ALCOAST 249/20 - JUN 2020 USCGC JOHN MIDGETT (WHEC 726) 48 YEARS OF SERVICE

R 231711 JUN 20
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CCG//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS//N04500//
ALCOAST 249/20
COMDTNOTE 4500
SUBJ:  USCGC JOHN MIDGETT (WHEC 726) 48 YEARS OF SERVICE
1. On 31 Mar 2020, after 48 years of faithful service to our nation, CGC JOHN MIDGETT
transitioned to In-Commission Special status. This status begins the decommissioning
process. Throughout the cutter's service, CGC JOHN MIDGETT crews embodied and honored the
cutter's motto - Dedication, Service, Excellence.
2. CGC JOHN MIDGETT was named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer John Allen Midgett, Jr.
who served for nearly forty years with the U.S. Lifesaving Service and the Coast Guard.
He was one of five Midgett family members awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal for heroic
action during the rescue of 36 crewmen from the torpedoed British tanker MIRLO in 1918.
The twelfth and final ship in the Hamilton Class cutter fleet, CGC JOHN MIDGETT launched
from Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana and was commissioned on 17 Mar 1972. Alameda, CA
was CGC JOHN MIDGETT’s first homeport. The cutter remained there until temporarily
decommissioned in 1991 to undergo the Fleet Renovation and Modernization (FRAM) project.
Upon completion of FRAM in 1992, CGC JOHN MIDGETT sailed for Seattle, WA, which would serve
as the cutter's homeport for the next 28 years.
3. Throughout the cutter’s distinguished career, CGC JOHN MIDGETT served in domestic and
international theaters, from the Bering Sea to the South China Sea, and from the Eastern
Pacific Ocean to the Arabian Gulf. CGC JOHN MIDGETT will be remembered as an ambassador for
global maritime cooperation, a combatant of drug smugglers and transnational criminal
organizations, a protector of living marine resources, and a welcome sight for mariners
in distress.
4. CGC JOHN MIDGETT's proud legacy of honorable service to the nation spanned nearly five
decades. On Christmas Day 1996, CGC JOHN MIDGETT's crew demonstrated remarkable ingenuity
by conducting a "power rudder" tandem tow of the disabled M/V BANAESA to Adak, Alaska
with the tug AGNES FOSS. In 1999, CGC JOHN MIDGETT became the first Coast Guard cutter to
deploy to the Arabian Gulf with a U.S. Navy Battle Group, serving as an integral member
of the USS CONSTELLATION Battle Group and enforcing UN Security Council sanctions against
Iraq. From September 2006 to March 2007, CGC JOHN MIDGETT deployed as part of Expeditionary
Strike Group 5 in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, circumnavigating the globe and
transiting the Suez and Panama Canals. While deployed to the Eastern Pacific Ocean in
support of Joint Interagency Task Force South from December 2016 to March 2017, CGC JOHN
MIDGETT single-handedly seized more than three tons of cocaine. During the cutter's last
year of service, CGC JOHN MIDGETT patrolled the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for more than
200 cumulative days, boarding 67 fishing vessels and prosecuting 16 search and rescue
cases, ultimately assisting 20 mariners and four vessels in distress.
5. The professionalism, dedication, and self-sacrifice displayed by Chief Warrant Officer
Midgett will continue to live on in the service of CGC MIDGETT (WMSL 757), named to honor
all members of the Midgett family that served in the Coast Guard and its predecessor
services. To current and past CGC JOHN MIDGETT crews, Plankowners, Shellbacks (Golden, Emerald,
Horned, or otherwise), subjects of the Golden Dragon, Blue Noses, and even Pollywogs: Well
Done! Through 48 years of service, CGC JOHN MIDGETT crews admirably served the Coast Guard
and the Nation. Congratulations and Bravo Zulu!
6. ADM Karl L. Schultz, Commandant, sends.
7. Internet release is authorized.