SEATTLE — Family, friends and shipmates welcome the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy home from a more than 250-day deployment on Feb. 5, 2012. Healy completed its science missions in 2011, before conducting the escort of the tanker vessel Renda on a mission to deliver fuel and prevent a potential energy crisis in Nome, Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Eric J. Chandler.

Seattle - Capt. Beverly A. Havlik, Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, speaks to members of the press, after she and her crew return home from a more than 250 day deployment on Feb. 5, 2012. Healy completed its normal science missions in 2011, before conducting the escort of the tanker vessel Renda on a mission to deliver fuel and prevent a potential energy crisis in Nome, Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Eric J. Chandler.

SEATTLE — Coast Guard Cutter Healy, the nation’s largest and only operational Polar ice breaker moored at Coast Guard Base Seattle, Sunday, at 9 a.m., after completing a 254-day deployment.

The Healy completed four Arctic science missions during the 2011 field season, as well as an 800-mile Bering Sea ice-escort of the Russian-flagged tanker vessel Renda to Nome, Alaska for a winter fuel delivery by sea.

Healy embarked on the first-ever domestic icebreaking operation in Alaska. Icebreaking through 800 miles of Bering Sea ice, Healy escorted the Renda to and from Nome, where it safety offloaded 1.3 million gallons of fuel. Without this delivery, the town of Nome would have run out of its winter fuel reserves by March.

For the complete story on the missions conducted by Healy in 2011 and 2012, please click here.

For additional information contact the 13th Coast Guard District Public Affairs office at (206) 220-7237.

ASTORIA, Ore. — A U.S. Coast Guard Adanced Helicopter Rescue School (AHRS) student is lowered from a Royal Canadian Air Force CH-149 Cormorant rescue helicopter near Cape Disappointment, Wash., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012.

U.S. Coast Guard pilots from Air Station Astoria at Sector Columbia River, Ore., flew MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and Royal Canadian Air Force pilots from the 442nd Squadron out of Comox, B.C., flew a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter in support of the AHRS class for the week of Jan. 23 - 27, 2012.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nate Littlejohn

ASTORIA, Ore. — U.S. Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas Beaudry (right), lead instructor of the Advanced Helicopter Rescue School (AHRS) in Astoria, gives classroom training to a unique group of students Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012.

The U.S. Coast Guard AHRS class for the week of Jan. 23 - 27, 2012 included students from the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Santa Barbara County, Calif., Fire Department and the Royal Canadian Air Force 442nd Squadron out of Comox, B.C.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nate Littlejohn

ASTORIA, Ore. — U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Helicopter Rescue School (AHRS) students pose for a class photo on Waikiki Beach near Cape Disappointment, Wash., Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 while a Royal Canadian Air Force CH-149 Cormorant rescue helicopter hovers in the background.

The U.S. Coast Guard AHRS class for the week of Jan. 23 - 27, 2012 included students from the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Santa Barbara County, Calif., Fire Department and the Royal Canadian Air Force 442nd Squadron out of Comox, B.C.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nate Littlejohn

ASTORIA, Ore. — Senior Chief Petty Officer Thomas Beaudry narrates footage taken from a unique week of joint agency Advanced Helicopter Rescue School (AHRS) at Cape Disappointment, Wash., for the week of Jan. 23 - 27, 2012.

The unique U.S. Coast Guard AHRS class included students from the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Santa Barbara County, Calif., Fire Department and the Royal Canadian Air Force 442nd Squadron out of Comox, B.C.

U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nate Littlejohn

ASTORIA, Ore. — The U.S. Coast Guard Advanced Helicopter Rescue School (AHRS) in Astoria hosted the first joint agency class of its kind Jan. 23-27, strengthening partnerships and sharing knowledge with agencies with similar search and rescue missions on the west coast of North America. 

U.S. Coast Guard AHRS normally trains U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue personnel. This unique class included civilian rescue air crewmembers from the Los Angeles City Fire Department and Santa Barbara County, Calif., Fire Department as well as military Search and Rescue Technicians from the Royal Canadian Air Force 442nd Squadron out of Comox, B.C.

U.S. Coast Guard instructors provided pilots and crews with training in heavy weather and heavy surf conditions.

The entrance to the Columbia River provides the surf, cliffs, caves and weather ideal for training air rescue personnel to perform in extreme conditions.

For more information, please contact Petty Officer Nate Littlejohn at (503) 861-6132.

