Heave to and prepare to be boarded

Courtesy Photo | A boarding team from the Trinidad and Tobago Ship Gaspar Grande and an observing boarding officer from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Diligence conduct a boarding on FBI small boats role playing as possible smugglers as part of the fleet track of Exercise Tradewinds 2011, March 15. Tradewinds is an annual exercise composed of more than 20 nations designed to enhance stability and security in the Caribbean. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class George Degener)  

ST. JOHN'S, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

03.15.2011

Courtesy Story

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South

SAINT JOHN'S, Antigua and Barbuda - The second day of Exercise Tradewinds 2011’s fleet track field training exercise began on the morning of March 15.

The scenario in place had three vessels, the Barbados Coast Guard Ship Trident, the Trinidad and Tobago Ship Gaspar Grande and the Dominican Republic Coast Guard Ship Canopus patrolling just off the Coast of Saint John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

Once in their designated positions, the lookouts onboard each ship were instructed to keep a sharp eye out for any suspect vessels. The designated “illicit traffickers,” role played by FBI small boats, we reportedly in the area and if discovered, the ships were supposed to launch a boarding team and observer from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Diligence.

Onboard the Gaspar Grande, the lookout spotted the target of interest at about 11 a.m., and immediately alerted the ship’s captain. The maritime law enforcement officers onboard sprang into action, putting on the proper equipment and checking each other to ensure the boarding team’s safety.

The rest of the ship’s crew started making preparations to lower the small boat. The ratchet straps holding the boat down were removes and each tending line was held before the boarding team climbed into the boat. Radio communications frequencies were confirmed and an up to date position of the target vessels was passed to the boat crew.

Once life jackets and helmets were donned, the boarding team and Ens. James Heuser, a boarding officer from Diligence, were hoisted into the air and swung out over the water. As soon as the boat hit the water, the coxswain started the engines and the Gaspar Grande’s deck crew tossed the lines connecting the two boats into the air. Boat crewmembers secured each line and the roar of the engines filled the air as the boarding team shot across the water toward their targets.

This evolution was the first time that information and tactics shared by personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard and the other involved nations would actually be used in a simulated boarding. After coming alongside the target vessel, boarding team members scrambled onboard and asked, “without reach for or touching, do you have any weapons” and conducted an Initial Safety Inspection, a quick search of the vessel that ensures the safety of both the boarding team and the vessel’s crew.

“They did very well out there,” said Heuser. “They took the things we talked about during our discussions on land and actually used those procedures in the field.”

Once their boarding was complete and all objectives had been met, Gaspar Grande’s law enforcement officers returned to the ship and Heuser met with them and the command for a de-brief and critique.

“That was an extremely well done job,” he told the team. “Everything followed proper procedures and had this been an actual field operation, you would have everything needed to detain the suspects and build a strong case against them.”

Tradewinds is a joint-combined, interagency exercise and will involve U.S. personnel from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, Joint-interagency Task Force-South, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with forces from: Antigua-Barbuda (host nation), Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

• Date Taken: 03.15.2011
• Date Posted: 03.16.2011 18:47
• Story ID: 67194
• Location: ST. JOHN'S, AG