PORTSMOUTH, Va. — This week, two Coast Guard cutters and their crews returned to Portsmouth.
The USCGC Bear got back on Tuesday after 10 weeks underway, and the USCGC Legare is scheduled to arrive mid-morning on Wednesday. They'd been at sea for 11 weeks.
The Bear and its 100 crew members sailed 10,000 miles during its deployment, and focused on coordinated military exercises with Canada, Denmark and France, called "Operation Nanook."
They practiced search-and-rescue missions, close quarters maneuvering and gunnery situations.
Cmdr. Brooke Millard said the Bear's crew brought its best to the table.
"Bear’s deployment was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train with partners and allies while visiting remote places,” she said.
The USCGC Legare covered 15,000 miles during its time at sea, patrolling the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
While it was underway, the crew focused on "counter narcotics" work. A spokesperson for the cutter said Legare caught four smuggling vessels and seized 7,000 pounds of drugs from them.
One of the boats they apprehended was a "specially designed low-profile craft," they said.
On the way home, the Legare also dropped off $475 million worth of cocaine and marijuana at Base Miami Beach. Those drugs were confiscated by several Coast Guard vessels, but the Legare coordinated the dropoff.
Welcome home, crews!