PHOTOS: Members of Coast Guard port security unit return home after 9-month deployment

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area Jan. 28, 2022 Contact: Coast Guard Pacific Area Public Affairs Office: (510) 437-3375 D11-DG-M-PACAREA-PA@uscg.mil Pacific Area online newsroom

Members of Coast Guard port security unit return home after 9-month deployment

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Everett, Wash. – Members from Coast Guard Port Security Unit 313 returned to Everett, Washington, Thursday following a nine-month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

During the deployment, unit operations focused on seaward security, providing more than 42,000 hours of around-the-clock waterside and shore side anti-terrorism and force protection defense security to Department of Defense assets and personnel at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

PSU 313’s operations also consisted of escorting marine traffic in and out of port as well as enforcing the naval defense sea area security zone around the base. Unit personnel worked closely with service members from Joint Task Force, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Harbor Patrol Unit, Marine Corps Security Forces Company, and Air Force and Army personnel conducting interagency operations and training at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and along adjoining waters.

“The success of this unit in its deployment, in the midst of a global pandemic, is testament to the resilience of the crew and the priority each places on shipmate support and mission excellence,” said Cmdr. James W. Fitzgerald, PSU 313’s commanding officer. “Our members excelled in this joint operating environment, expanding inter-service operability and capabilities, and exceeded every established metric for accomplishing our assigned tasking. Their devotion to duty and the support from their families at home during this deployment have been inspiring. With the mission now complete, we look forward to our members reintegrating with their families.”

As both a federal law enforcement agency and an armed force, the Coast Guard is uniquely positioned to conduct defense operations in support of combatant commanders on all seven continents. The service routinely provides forces in joint military operations worldwide, including the deployment of cutters, boats, aircraft, and deployable specialized forces.

Commissioned in 1998, PSU 313 is one of eight U.S. Coast Guard port security units located across the United States. PSUs are Coast Guard Reserve-staffed units and deployable specialized forces assigned to the commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area. PSUs are capable of providing the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and interagency operational and tactical commanders with equipped, trained, and organized expeditionary forces who are ready to deploy anywhere in the world on short notice to execute anti-terrorism and force protection operations within ports, harbors, littoral waters, or in the point defense of high value assets.

PSU 313’s previous overseas deployments include Korea (2000, 2007, 2013); Kuwait (2003, 2010); Haiti (2010); and Guantanamo Bay (2007, 2015). The unit also defended Naval Magazine Indian Island, Washington, in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

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