Welcome Aboard The CGC Jarvis Special Feature The following feature article written by PA1 Amy Thomas concludes our photo essay for the Cutter Jarvis for now. All photos are credited: U.S. Coast Guard photograph by PA1 Amy Thomas.

The Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis, homeported in Honolulu, HI.

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Asian Engagement
Story and photos by PA1 Amy Thomas, Pacific Area Public Affairs

Just after 10 a.m. on May 23, a 25-piece band lined up on a pier at the Japan Coast Guard's (JCG) Maritime Disaster Prevention Complex in Yokohoma, a city about 40 miles south of Tokyo.  In the distance, following behind a tug and barge, the red and blue racing stripe on the bow of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis was vaguely visible.

A trumpet player with the Japan Coast Guard Band welcomes the CGC Jarvis with a rendition of Semper Paratus as the cutter pulls into its berth at the JCG Maritime Disaster Prevention Complex here.

Jarvis made its way to the pier, and the band members raised their instruments and struck up a rendition of "Semper Paratus."  Next to the band, JCG officers waited in formation to greet Jarvis and its crew.

Jarvis approached the pier and moments later a deckhand from the 378-foot Honolulu-based cutter tossed a heaving line to an awaiting JCG line handler, signifying the start of Jarvis' month-long mission to raise the interaction among the world's coast guards to a new level.

"Partnership is the key to making good things happen," said Capt. Michael Blair, commanding officer of the Coast Guard's Far East Activities.  "Throughout the world, the U.S. is trying to build better relationships, better understandings with other countries."

During a meeting of the North Pacific Heads of Coast Guards (NPHCG) in Canada last fall, Korea Coast Guard Commissioner Lee Seung Jae suggested to U.S. Coast Guard commandant Adm. Thomas Collins that Collins send a cutter to Asia - initially just South Korea, but Japan was quickly added to the itinerary - to give the crews the opportunity to get some hands on operational engagement with each other.
 
"This exchange just moves us closer to being able to cooperatively respond to any [situation]," said Capt. Michael Jett, Jarvis' commanding officer.  "Also, it puts a name on the other end of the phone line when we need cooperation for pressing maritime issues."

The NPHCG is an information-sharing network established by the United States, Japan, South Korea, People's Republic of China, and Russia coast guard services that meets regularly to discuss, among other topics, ways to improve the enforcement of international fisheries laws and the prevention of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing activity along the Pacific Ocean's Exclusive Economic Zones.  There is keen focus on the EEZ of these countries and the prevention of illegal fishing.
 

The USCGC Jarvis sits in the background as Japan Coast Guard demonstrates some of its capabilities.

"There are limited [fish] resources...that need to be protected," Jett said.  "We hope to send the message that proper management and conservation will be to everyone's long-term benefit." 

The week in Yokohama was a busy one for both the U.S. and Japan coast guards.  Using the 3,500-ton JCG patrol vessel PL31 Izu as a platform, boarding teams from each service spent a day demonstrating their procedures for taking control of the crew on a hostile vessel, and JCG showed off their small boat maneuvering skills.
 
Jarvis also participated in JCG's annual Sea Review and Comprehensive Drill, the rough equivalent of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Week.  This three-day event was JCG's chance to show Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation the capabilities of their crews and surface and air assets.

CGC Jarvis boarding team members Petty Officer 2nd Class Morrow (left) Petty Officer 2nd Class Doelistch, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Bruce, search the Japan Coast Guard ship PL31 IZU for signs of any suspicious crewmembers or contraband during an exercise and demonstration for dozens of spectators and Japanese media.

 
"Sea Review is a strong message by Japan Coast Guard of their many capabilities, strengths, number of assets, and the fact that they're working with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force," said Blair.  "Other nations seeing these events would be impressed by their capabilities."

Hundreds of spectators lining the rails of the reviewing vessels watched as fire-fighting boats, spouting red, yellow, blue and green water from fire monitors, kicked off the start of the Sea Review.   Following this display, JCG performed elaborate formation flights with fixed wing and rotor aircraft, rescue drills and multiple law enforcement takedown maneuvers. 

Jett said that because JCG deals with encroachment issues everyday, the U.S. Coast Guard has much to learn from JCG's highly developed multi-unit tactics to stop suspicious vessels, tactics that could be used to stop a U.S.S. Cole-type attack.
"While we could teach them a few things, we probably have more to learn from them," he said, adding that JCG's individual professional skills, such as rescue diving, also warrant a closer look.

Jett said he was most impressed by the newness and quality of JCG's technology.  Their state-of-the-art ships and small boats are equipped to handle grand-scale disasters and to fight fires both in and out of the port.  He also said JCG's ability to tow floundering merchant vessels could save millions of dollars in clean up costs and the associated costs to the environment.

"Deepwater is clearly needed soon," he said, referring to the U.S. Coast Guard's long term project to replace its aging cutters with a fleet of new, highly-advanced ships.

