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Coast Guard News
110ft Coast Guard Island Class Cutters riding on transport, enter
the Mediterranean Sea, on their way to duty in the Persian Gulf
area. 
U. S. Coast Guard
March 24, 2003
PERSIAN GULF -- Members of Coast Guard
Port Security Units 311 and 313 relieved U.S. Marines earlier today of
responsibility for security on two gas and oil platforms in the Northern
Persian Gulf. The Marines had held both platforms after U.S. Navy
SEALS took them from the Iraqi regime.
Members of PSU 311, from San Pedro, Calif.,
and PSU 313, from Tacoma, Wash., are among the approximately 650 Coast
Guard men and women participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom in the
Persian Gulf. In addition to the PSUs, Coast Guardsmen are serving in four
110-foot patrol boats, a 378-foot high-endurance cutter, a 225-foot buoy
tender, two law enforcement detachments, elements of the National Strike
Force and a harbor defense command unit.
PSUs are deployable units organized for
sustained operations to support military missions worldwide. Members
PSUs train in specialized combat, weapons and boat skills to ensure
waterside security and maritime force protection in support of the
Department of Defense. PSU 311 and PSU 313 patrolled U.S. waters
with their armed 25-foot boats along with other Coast Guard assets
immediately following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Coast Guard PSUs have previously been called
for service in Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Desert Storm (the Persian
Gulf War) and Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. A detachment of
PSU 311 deployed to the Persian Gulf from October 2001 to April 2002 to
provide force protection for U.S. and allied warships.
THE COAST GUARD AT WAR:
National
Security & Military Preparedness in history
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