Naval Coastal Warfare Mission in Iraqi Port Ends
Navy Newsstand
Story Number: NNS030610-12
Release Date: 6/10/2003 8:40:00 PM
By Lt. John Garofolo, Naval Coastal Warfare Group 1 Public Affairs
KUWAIT (NNS) -- Naval Coastal Warfare (NCW) forces departed the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr recently, ending their two-month port security and harbor defense mission.
The 200 U.S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel represent the last significant U.S. naval presence in the port, which will be turned over to Iraqi civilian control when it is fully operational.
"Our Navy and Coast Guard combined forces did an outstanding job in providing security in the port," commented Capt. Allen C. Painter, commodore of Naval Coastal Warfare forces operating in multiple ports in the Middle East. "We set up our force security presence just five days after the beginning of combat operations."
The NCW forces arrived on scene to the sounds of nearby sniper and artillery fire. The units deployed used Coast Guard and Navy patrol boats to patrol the port areas and Khawr Abd Allah waterway, while operating shore-based radar, sonar and surveillance systems, and command and control operations centers.
The NCW units operating in Umm Qasr were Inshore Boat Unit 14 from St. Louis; Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit 114 from Kansas City; Coast Guard Port Security Unit 311 from San Pedro, Calif.; elements of Harbor Defense Command Unit 114 from Long Beach, Calif.; Explosive Ordnance Mobile Unit 2 Detachment 22 from Little Creek, Va.; and Naval Coastal Warfare Group 1 from San Diego.
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