Photo By Pvt. Kourtney Grimes | Coast Guardsmen with PSU 312 respond to an incoming call over the radio while on the...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba -The high-risk operations here at Joint Task Force Guantanamo are a no-fail mission, but the job
doesn’t lie solely in the camps or the guard towers. Every day,
Coast Guardsmen of JTF’s Maritime Security Detachment do their part in the joint mission out on the waters and along the coastlines surrounding Guantanamo Bay.
As the operations officer of Port Security Unit 312, the unit that fills the JTF’s MARSECDET, Coast Guard Lt. Michael Henson knows the down and dirty of the high expectations of the Coast Guardsmen that have taken on this arduous mission.
“We have two ready-boats that are always able to respond to any threats off shore,” said Henson. “We are able to respond to any type of threat that may come offshore and any type of vessel
encroaching onto the camps. We will actually intercept and escort them out to a safe boundary area. We are able to respond to any type of search and rescue that happens not only offshore but
also inside the bay where we’ll assist the Navy harbor patrol units.”
While the mission is demanding, so is the schedule. The Coast Guardsmen work 12-hour shifts to have the bay covered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year.
A Coast Guardsmen that knows the difficulty of the job and the timeline in which it has to be accomplished is Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis Clinton.
“We have a rotation with two different crews,” said Clinton. “We go out; we do active patrols of the bay and then offshore for a certain amount of miles, patrol along the camps and make sure everything’s fine and that we don’t have any contacts or whatever the case may be.”
Alongside these tasks, the MARSECDET also responds to search and rescue calls.
“We’re also secondary SAR,” said Clinton. “The Navy will be called first, but if we need to assist they’ll call us, and then we’ll do what we need to.”
Being able to keep up the intense pace of this high visibility task doesn’t come without training. The MARSECDET trains monthly to stay vigilant, be prepared and ensure good working relations with the other services they encounter during missions.
“We do interop[eration]s training, both with the Army and the Marine Corps,” said Henson. “With the Army, we’ll work with them on their defensive fighting posts. We also do joint training
with the Marine Corps for MEDEVACs.
They’re constantly out here training in and around the wire so any type of injury that happens out there we are able to respond and get that Marine back over here on this side to the hospital. We
have a great working relationship with the Marine Corps.”
Although the mission is difficult and fast paced at times, while patrolling the bay, Coast Guardsmen of the MARSECDET often find themselves enjoying the beautiful oceanic scenes and sea life that belongs on a postcard and take advantage of the view GTMO has to offer.
“It’s always cool hanging out on the blue waters offshore,” said Clinton. “There’s always some kind of dolphin or
whale sharks.”
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2014 09:12 |
| Story ID: | 137998 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 948 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Port Security Unit 312: Joint Task Force Guardsmen uphold no-fail maritime mission upon GTMO's waters, by PV2 Kourtney Grimes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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