Photo Release: Coast Guard Cutter Legare Returns from Operation Unified Resolve Patrol

News Release

Dec 24, 2017 U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic Contact: 5th District Public Affairs Office: (757) 398-6272 After Hours: (757) 434-7712

Coast Guard Cutter Legare Returns from Operation Unified Resolve Patrol

 

Editors' Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare returned to Portsmouth on Sunday after completing a 45-day deployment to the Caribbean Sea in support of Operation Unified Resolve.

Operation Unified Resolve is a combined effort between Joint Interagency Task Force South, the Coast Guard and international partners in the Caribbean region to interdict vessels smuggling drugs and illegal migrants to the United States.  During the deployment, the Legare's crew patrolled waters stretching from the Dominican Republic, through the Greater and Lesser Antilles, and as far south as the Dutch Caribbean.

The Legare’s first port visit was to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to help victims still recovering from the 2017 Hurricane Season.  Puerto Rico was severely damaged this summer when two Category 5 Hurricanes, Irma and Maria, hit.  Hurricane Maria hit the hardest with some damage estimates for Puerto Rico ranging as high as $85 billion dollars in insured losses.  The Legare's crew delivered generators and compressors to victims of this summer’s storms before commencing its patrol in the Caribbean.

During a port visit to Bridgetown, Barbados, the Legare’s crew took part in an international relations event with the Barbados Defense Force.  Legare’s officers participated in a professional exchange at St. Ann’s Fort in Bridgetown that included a visit from the Barbados Defense Force Chief of Staff, the most senior member of the Barbados military.

The Legare is a 270-foot Medium Endurance Cutter home ported in Portsmouth.  The Coast Guard’s fleet of Medium Endurance Cutters is set to be replaced by the new Offshore Patrol Cutters, with the first being unveiled in 2019.

 

-USCG-