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Stout Participates in Counter-Narcotics Operations

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060510-15
Release Date: 5/10/2006 5:42:00 PM

By Photographer’s Mate Airman Tristan Miller, USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

USS STOUT, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Stout (DDG 55) assisted in counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Caribbean Venture during “Partnership of the Americas” May 1-7.

Caribbean Venture is a multinational exercise in which several countries focus on working together to prevent drug running.

“This is a chance to show our neighbors to the south we are interested in their efforts to enforce their laws and ours, and they have our support,” said Lt. Kenneth Belkofer, Stout’s weapons officer. “What we do is gather information on drug runners and trafficking vessels, and patrol the specific areas to try to locate them.”

Stout has already had success boarding suspected vessels. When the ship encountered a small boat while on patrol, the crew, working with the Coast Guard followed procedures and boarded the ship.

“The crew did very well. They spotted the sailboat after dark, and we we’re able to run the proper security and background checks,” said Cmdr. Thomas K. Kiss, commanding officer of Stout. “When we got permission to board, we did and everything went off without a hitch. The crew did everything they were assigned to do and the ship cooperated with the instructions that were given. After we received orders to proceed, the VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) team took action and boarded the ship. The owner provided legitimate [proof of] ownership, and nothing was found during the search.”

The Navy and Coast Guard are not only helping reduce drug flow in the Caribbean, but they are also promoting cooperation between the services.

“We use the Navy to assist by using them as platforms of opportunity,” said Coast Guard Food Service Specialist 2nd Class Nathan Rowley, leading petty officer of Law Enforcement Detachment Team 101. “Using the Navy’s expertise and methods for finding other vessels is a big help.”

The Coast Guard detachment has also had the opportunity to teach VBSS training to members of the crew so they can be qualified to assist in an actual boarding operation.

“Training keeps us up on our skills and helps prepare the crew for an actual VBSS boarding,” Rowley said. “With us working with the Navy, it helps promote relations between both branches of service.”

The operation also benefits countries outside of the Caribbean.

“By interupting the trafficking of narcotics, the rest of the world benefits from it, also,” Belkofer said.

Stout is currently deployed as a unit of the USS George Washington (CVN 73) Carrier Strike Group participating in “Partnership of the Americas,” a maritime training and readiness deployment of U.S. naval forces with countries from the Caribbean and Latin America.