"Congress Looks to Continue Coast Guard's Pacific Expansion" –Another WMEC Going to the Pacific?

By Chuck Hill on July 1, 2024

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returns to home port after 79-day patrol, April 9, 2024. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Charly Tautfest)

Military.com passed along a Honolulu Star-Advertiser report that another Medium Endurance Cutter is expected to join Harriet Lane in the 14th District in FY 2025. (I suspect, ultimately there will be a third.)

This along with additional improvements in Coast Guard funding and infrastructure are still at the draft legislation phase, so we can't assume too much, but it at least points to the intention.

There are other items,

The current draft of the spending legislation also includes $3 million to increase the presence of regional Coast Guard advisers as well as $1.2 million for the Coast Guard's Indo-Pacific Workforce Support Project, which includes funds to increase housing, medical and child care access and capacity in Hawaii and Guam to support the service's Pacific operations. It also calls for the service to acquire a new pier at its Sand Island base, expand facilities and come up with a report on infrastructure at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point.

It does appear from the report that politics regarding unrelated issues are getting in the way, but we have learned to expect that the budget will not be passed before the FY starts. (FY2025 will begin October 1, 2024.)

The post also notes that Harriet Lane is now on her second Pacific deployment.

The report does provide some insight into the difficulties of keeping a 40 year old cutter on patrol. The post talks about the Offshore Patrol Cutters and mentions that they are delayed, but they do not really explain how very long it is going to be before the 270s will be replaced. Right now, we don't expect the last 270 to be replaced until 2038--14 years away, and it may end up being longer.