 
(Video Link)

SEATTLE - Volunteers stuff stockings during the annual U.S. Coast Guard Family & Friends Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children event. The event provides and delivers handmade holiday stockings filled with new gifts and useful essentials to Puget Sound Area homeless children, with this year's goal of 3,500 stockings. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

SEATTLE — Coast Guard Adm. Keith Taylor, District 13 Commander, and Pearl Grantham, volunteer stocking stuffer and event organizer, pause for a photo at the annual U.S. Coast Guard Family & Friends Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children event. The event provides and delivers handmade holiday stockings filled with new gifts and useful essentials to Puget Sound Area homeless children, with this year's goal of 3,500 stockings. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

SEATTLE - Volunteers stuff stockings during the annual U.S. Coast Guard Family & Friends Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children event. The event provides and delivers handmade holiday stockings filled with new gifts and useful essentials to Puget Sound Area homeless children, with this year's goal of 3,500 stockings. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

SEATTLE — Volunteers flocked to Coast Guard Base Seattle to stuff stockings during the annual U.S. Coast Guard Family & Friends Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children event, that began at 10:00 a.m., Saturday.

Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children is an annual U.S. Coast Guard family and community friends effort to provide and deliver handmade holiday stockings filled with new gifts, useful essentials and cheer to homeless children, ages birth to 17-years, living in and out of shelters in the Puget Sound area. This years goal was set at 3,500 stockings.

Since 1996, Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children has been sewing, filling and delivering holiday stockings full of new small gifts and toys for homeless children in the Puget Sound area during the holidays.

Holiday Stockings was the brainchild of Ms. Jan Maxson, the wife of a member of the US Coast Guard. In 1994, Jan was moved to do something for the homeless children of New York during the holiday season, so she decided to provide them with handmade stockings filled with toys. That first year, a group of volunteers was able to donate 300 handmade stockings to children in shelters in Harlem, Lower Manhattan and Staten Island. In 1996, the Maxson family moved to Seattle and the Holiday Stockings project found a new home at the Coast Guard based in Seattle.

Today, the Holiday Stockings program is run by an all-volunteer Board of Directors that is comprised primarily wives of retired and active duty Coast Guard personal and friends. It is now called the Coast Guard Family and Friends Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children. Together, these women and over 600 volunteers have grown the organization into one that now serves nearly 3,400 homeless children living in 92 shelters including 700 homeless street youth per year. Over 25,000 stockings have been filled since 1996 and our service area runs from Everett to Tacoma and North Bend to Port Angeles.

Throughout the year, volunteers sew stockings for distribution to shelters in mid-December. Holiday Stockings provides each volunteer with a pattern and holiday fabric to ensure uniformity of shape and style. A simple stocking pattern is also available to volunteers wishing to use their own materials.

The Holiday Stockings organization depends upon the ongoing financial support of its donors to continue to bring magic, smiles, hope and joy to a homeless child during the Holiday season. For most of these children, one of our stockings is all they will receive for the holidays and our goal is to make it the very best gift possible.

For more information please go to the Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children website, here.

ASTORIA, Ore. - The 584-foot Motor Vessel Luminous Ace rests aground at Puget Island near Cathlamet, Wash., Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Astoria was diverted to the scene to provide an initial search for signs of pollution or damage to the vessel. Coast Guard photo by USCG Sector Columbia River.

ASTORIA, Ore. - The 584-foot Motor Vessel Luminous Ace rests aground at Puget Island near Cathlamet, Wash., Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Astoria was diverted to the scene to provide an initial search for signs of pollution or damage to the vessel. Coast Guard photo by USCG Sector Columbia River.

ASTORIA, Ore. - The 584-foot Motor Vessel Luminous Ace rests aground at Puget Island near Cathlamet, Wash., Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Astoria was diverted to the scene to provide an initial search for signs of pollution or damage to the vessel. Coast Guard photo by USCG Sector Columbia River.

Click here for a link to the news release.

For Additional information contact the District 13 Public Affairs office at (206) 220-7237.

LA PUSH, Wash. — 13th Coast Guard District units and an Army Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord work together to remove an 11,800 pound navigation buoy from a beach near the Quillayute River mouth in La Push, Monday. The buoy washed ashore on the beach after it broke free from its mooring during a winter storm in 2010. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan W. Bradshaw.

LA PUSH, Wash. — (L to R) Doug Cameron, 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation Hardware Manager, works with an Army crewman to finish rigging a buoy, on Monday, Aug. 29, 2011, that washed up on the beach in La Push during a winter storm. Members from the 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation Hardware division, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Fir, based in Astoria, Ore., a CH-47 Chinook aircrew from the U.S. Army Reserves' Bravo Company 214th General Support Aviation Battalion, U.S. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, Wash., and members from the Quileute Tribe worked together to remove the buoy. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zac Crawford.

