Portsmouth, Va. – The Coast Guard Cutter Forward and crew returned to their homeport of Portsmouth Sunday following a 42-day patrol in the Caribbean Sea, officials tell NewsChannel 3.
During the deployment, the Forward’s crew participated in UNITAS 2013, a multi-national maritime exercise held in Cartagena, Columbia, with naval forces from Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Germany, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the United Kingdom.
“UNITAS provided an invaluable human experience where our crew met face-to-face and worked side-by-side with crews from many partner nations,” said Cmdr. Gregory Wisener, commanding officer of the Forward. “UNITAS has been an invaluable professional development event.”
During UNITAS the Forward’s crew conducted numerous maritime warfare exercises including anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine exercises and concluded with a simulated war game in which the Forward was credited with destroying two surface contacts.
The crew of the Forward also transported $27.7 million worth of cocaine that was seized by a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment stationed aboard the Navy ship USS Rentz.
The Forward is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth with a crew of approximately 110 members.
