Coast Guard shows off for Homeland Security Secretary

PORTSMOUTH

When the boss is in town, you had better put on a good show.

By all accounts, the Coast Guard didn't disappoint Monday morning, when its members performed an anti-terrorism exercise for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The secretary boarded the cutter Frank Drew around 10 a.m. Soon after, the ship began making its way up the Elizabeth River under escort.

As it passed the shipping terminal, three 25-foot response boats swarmed up the water behind it. With one boat providing cover at the cutter's stern, Maritime Security Response Team members in the other boats clambered up the cutter's side toward the bridge.

A few minutes later, in the exercise's second phase, an MH-60J helicopter swooped in low behind the cutter and hooked a sharp left turn over its stern. A line dropped and, within 20 seconds, six team members had "fast roped" to the deck and proceeded to make their way across the ship.

Back pierside at the Coast Guard's Integrated Support Command, Napolitano hailed the team as a "vital part" of defending key ports such as Hampton Roads.

Since 2001, she said the Coast Guard's mission has continued to expand. Today, it includes not only the more traditional realms of search and rescue and vessel interdiction, but also smuggling, small vessel threats, piracy and anti-terrorism.

Napolitano said she's confident the Coast Guard can protect U.S. waters with the number of personnel it has now, though she said such service numbers are always under review. She added that she is working to make sure the service has the vessels and equipment it needs.

Napolitano said the Homeland Security Department is also taking a hard look at its port security grant program, to make sure it gives grants based on real assessments of risk. The Hampton Roads region received more than $26 million in such grants from fiscal years 2002 to 2007.

As a nod to the current state of the economy, she said her department is looking at waiving the grants' matching requirements, which can be prohibitive to some localities.

The ultimate goal, she said, is being ready.

"If we're prepared," she said, "we're not in fear."

Capt. Keith Smith, the response team's commander, was on hand Monday to watch his people in action. As the service's only maritime counter-terrorism unit, he said the bar was high.

"It's a rare opportunity that you do not want to drop the ball on," he said. "So I think we did well."

The Chesapeake-based team, which formed in 2004, is designed to handle threats along the coast or offshore, alone or as part of an interagency team. Monday's exercise gave the team members a chance to show their ultimate boss what they can do.

"We wanted her to have a better understanding of what we do and how we fit into the big picture," Smith said.

Matthew Jones, (757) 446-2949, matthew.jones@pilotonline.com