LA PUSH, Wash. — A CH-47 Chinook helicopter prepares to lift a buoy from the beach to a short distance off-shore from La Push, Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. Members from the 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation Hardware division, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Fir, based in Astoria, Ore., an aircrew from the U.S. Army Reserves' Bravo Company 214th General Support Aviation Battalion, U.S. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, Wash., and members from the Quileute Tribe worked together to remove the buoy that washed up on shore in the winter of 2010. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zac Crawford.

LA PUSH, Wash. — A CH-47 Chinook helicopter lifts a buoy from the beach to a short distance off-shore in La Push, Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. Members from the 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation Hardware division, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Fir, based in Astoria, Ore., an aircrew from the U.S. Army Reserves' Bravo Company 214th General Support Aviation Battalion, U.S. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, Wash., and members from the Quileute Tribe worked together to remove the buoy that washed up on shore in the winter of 2010. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zac Crawford.

LA PUSH, Wash. — Doug Cameron, 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation Hardware manager, waits for a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to land on the beach in La Push, Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. Members from the Hardware division, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Fir, based in Astoria, Ore., an aircrew from the U.S. Army Reserves' Bravo Company 214th General Support Aviation Battalion, U.S. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, Wash., and members from the Quileute Tribe worked together to remove the buoy that washed up on shore in the winter of 2010. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zac Crawford.

LA PUSH, Wash. — Seaman Kevin Tkoch, 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation Hardware division, pops a smoke flare to help the CH-47 Chinook helicopter judge wind speed and direction before touching down on the beach in La Push, Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. Members from the Hardware division, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Fir, based in Astoria, Ore., an aircrew from the U.S. Army Reserves' Bravo Company 214th General Support Aviation Battalion, U.S. Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, Wash., and members from the Quileute Tribe worked together to remove the buoy that washed up on shore in the winter of 2010. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zac Crawford.

SEATTLE — Several Coast Guard assets and staff, under the direction of the 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation division, and an Army Chinook helicopter crew from Bravo Company, 214th General Support Aviation Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., worked in a cooperative effort to remove an 11,800 pound navigation buoy off a beach near the mouth of the Quillayute River in La Push, Wash., Monday. 

The buoy washed ashore on the beach after it broke free from its mooring during a winter storm in 2010.

Planning efforts for the buoy removal were coordinated by Coast Guard Cutter Fir, a buoy tender stationed in Astoria, Ore., and the 13th Coast Guard District Aids to Navigation division. Custom rigging was developed specifically for the hoist in order to meet Army lifting specifications. 

After the buoy was removed from the beach it was lowered into the water in close proximity of the Fir, which was standing by to recover it approximately 500 yards off shore.

“It was an extremely well coordinated effort between both parties and the locals (Quileute Tribal Nation) to complete the mission effortlessly," said Doug Cameron, 13th District aids to navigation hardware manager and shore team leader. 

The Fir transferred the buoy to the aids to navigation team in Astoria to be refurbished.

For additional information contact the Coast Guard District 13 Public Affairs office at (206) 220-7237.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Coast Guard Capt. Daniel LeBlanc, Commander of Marine Safety Unit Portland and Federal On Scene Coordinator of the Davy Crockett Unified Response, (center) Ron Holcomb, Washington Dept. of Ecology State On-Scene Coordinator, (left) and Mike Greenburg, Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality State On-Scene Coordinator, (right) address media as the last remaining section of the Flat Deck Barge Davy Crockett is removed from the Columbia River on Aug. 25, 2011. The removal of Davy Crockett has been an approximately 20 million-dollar pollution response project funded by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

110825-G-ZQ587-Davy Crockett Final Removal

PORTLAND, Ore. — Coast Guard Capt. Daniel LeBlanc, Commander of Marine Safety Unit Portland and Federal On Scene Coordinator of the Davy Crockett Unified Response, and Troy Nylander, Salvage Master for Ballard Diving and Salvage, observe as the last remaining section of the Flat Deck Barge Davy Crockett is removed from the Columbia River on Aug. 25, 2011. The removal of Davy Crockett has been an approximately 20 million-dollar pollution response project funded by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and managed by the Coast Guard, Washington Department of Ecology and Oregon Department of Environmental Conservation. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

110714-G-ZR723-Davy Crockett Removal

PORTLAND, Ore. - A salvager guides the last remaining section of the Flat Deck Davy Crockett to a barge where it will be decontaminated on Aug. 25, 2011. The removal of Davy Crockett has been an approximately 20 million-dollar pollution response project funded by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and managed by the Coast Guard, Washington Department of Ecology and Oregon Department of Environmental Conservation. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Shawn Eggert.

