Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathaniel Moger | Petty Officer 2nd Class David Tillman, coast guard, a boatswain's mate from Port...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is the oldest overseas naval station. It is also the only one in a country with which the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations. While Marines patrol the fence line separating Gitmo from the rest of Cuba, there are still miles of coastline exposed to the water.
Coast Guard port security units are responsible for that coastline.
On the morning of June 5, Port Security Unit 313, from Tacoma Wash., transferred authority over to PSU 307, from Clearwater, Fla., in a ceremony by the boathouse here.
Looking over the past six months, Coast Guard Cmdr. Jim Howatson, commanding officer of PSU 313, saw the deployment as an opportunity to put all of 313's skills to the test.
"Our deployment has been excellent," said Howatson. "This was a great operational opportunity. The op tempo was continuously high, so everyone was constantly engaged."
Besides providing anti-terrorism and force protection for the waters surrounding the naval station and Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Howatson's unit faced new challenges for a PSU.
"The biggest thing for us this deployment was the incorporation of our shore side security into commissions support," said Howatson. "This meant a larger detachment and bringing our security force from home."
Following a turnover period between Howatson and Coast Guard Cmdr. Robert Grassino, PSU 307 commanding officer, PSU 307 has completely taken over all of PSU 313's responsibilities.
"We went through a right-seat, left-seat period," said Howatson. "Cmdr. Grassino was my co-pilot, until we switched seats and I was his co-pilot. Now he's steering the whole thing."
Grassino views success not only in flawless operations while in theater, but also by passing down his lessons learned to his replacements, creating a sustainable rotation between the Coast Guard's eight PSUs.
"If the next PSU can improve on us because we've left them in good shape, then we've done our job," said Grassino.
Currently PSU 307 conducts many secondary missions, including vessel escort, search and rescue missions, random anti-terrorism measure, and insertion and extraction missions with the Marines in areas which are more accessible by boat than by land vehicles. To fulfill these missions, PSU 307 has brought cutting edge equipment.
"We've got the transportable port security boat from Boston Whaler out there," said Grassino. "It's got everything you need: crew-served weapons, state-of-the-art electronics, a complete comms suite. Of coure, we've also got the best trained crews in the world."
These crews draw experience from their work back home in Florida.
"We're a reserve unit and the majority of our people are police officers and firefighters," said Grassino. "This mission is the nexus of their civilian and Coast Guard jobs. They're perfectly suited for this. And the ones who aren't policemen or firefighters are mature, successful professionals with top notch educations."
Fortunately for the Coast Guardsmen in PSU 307, Grassino doesn't look at the next six months as all work and no play.
"I've asked all my folks to turn in a professional goal, a personal goal and a fitness goal," said Grassino. "Hopefully all my guys will leave in better shape and take advantage of everything that Gitmo offers, from education, to scuba diving to the classes offered at the gym."
http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 06.27.2008 09:05 |
| Story ID: | 20905 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 303 |
| Downloads: | 205 |
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