admiral Andrew Tiongson, commander of the Coast Guard within the Pacific, informed USNI Information that he wished the cutter to be “aligned with what’s occurring within the Blue Pacific” and that its operations ought to “begin” there. 

The Coast Guard has taken on a distinguished position within the area as a part of the U.S. response to strategic competitors with the Individuals’s Republic of China. In contrast to different U.S. commitments to the area, which have fallen sufferer to political impasse in Washington, the Coast Guard has been capable of reply comparatively quickly to the evolving strategic panorama. 

In 2021, the Coast Guard commissioned three new quick response cutters in Guam. The 46m (154 ft) cutters, which changed three older 34m (110 ft) Island-class patrol boats, have shortly confirmed their price with long-duration deployments within the area. In recognition of the improved “expeditionary” capabilities supplied by the brand new cutters, the Coast Guard renamed its Guam outpost U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam in early 2021. 

Whereas quick response cutters are designed to function inside 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) of their homeport for not more than 5 days, U.S Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam has often pushed them past that, with one vessel endeavor a record-breaking 43-day, 8,000nm patrol in 2022. 

The Coast Guard has additionally deployed seagoing buoy tenders, quick response, and nationwide safety cutters primarily based in Hawai’i to the area. Whereas endurance isn’t a difficulty for the nationwide safety cutters, they’ve solely been capable of make irregular deployments to the area, largely because of demand for them in and round Asia. 

This has resulted in most U.S. patrols within the area being undertaken by the Coast Guard’s quick response cutters in addition to seagoing buoy tenders. Because of the comparatively brief endurance of those sorts, long-duration patrols are solely doable with the help of regional international locations that elect to supply refueling and resupply providers. When that help isn’t out there, both because of geography or international locations denying entry to the Coast Guard, it could possibly restrict the Coast Guard’s skill to function within the area. 

Compared, Harriet Lane and its Well-known-class sister ships are able to performing long-duration impartial deployments at ranges over 3,800 nautical miles (~7000 kilometers) for greater than two months. Harriet Lane can also be geared up with a flight deck and hangar, which permits it to embark both an MH-60J or an MH-65 helicopter, if the Coast Guard has the plane out there. This can be a very important functionality for Pacific deployments, as many regional governments lack specialty rotary-wing capabilities. 

An MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter rests on the deck of the Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane throughout a 71-day patrol in 2021 when the cutter was homeported in Portsmouth, Va. Credit score: U.S. Coast Guard.

The cutter’s measurement additionally has different advantages. With a crew of round 100 folks, it has extra palms out there to carry out the handbook labor related to humanitarian help and catastrophe reduction (HADR) duties. 

Whereas the deployment of Harriet Lane is a welcome addition to the U.S. Coast Guard presence within the Pacific, it’s removed from a decisive one. Whereas the cutter just lately accomplished a life extension program, it’s nonetheless greater than 30 years outdated, and the Congressional Analysis Service (CRS) has beforehand discovered that “habitability issues” are a “reality of life” aboard ships of the category. This displays a broader problem dealing with the Coast Guard which, within the face of price range cuts and lackluster recruiting numbers, has been compelled to cannibalize cutters to keep up essential capabilities. Whereas these cuts haven’t but impacted the service’s regional mission within the Pacific, it stays a definite chance going ahead.