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U.S. COAST GUARD |
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U.S. Canada will share coastal law enforcement operations at Vancouver Olympicsposted 02/04/2010
The Shiprider program will permit the U.S. and Canada to conduct cross-border integrated law enforcement operations in shared waterways during the Olympics. Marine law enforcement vessels will be jointly crewed by specially trained and designated U.S. and Canadian law enforcement officers authorized to enforce the law on both sides of the international maritime boundary, while respecting the sovereignty of both nations. "The United States and Canada are committed to securing our shared waterways against threats on both sides of the border," said Secretary Napolitano. "This pilot project will enhance coordination and information-sharing between our two countries and strengthen our joint efforts to protect our citizens and visitors from around the world during the 2010 Winter Games." Officers from U.S. and Canadian law enforcement agencies are required to undergo extensive training to participate in the Shiprider program. This training included completion of classroom seminars, case study scenarios, vessel training and familiarization with the criminal laws of both U.S. and Canadian respective domestic enforcement authorities and on-water operational procedures. From Oct. 19-23, 2009, the Coast Guard and the RCMP conducted real-life scenario training as part of the Pegasus Guardian 3/Spartan Rings large-scale security exercise in preparation for the Vancouver Olympics. The training closely followed the Shiprider model that was piloted on shared waters during 2005 and 2007. "The Olympic Shiprider program will build upon the success of the previous Shiprider program operations and will be deployed during the 2010 Games to complement domestic security operations," said Lt. Joshua Sagers, from the 13th Coast Guard District. The Olympic Shiprider program along with other major border incidents will be coordinated and monitored out of the recently established Border Integrity Joint Operations Center in Surrey, British Columbia. The operations center allows the Coast Guard and RCMP to utilize the latest technology to coordinate joint operations between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement partners to secure the border. "The operations centre will maintain the integrity of the Canada-U.S. border, whether land, air or marine, and also increase officer safety during operations," says RCMP Superintendent Tom Jones, Officer in Charge of the Federal Border Integrity Program in British Columbia. "The operations centre is now fully operational and will remain so following the conclusion of the Games." For footage of the scenario training from the security exercise, please click here. Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard training together Strait of Juan de FucaU.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Pamela J. Manns
Canadian Coast Guard crew members from the buoy tender Provo Wallis, homeported in Victoria, British Columbia, tend the line on a buoy that is being placed in the water, Aug. 25, 2009 as part of the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum Exercise. | |
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posted 08/26/2009 The crew and cutter arrived in Port Angeles Sunday, and are part of the 2009 Pacific Unity exercise. The crew joins the other North Pacific Coast Guard Forum partner nations, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. Pacific Unity is about fostering good relationships with the nations that share the Pacific Ocean. The Provo Wallis worked with the Henry Blake, and shared not only ideas on how to maintain and service buoys and navigational aids but also swapped crews. Each buoy tender took turns pulling and placing the other nation’s buoys in the water. “This is the first time that I have seen an exchange like this for operations,” said 2nd Officer Jim Garrett, the acting executive officer in charge of the Provo Wallis and a Salt Spring Island, Canada native. The crews used the cranes on their respective decks to lift the six-ton buoys from their boats and set them in the water. The buoys are held in place by a more than three-ton concrete or steel anchor, known as the rock, attached to the buoy with a thick chain. Once the buoy is set in the water and separated from its connection point on the crane, the rock is then lifted by the crane and placed in the water. After both the buoy and rock are in the water, the chain is released from its shackles on deck with a sledgehammer. The weight of the buoy and rock force the freed chain screaming across the deck into the brackish water, allowing the rock to fall and the buoy to set. Buoys are brought on deck through a reverse process and are tended by line handlers to ensure the crew has positive control of the wet buoy at all times. Cross training with the U.S. Coast Guard is important, said Garrett. “Its good to get the different perspectives. Some times an outsider can see something that we are doing, and offer advise on how to do things better, and vise versa,” said Garrett. “If a disaster strikes, and we are unable to service the Canadian aids, the U.S. Coast Guard will have some familiarity with how our aids work, and would know what needed to be done,” said Garrett. The Provo Wallis is a red-hulled boat with the large maple leaf painted on the white super structure, and one of the largest ships in the West Coast fleet. At more than 210 feet in length the 24 person, mixed-gender crew is underway 11 months a year, servicing and working on the Canadian navigation aids on the British Columbia Coast, from Juneau, Alaska to Washington State. The Provo Wallis is out to sea for 28 days at a time, and while underway the crew services more than 200 buoys a year. They replace buoys that get knocked out off station, replace bulbs, change batteries, and conduct routine maintenance vital to protecting mariners and providing continuous accurate and navigation service. |
Seaman Mark Patrzalek, a San Diego native assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake, assists the Canadian Coast Guard with the setting of a buoy.
U.S. Coast Guard Seaman Mark Patrzalek assists the crew of the Provo Wallis with the placing of a buoy in the water.
Petty Officer 1st Class Jared Crotwell, a Cutoff, La., native and machinery technician stationed aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter I, acts as buoy-deck supervisor for the crew of the Provo Wallis,
Canadian Coast Guard buoy tender Provo Wallis, homeported in Victoria, British Columbia. |
Coast Guard hosts international exerciseposted 08/24/2009 This year's exercise is called Pacific Unity and participants will conduct a series of drills designed to test communications and enhance the interoperability of the crews. The North Pacifc Coast Guard Forum was initiated by the Japan Coast Guard in 2000, and is a voluntary, non-treaty based organization of Coast Guard or Coast Guard-like agencies from: Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. "Pacific Unity is robust," said Capt. Greg Sundgaard, head of the combined operations working group. "We will be conducting drills in areas of common interest for Forum partners, such as, search and rescue, aids to navigation, and port state control." Crews will be adapting to dynamic scenarios that change based on information provided by the staff managing the underway portion of Pacific Unity. This is the first time the Coast Guard has ever hosted a full-scale North Pacific Coast Guard Forum exercise in U.S. waters. It is also the first visit of a Russian Border Guard vessel to the lower 48 states and the first time Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard buoy tenders will set each other's coastal buoys on the West Coast. "Our countries each recognize that the Pacific Ocean is a big backyard that none of us can keep watch on alone. We need each other to help combat the types of common threats we face on the high seas," said Sundgaard. |
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