Rodrick H. McHaty

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria in this handout released by SANA on January 7, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE

The US military must plan for encounters with private military companies

Rodrick H. McHaty and Joe Moye

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

*VIDEO AVAILABLE: info@covermg.com*THIS PICTURE SHOWS: In one of the busts of the boat's recent tour, the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) boarding team searches a suspected smuggling vessel interdicted in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, May 31, 2020. The team seized more than 1,500 pounds of cocaine from the suspected smuggling vessel.....STORY COPY:This is the incredible moment the U.S. Coast Guard took out a drug smuggling boat’s engine with a bullet. Footage shows warning shots strafing across the water in front of the fast-moving boat in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, before a marksman disabled the vessel’s engine. It is thought that the warning shots from the helicopter would have been fired with a mounted M240 machine gun, while the disabling round would have come from a precision rifle. The scenes are among highlights of the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton patrol boat as it returned to Coast Guard Island on 29 June after a 94-day counter-drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. During the tour, The crew detected and interdicted five suspected drug smuggling vessels, detained 14 suspected drug smugglers and seized over 6,000 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $113 million. The Stratton's advanced capabilities include a small unmanned aircraft system, an attached Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron MH-65 helicopter and aircrew, and an embarked Law Enforcement Detachment from the Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team. On June 27, Stratton's crew offloaded 3,720 pounds of marijuana seized in known drug-transit zones in early June by Coast Guard and U.S. Navy assets. The contraband and five suspected drug smugglers were transferred to the Department of Justice officials in San Diego for prosecution. Stratton's deployment began in late March as part of U.S. Southern Command's enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of Presidential National Security

The Coast Guard and Marines should work together to enhance deterrence in the Western Pacific

Michael Sinclair and Rodrick H. McHaty

Thursday, November 12, 2020