The U.S. Coast Guard's presence in Japan first appeared in 1947 when Capt. Frank Meals worked with General Douglas MacArthur to establish the Japan Maritime Safety Agency that eventually evolved into Japan Coast Guard.  Following that, in 1952, the Coast Guard's Far East Section (now Far East Activities) opened a long-range aid to navigation station opened at Yokota Air Base.  Although it worked with the Japanese government to develop a coast guard modeled after the United States', Blair agrees with Jett that there is much to be learned from JCG.

"We share information and officers, and are continually improving," Blair said.  "Japan is one of our strongest allies and we are very optimistic about the future."

Deckforce members aboard the USCGC Jarvis put lines from Korea Coast Guard ship 3005 on Jarvis' bollards. KCG 3005 spent a few days moored to the Jarvis so the two coast guards could work closely together demonstrating drills and excercises.

Its visit to Japan over, Jarvis headed west toward South Korea for the second leg of the journey.  The cutter arrived in the Port of Incheon, a city about 20 miles east of Seoul, June 3, once again to the sounds of military marches, this time played by the Korea Coast Guard band.
 
The Maritime Safety Division of the Korean National Maritime Police Agency was founded in 1953.  The agency picked up steam about 15 years ago and is now known as Korea Coast Guard.  KCG gradually added missions such as search and rescue, fisheries and pollution control.  Its transition from police agency to multi-faceted maritime service will be complete with the construction of new headquarters in Incheon this year.

"Korea Coast Guard is such a professional organization," said Cmdr. Todd Gatlin, the U.S. Coast Guard Liaison Officer for Jarvis' visit to Incheon.  "They had set very high standards and didn't want to fall below those standards.  They did the best job they could to meet those expectations."
 
Gatlin reported to Yongsan Army Garrison in 2003 to work with the U.S. Navy and Korean Navy on harbor defense and port security.  He said that before he arrived no one had approached the KCG about collaborating.  When Commissioner Lee broached the idea of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter visit to Asia at the NPHCG meeting last year, Gatlin stepped up to the plate.

A Korea Coast Guard member lies on the deck of the KCG ship 3005 during an exercise with the USCGC Jarvis. The Jarvis spent the past week here as part of a bilateral agreement between the United States and the Republic of Korea

"Our coast guards are going to become a lot closer," Gatlin said.  "We haven't worked together much and there's a lot we can do." 

Although there wasn't time for as many exercises, as with JCG, there was still plenty of information and practices to exchange.  The three thousand-ton KCG 3005, a two-year-old high-tech patrol vessel, moored outboard of Jarvis to better accommodate the drills and demonstrations shared between the two crews.
     
The first day of exercises included a Jarvis' boarding team demonstrating its boarding and non-compliant vessel seizure tactics using 3005's wide passageways and modern bridge as a playing field.  Then, with Jarvis' crew lining Jarvis' flight deck rails, KCG surprised the onlookers with a thunderous display by neutralizing an explosive ordinance found hidden in 3005's hangar.
 
Jarvis also held a damage control "round robin" to show an audience of KCG members their methods of patching busted pipes and operating dewatering pumps.  Jarvis' deck force members entertained the crowd by testing their own adeptness on the proper way to don a survival suit, followed by a demonstration of several different techniques to draw attention should it be necessary to abandon ship.

 On the second day of planned exercises, the two ships got underway for a series of helicopter rescue hoist drills and law enforcement tactics demonstrations.  Jett said he was impressed by the KCG's alertness and responsiveness to encroachment dangers, and attributes KCG's efficiency largely to their geographical position in the world. 

 Jarvis' visit to Japan and Korea aimed to nurture existing relationships, as well as build new ones.  Jett said there is always someone trying to smuggle contraband, humans or weapons across national borders and seaports, and worldwide shipping brings increased security concerns and the potential for terrorist activity.  Although there are distinct differences among the coast guards, they share one basic desire: security.

 

Seaman Brent Willcutt demonstrates procedures for capturing an unauthorized intruder aboard CGC Jarvis for a group of Korea Coast Guard members here.

"This exchange opens communication and hopefully provides the first steps to stop illegal activity and ensure mutual protection from organizations that mean to cause harm," Jett said.
 
 Jarvis only had eight weeks to prepare for this trip.  Boatswain's mates and seaman had to prep and prime the ship for painting, food service specialists had to plan for several high-quality meals and VIP receptions, the navigators had to make sure they had all the correct charts and flags, and the engineers needed to overhaul the quarterdeck gear to make sure it was in perfect condition.
 
 Korean and Japanese translators were gathered from around the country, including two Korean-American U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets; two U.S. Army Specialists; one from the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area Command staff; and two from Far East Activities.  Research was needed to explore the cultural expectations of Korea and Japan, and drills needed rehearsing.  In addition, because of transfer season, Jarvis faced personnel shortages and relied on several crewmembers assigned temporarily to fill the gaps.
 
 "We would have loved more time, but that's the way it goes," said Jett.  "Jarvis' crew rallied hard and I feel met the challenge.  But then again, they are Jarvis."