In 2021 the unit, then formerly known as Sector Guam, commissioned three Sentinel class Fast Response Cutters (FRC) simultaneously alongside at Santa Rita, Guam.
The three FRCs replaced two smaller Island class patrol boats, USCGC Washington (WPB 1331) and USCGC Kiska (WPB 1336). The first Island class patrol boat arrived in the early 1990s. The arrival of the FRCs in Guam not only increased the number of hulls available for operations, but also their quality, range and endurance.
While both classes of vessel are designed for patrols lasting up to five days, FRCs operating out of Hawaii and Guam have regularly been able to exceed that limit by taking advantage of their larger size, better seakeeping performance and larger crews. This has enabled the Guam based FRCs to go much further, more often.
Whereas the two Island class patrol boats conducted sporadic patrols in the Exclusive Economic Zones of the Republic of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia during their time in Guam, FRCs have already visited nations as far afield as the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and Australia during lengthy expeditionary patrols.
Captain Nicholas Simmons the commander of U.S Coast Guard Forces Micronesia Sector Guam, who commanded USCGC Washington earlier in his career, told Naval News that the FRCs were “much more capable ships” than the cutters that preceded them which has enabled expeditionary patrols into places like Papua New Guinea and Australia.
“[The FRCs] longer legs, bigger crews, and more capable seakeeping [means that we] can go a lot further than we used to be able to go. It gives us the ability to stretch our legs and get into these expeditionary places like Papua New Guinea, Australia and Kiribati.”
Even with the larger cutters though, patrols within the primary Area of Operations (AOR), which stretches from Palau in the West to the Marshall Islands in the East are no mean feat. “Our established area of responsibility,” Capt. Simmons explained, is around 3 million square kilometres or 1.9 million square miles and includes the entirety of Palau, the FSM and RMI something which he admitted is “kinda hard to put into context”.
“It’s [an area] two thirds the size of the continental United States that we patrol with three ships and 300 people,” he said.
Three Ships Amidst Myriad Priorities
As of 2024 the Coast Guard has three FRCs based in Guam, all of which were commissioned simultaneously back in 2021: USCGC Myrtle Hazard (WPC-1139), USCGC Oliver Henry (WPC-1140) and USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC-1143). While it’s more vessels than Guam had previously, the number of missions for them has only grown.
Speaking at their commissioning ceremony the then Coast Guard Commandant, Adm.Karl Schultz, said that they were “so capable” that they were bringing expeditionary capability to a whole new region. “These FRCs are so capable that we bring expeditionary capability to the region that we haven’t had before,” Schultz said.
While the capability to conduct expeditionary patrols is critically important, Capt Simmons emphasised that, at the end of day, U.S Coast Guard Forces Micronesia Sector Guam’s first priority is search and rescue (SAR).
“We have a big AOR and we have a limited number of ships to operate in the AOR. The Commandant has said it again and again, our no-fail mission is SAR. We focus first on our ability to deliver a search and rescue response across the island and across the region” he said.
This SAR responsibility includes not just Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) but also everything beyond Palau and FSM’s territorial waters. “We have sort of an unusual relationship in the [Compact of Free Association (COFA)] where we own search and rescue coordination outside 12 nautical miles from the baseline of those countries,” he explained.
While U.S Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 (HSC-25), based at Andersen Air Force Base, or HC-130Js from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Hawai’i often respond first to SAR taskings, the FRCs are still critical assets that have to be available and often serve as the continuity and on scene commander for long SAR cases or those with multiple assets involved.
“Because the AOR is so vast, our typical first response is almost always going to be an aircraft. A ship goes 20 knots at a reasonable speed to get to a place and we’re going 1000 miles one direction you can get there with a plane a lot faster. So even if it takes a day to find one [aircraft], they’re still going to beat the ship there,”
Generally speaking, Capt Simmons said, of U.S Coast Guard Forces Micronesia Sector Guam’s three FRCs, one is alongside conducting maintenance, one is underway within the AOR, and one is preparing for or engaged in an expeditionary deployment.
Expeditionary Deployments a Game Changer
During a visit to Australia in February, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda L Fagan told Naval News that the demand signal from countries in Oceania for U.S Coast Guard deployments and training was “quite loud”.
“I think a recurring theme on this trip and other trips that I’ve made into the region is interest and desire for more engagement and partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard,” she said “the demand signal is quite loud for it and we look forward to continuing it.”
The Coast Guard, she said, is “particularly well suited” for training countries on everything ranging from law enforcement, through to fisheries boardings and outboard engine repair.
“We [are] in a number of different countries as we engage with partners and allies to create opportunities for training teams to come and teach everything from law enforcement fisheries boardings to outboard engine repair,” she said.
One of those partnerships is with Australia and the long-running Pacific Maritime Security Program (PMSP). Through the PMSP, Australia is providing 22 Guardian class patrol boats to 16 Pacific countries, as well as training, maintenance and operational support. In 2022 the Coast Guard began formally cooperating with the program, offering training relating to the operation and missions of the Guardian class patrol boats to a variety of Pacific nations, often facilitated through port visits and joint patrols as part of Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) operations.
A notable achievement of the Guam based FRCs has been making American ships a regular participant in the FFAs four annual operations, which stretch over millions of square kilometres. While U.S. Coast Guard aircraft and other larger ships have participated in the past, the Guam-based FRCs are routinely involved and the FFA operations are considered in the U.S. Coast Guard’s on-going patrol planning process.
Generally, American engagement with Oceania has benefited greatly from the presence of the U.S Coast Guard because it is responsive to Pacific security concerns. For Pacific countries, Climate Change and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing are generally larger security concerns than “traditional” security threats. As a result, the skill set and capabilities provided by the Coast Guard are often more relevant for Pacific countries than those offered by the U.S Navy (USN) or other branches of the Department of Defense.
Sustaining the Momentum in Guam
While U.S Coast Guard Forces Micronesia Sector Guam has had a good few years, there are challenges on the horizon around sustaining the effort, which is something that Capt Simmons acknowledges.
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), FRCs need to undergo out-of-water maintenance around every four years, meaning that as of next year all three FRCS will be up for time in drydock. The problem is that there is no dry dock on Guam. In 2023, Typhoon Mawar sunk and destroyed the only small dry dock that was there, which while not formally scheduled to maintain the FRCs could have undertaken the work.
“I think there are challenges associated with continuing at the pace we’re doing with the FRC in large part because, you know, post Typhoon Mawar, we lost some capability for maintenance here on the island,” Capt Simmons explained.
In a statement U.S Coast Guard District 14, which sits above U.S Coast Guard Forces Micronesia Guam, told Naval News that the Guam based cutters will undertake the work in Hawai’i beginning in summer this year.
“Ideally, we will dry dock four of the six District 14 (Hawai’i/Guam) FRCs between October 2023 and the end of 2024. The schedule is designed to only have one from each location in dry dock at a time with minimal overlap between Hawai’i and Guam boats being laid up simultaneously,” a spokesperson said.
The first of the Guam based cutters to enter dry dock will be USCGC Myrtle Hazard which is scheduled to travel to Hawai’i this summer where it will undergo out of water maintenance. The other two vessels will “ideally” cycle through Hawai’i by the end of 2024 for maintenance periods of about 15 weeks.