(June Overflight of deconstruction)

110615-G-9679C-Flat Deck Barge Davy Crockett Overflight Update June 15, 2011

PORTLAND, Ore. - The 433-foot flat deck barge Davy Crockett continues disassembly on the Columbia River, Wash., Ore., border on June 15, 2011. Large sections of the double hull are cut and removed from the floating stern section of the former Liberty Ship. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

OLYMPIA — Work crews removed the last remaining section of the barge Davy Crockett from the Columbia River near Camas, Wash., on Thursday.

The final lift took place nearly seven months after the joint response effort by the U.S. Coast Guard, Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) began. It ends a massive and carefully engineered effort to prevent more than 33,000 gallons of bunker oil from escaping into the river from the various double-bottom tanks and other holds harboring the sticky black substance.

“We did it right. Our response posture protected the environment and prevented nearly 33,000 gallons of oil from reaching the Columbia River," said Capt. Daniel LeBlanc, Coast Guard Incident Commander and Federal On-Scene Coordinator.

“Protecting the environment while ensuring worker and public safety has been a top objective for our agencies. All of the activities involving the response effort, deconstruction and removal of the Davy Crockett were designed to minimize any environmental impacts,” said Ron Holcomb, Washington Dept. of Ecology State On-Scene Coordinator.

“There is still important work ahead. The final phases of the response will consist of vacuum dredging of affected sediments at the work site and removal of the cofferdam. Dredging will take approximately two weeks to complete, while it will take six weeks for deconstruction of the cofferdam,” said Mike Greenburg, Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality State On-Scene Coordinator.

“There were a lot of obstacles we had to overcome, some of them immediate. Our past experience with Liberty Ships gave us insight for how to get those accomplished. The cofferdam gave us the ability to contain all of the pollution hazard and we were very fortunate no one was injured,” said Robert Mester, Ballard Diving and Salvage project coordinator.

During the 211-day operation, crews removed 4.4 million pounds of steel and another 838,432 pounds of debris, including wire, bricks and oiled sorbent materials. Workers have also removed 4,850 pounds of asbestos. The response resulted in approximately 1.6 million gallons of oily or otherwise contaminated water that was taken off-site for proper disposal.

Most importantly, the project was completed safely for the workers and the public.

On Jan. 27, 2011, oil spill responders from Ecology traced a 14-mile sheen back to the Davy Crockett, moored near the Washington shoreline. The vessel had been weakened by scrapping activities. It buckled and partially sank, releasing an estimated 70 gallons of oil. Unsure of how much additional oil or other hazards were still on board, the responding agencies formed a Unified Command to oversee the emergency response.

In February 2011, Adm. Robert Papp, Commandant of the Coast Guard, authorized the destruction of the Davy Crockett to address the threat of continued hazardous discharges into the river.

In April 2011, after all other options were exhausted, workers built a sheetpile wall to fully encircle the Davy Crockett for its demolition. It was lined with an impermeable silt barrier and additional sorbent materials to collect any oil that escaped during the project.

The Unified Command directed that the design of the operations minimize any environmental impact. The project received all necessary environmental permits, and water and sediments samples have been taken inside the cofferdam throughout the project.

While the vessel demolition is complete, crews from Ballard Diving and Salvage will continue to collect steel chunks and operate the water filtration system inside the cofferdam. Sediment cleanup inside the cofferdam will follow before the sheetpile walls are removed.

The estimated federal costs for the project are around $20 million, which is funded by the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.


For more information please contact:
Kim Schmanke, Ecology media relations, 360-791-9830 (mobile)
Shawn Eggert, Coast Guard Public Affairs, 206-819-9154 (mobile)

110822-G-ZQ587-001-Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake

SEATTLE - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake, home ported in Everett, Wash.,  works the deck on a mission to maintain aids to navigation in the Puget Sound area. The history of the Coast Guard’s aids to navigation mission reaches back to the beginning of the nation when lanterns were posted high enough on shore to guide ships along the coast. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

110822-G-ZQ587-001-Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake

SEATTLE - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake, home ported in Everett, Wash.,  works the deck on a mission to maintain aids to navigation in the Puget Sound area. The history of the Coast Guard’s aids to navigation mission reaches back to the beginning of the nation when lanterns were posted high enough on shore to guide ships along the coast. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

110822-G-ZQ587-002-Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake

SEATTLE - The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Henry Blake, home ported in Everett, Wash.,  transits the Puget Sound on a mission to maintain aids to navigation in the area. The history of the Coast Guard’s aids to navigation mission reaches back to the beginning of the nation when lanterns were posted high enough on shore to guide ships along the coast. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

For more information please contact the Coast Guard District 13 Public Affairs Office at (206) 220-7237.

