Proceedings Of The Marine

SPR 2012

Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.

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LEDET 406 A personal journey in pirate defense. by LT AARON RENSCHLER /DZ (QIRUFHPHQW 'XW\ 2IÀFHU U.S. Coast Guard District 7 Command Center From 2008 to 2011, LT Aaron Renschler served as officer in charge of USCG Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 406. He completed six counter-drug deployments aboard U.S. Navy and allied naval vessels; and, from February to July 2010, he deployed to the USS Farragut, USS San Jacinto, and USS Carney in support of CTF 151 counter-piracy operations. His obser- vations follow. LEDET 406 My team, an eight-man advanced interdiction board- LQJ WHDP KHOG TXDOLÀFDWLRQV LQ • FRPEDW PDUNVPDQVKLS • FORVH TXDUWHUV FRPEDW • YHUWLFDO LQVHUWLRQ • KRRN DQG FOLPE • HPHUJHQF\ PHGLFDO WHFKQLFLDQ • WDFWLFDO FRPEDW FDVXDOW\ FDUH Additionally, each team member trained rigorously for months prior to the deployment, completing a month-long U.S. Central Command pre-deployment training program. From the beginning of our deployment, it became very evident that, as counter-piracy patrols have increased, pirate attacks were becoming bolder and occurring further out to sea. My team received eight 0D\GD\ FDOOV DQG VXFFHVVIXOO\ VWRSSHG ÀYH RI WKH attacks during our four-month deployment. May Days In May 2010, the USS San Jacinto encountered a dhow that failed to answer the order to stop. LEDET 406 and San Jacinto's visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) 54 Proceedings Spring 2012 team embarked the small boats and forced the dhow to stop. The master informed the boarding team that his vessel was pirated that morning and the pirates and their weapons were still aboard. We seized 13 pirates and their weapons cache, freeing the Yemeni mariners and their vessel. The boarding team maintained custody of the vessel, pirates, and evidence until they were transferred to the Yemen Navy. Later that month, we received a Mayday call from a merchant vessel. San Jacinto's deployed helicopter USCG LEDETs Since Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Coast Guard law enforcement detachments (LEDETs) have deployed over- seas in support of U.S. Central Command operations. In 2009, LEDETs were deployed aboard U.S. naval vessels and had instant success interdicting pirate attack vessels and transferring the pirates to appropriate authorities for prosecution. USCG LEDETs train and operate with U.S. Navy visit, board, search and seizure teams conducting boardings on suspected pirate vessels and mother ships. They patrol the internationally recommended transit corri- dor, Gulf of Aden, and the Somali Basin to protect merchant traffic from pirate attacks. www.uscg.mil/proceedings Response

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