During the sea phase of this year’s International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) four U.S. Coast Guard cutters took to the sea, as well as personnel from the Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT), to participate in various operations focused on Mine Countermeasures (MCM) and Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the Arabian Gulf.
110 foot Patrol Boats Aquidneck, Maui, Baranof, and Monomoy from the U.S. Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA) coordinated with other U.S. and coalition warships, along with commercial vessels, to execute training focused on MIP, VBSS, and MCM. The exercise was a great opportunity to highlight the U.S. Coast Guard’s important role in the region and demostrate proficiency in one of the service’s core missions of defense readiness.
The MSRT, a 12 person team homeported out of Chesapeake, Virginia, is in theater for six months providing advanced VBSS capability to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
The MSRT was split on three separate U.S. Navy Cyclone Class Patrol Craft throughout the exercise. The team embarked commercial vessels and other U.S. warships in the Arabian Gulf to conduct VBSS training and simulated boardings, focused on improving international capability and interoperability during Martime Security Operations (MSO) in the Arabian Gulf.
Press release, Image: USCG