110813-G-ZQ587-001-Welcome Home PSU 313 

SEATTLE - Coast Guard Port Security Unit (PSU) 313, out of Everett, Wash., is welcomed home at Seattle Tacoma International Airport after a six month deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom on Aug. 13, 2011. PSU 313 provided landward and seaward security at strategic port locations around the Northern Arabian Gulf ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

110813-G-BV859-077 PSU 313 homecom

SEATTLE - An Everett, Wash., based Port Security Unit (PSU) 313 member holds his child after returning home from an extended deployment to the Middle East, Aug. 13, 2011. While deployed, PSU 313 members provided harbor defense and security to ports, seaward approaches, and waterways within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility and ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

110813-G-BV859-066 PSU 313 homecoming 

SEATTLE - An Everett, Wash., based Port Security Unit (PSU) 313 member holds his daughter after returning home from an extended deployment to the Middle East, Aug. 13, 2011. While deployed, PSU 313 members provided harbor defense and security to ports, seaward approaches, and waterways within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility and ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

110813-G-BV859-031 PSU 313 homecoming 

SEATTLE - An Everett, Wash., based Port Security Unit (PSU) 313 member holds his daughter after returning home from an extended deployment to the Middle East, Aug. 13, 2011. While deployed, PSU 313 members provided harbor defense and security to ports, seaward approaches, and waterways within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility and ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

110813-G-BV859-103 PSU 313 homecoming 

SEATTLE - An Everett, Wash., based Port Security Unit (PSU) 313 member holds his daughter after returning home from an extended deployment to the Middle East, Aug. 13, 2011. While deployed, PSU 313 members provided harbor defense and security to ports, seaward approaches, and waterways within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility and ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

110813-G-BV859-288 PSU 313 homecoming 

SEATTLE - An Everett, Wash., based Port Security Unit (PSU) 313 member embraces his wife after returning home from an extended deployment to the Middle East, Aug. 13, 2011. While deployed, PSU 313 members provided harbor defense and security to ports, seaward approaches, and waterways within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility and ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson. 

110813-G-BV859-267 PSU 313 homecoming 

SEATTLE - Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hoyt, a Maritime Enforcement Specialist, leads the Everett, Wash., based Port Security Unit (PSU) 313 through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport gates to the unit's families who were waiting inside the terminal, Aug. 13, 2011. Hoyt's twin daughters, who he has never seen, were born while PSU 313 was on an extended deployment to the Middle East. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson.

110813-G-ZQ587-7308-Welcome Home PSU 313 

SEATTLE - Coast Guard Port Security Unit (PSU) 313, out of Everett, Wash., is welcomed home at Seattle Tacoma International Airport after a six month deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom on Aug. 13, 2011. PSU 313 provided landward and seaward security at strategic port locations around the Northern Arabian Gulf ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler. 

SEATTLE – The Everett, Wash.,-based Coast Guard Port Secuity Unit (PSU) 313 returned, Saturday, from a six-month deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom.

During the deployment, PSU 313 provided landward and seaward security at strategic port locations around the North Arabian Gulf ensuring the free flow of personnel, equipment and commerce in the region.

“I am extremely proud of the men and women under my Command during this highly successful deployment,” said Coast Guard Cmdr. James B. Andrews, commanding officer of PSU 313.  They performed their duties with the utmost professionalism and devotion to duty.”

CLICK HERE for the full media advisory, which provides a complete description of PSU 313's missions in the Arabian Gulf.

Media inquiries should contact Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Anderson at (202) 631-3313 or michael.a.anderson@uscg.mil; or the 13th Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office at (206) 220-7237.

SEATTLE - The Coast Guard Cutter Swordfish, home ported in Port Angeles, Wash., travels to Elliott Bay, Seattle, alongside the Shell Platform Kulluk on July 19, 2011. The floating offshore drilling platform is heading into Vigor Shipyard for ongoing maintenance and planned, technical upgrades. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.

SEATTLE - The Coast Guard Cutter Swordfish, home ported in Port Angeles, Wash., travels to Elliott Bay, Seattle, alongside the Shell Platform Kulluk on July 19, 2011. The floating offshore drilling platform is heading into Vigor Shipyard for ongoing maintenance and planned, technical upgrades. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler.