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Naval Coastal Warfare Units Operating in Iraqi Port

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030425-20
Release Date: 4/26/2003 8:06:00 PM

By Lt. John Garofolo, Naval Coastal Warfare Group 1

UMM QASR, Iraq (NNS) -- When the first humanitarian shipment arrived in the captured Port of Umm Qasr in Iraq, it represented a pivotal point in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

While combat operations are winding down in the north, an unprecedented humanitarian aid effort is underway, which will be among the first steps in rebuilding the Iraqi infrastructure and giving hope to a long-oppressed people.

The Umm Qasr aid delivery is part of a huge multinational military and humanitarian effort, an effort in which the ships transiting the Khawr Abd Abdallah waterway from the Northern Arabian Gulf to the port will be protected by a relatively small, armed force of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel from Naval Coastal Warfare Group 1, homeported in San Diego.

Their waterborne security cordon is intentionally low-key. "The ultimate test of whether we do our job is whether anyone involved in the operation will notice us," commented Capt. Allen Painter, the commodore in charge of the Navy's anti-terrorism and force protection efforts in the Kuwait and Iraqi theaters. "Our participation should be seamless to all except the terrorists or asymetric forces who decide to find a softer target elsewhere."

Capt. David Brown, the operation's force security officer, is commanding the Naval Coastal Warfare forces in Iraq. He is responsible for both seaward and landward security. "The main challenge for us is to provide the force protection package we normally provide in an expeditionary warfare environment, without the advantages of having access to our usual supply and logistics support."

Typically, Naval Coastal Warfare units deploy to a low-to-medium threat area in a port or harbor that has already been secured and ready for continuous, sustained operations.

The port of Umm Qasr was only recently taken by allied forces and the British, who are still working to get the port fully operational to support the large humanitarian sealift. "Basically," noted Brown, "Umm Qasr is a work in progress."

From his command center, Brown and his staff oversee the efforts of the system of sensors and operators that keep the large ships safe, as they make their final transit up the river into the port's shipping channel, moor to a pier, conduct offloads and then transit back to sea.

Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit 114 from Kansas City, Mo., is operating with Naval Coastal Warfare Group 1.

Commanding Officer Cmdr. Scott Jerabek is the seaward security officer. His Sailors use a suite of sensors that provide radar, sonar, thermal and visual imaging of the seaward and immediate landward area. In addition to the high-tech sensors, Jerabek also uses armed lookouts to keep track of river traffic.

Ships are escorted into port and defended while pierside by U.S. Coast Guard Port Security Unit 311, homeported in Long Beach, Calif., and U.S. Navy Inshore Boat Unit 14 from St. Louis, Mo.

The two boat units use small, fast, heavily-armed speedboats to conduct patrols against hostile swimmers or divers, and bomb-laden suicide boats, such as those that attacked USS Cole (DDG 67) and French tanker M/V Linburg.

Also supporting Naval Coastal Warfare is Explosive Ordnance Mobile Unit 2 Det. 20 and 22 from Little Creek, Va. EOD is responsible for ensuring that piers, ships and waterways are clear of mines, bombs, grenades and any other device that may imperil a ship or personnel operating in the port.

After the attack on Cole, Naval Coastal Warfare Group 1 units were called in to protect several ports and harbors in the Middle East and multiple units were deployed immediately after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Some of those same units involved in Operation Noble Eagle are presently serving in ports throughout the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Naval Coastal Warfare Group 1 is based in San Diego. Units currently deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom are under the direction of Commander, Task Force 51.