As Navy ships from around the world begin sailing out of Pearl Harbor for the biennial exercise Rim of the Pacific, members of the Coast Guard’s Sector Honolulu are prepping for their own contributions to the war game exercise.

As Asia and the Pacific increasingly play a larger role in American foreign policy, officials are increasingly looking to the Coast Guard to tackle complex and sensitive security challenges across the region.

“It’s very much about trying to do more with less,” said Ensign Matthew Pindell, weapons officer aboard the Honolulu-based Legend-class National Security Cutter CGC Midgett. He added, “We have one person to do a job” that the Navy might assign to a group of 20 personnel.

Midgett will serve as the lead ship for Combined Task Force 175, which comprises ships from France, Peru and the U.S. Navy. In previous years the Coast Guard has provided more of a supporting role.

Capt. Willie Carmichael, the Midgett’s commander, said, “It is a unique opportunity to be in charge of a particular task force, and that certainly fits right into our ability to interoperate with U.S. Navy.”

During the exercise the task force will practice refueling at sea, counterpiracy tracking and boardings, rescue operations and anti-submarine warfare. Additionally, it’s slated to conduct air-missile defense and gunnery exercises. Carmichael said the anti- submarine component in particular is a major departure from the core missions the Coast Guard usually conducts.

“We have a training program that supports that, but more specifically, we were able to actually bring in some subject matter experts to help us integrate … at a higher level,” said Carmichael.

When RIMPAC concludes in early August, Midgett will sail west for a Pacific patrol, making stops in several of the countries participating in the multinational exercise. A major emphasis of the patrol: tackling illegal fishing. In 2020 the Coast Guard said illegal fishing had surpassed piracy as the top global security threat on the high seas as the rapid depletion of fish stocks threatens food access and the economies of coastal and island communities.

“A lot of the Pacific nations don’t have the type of maritime support that the Coast Guard has in terms of patrol craft that they can use to help monitor those areas,” said Cmdr. Cynthia Travers, captain of the fast-response cutter CGC William Hart.

The Hart is participating in RIMPAC as part of a mass rescue mission simulation of a major disaster in which exercise participants need to find survivors at sea. Fast-response cutters like the Hart are playing an increasingly prominent role in the Pacific.

Smaller than the national security cutters, they require less maintenance and can be tapped for short deployments. The Hart recently deployed to American Samoa on a fishery enforcement mission. The Coast Guard is exploring permanently stationing a fast-response cutter in Pago Pago.

Closer to home, members of the Coast Guard’s Hawaii Regional Dive Locker will simulate the process of reopening a port after a natural disaster, and will coach dive teams from Korea, Canada and the Netherlands on verifying the locations of buoys and other navigation aids to allow other ships to safely access the port.

“This is exactly what our job is here in a natural disaster or any sort of port obstruction,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Steve Lincoln.

Members of the Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Team Honolulu — an “ocean SWAT team” specializing in port and coastal security — will conduct a simulated escort mission ensuring the safety of a commercial containership with French Frigate FS Prairial and train French naval personnel on security tactics.