DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710080636

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: MILITARY 

SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   91 lines

COAST GUARD SAILS INTO 21ST CENTURY THE RECENT RETURN OF THE CUTTER LEGARE FROM A HISTORY-MAKING DEPLOYMENT HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD PROVIDES A GLIMPSE INTO THE SERVICE'S FUTURE.

When the Coast Guard cutter Legare arrived back in port last week, the crew could boast of not only a job well done - in 20 countries around the world - but also a couple of landmarks in the ship's 4 1/2-month cruise.

The 270-foot Famous Class cutter was the first ship of its size to cross the Atlantic, and the first cutter to participate in the Navy's Baltic Operations exercise.

It is also one of the few Coast Guard vessels - whose primary job is law enforcement along America's coasts - to visit ports in the former Soviet Union just to share information and open its decks for public tours.

``This deployment was important because it was a great way to show the navies of developing countries America's Coast Guard, one of the premier maritime organizations in the world,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Lee Alexander, Legare's executive officer.

One of the personal highlights of the deployment, Alexander said, was ``the overwhelming reception we received in the Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian and other ports of the former Soviet Union. The military exchanges were an opportunity of a lifetime.''

While the Coast Guard's three-masted training vessel, Eagle, routinely stops in European ports, and the U.S. Department of Transportation agency has sent 378-foot high-endurance cutters to Europe for the past two years, a Famous Class cutter had never before made the journey.

Legare had a unique combination of missions for this deployment. Before leaving Portsmouth last May, the 114-member crew was joined by a Coast Guard aviation detachment from Houston. Its six members rode with Legare throughout the deployment, participating in naval operations and giving demonstrations for the public in foreign ports.

For the Navy's Baltic Operations exercise off the coast of Denmark, Legare joined 47 other ships and 16 air squadrons from 12 countries for training in seamanship, surface and air surveillance, gunnery techniques and maritime interception operations. By the time Legare reached Denmark at the end of June, the crew had already been to England, Lithuania, Russia, Poland and Germany.

While in Klaipeda, Lithuania, the sailors participated in the humanitarian program called Project Handclasp, which attempts to improve communities visited by the Coast Guard. They delivered more than 3,000 pounds of supplies and did maintenance work at Rytas Orphanage.

The cutter's stop in Kaliningrad, Russia, marked the first time the Coast Guard had visited that port, and the first time the service had conducted joint communication and tactical maneuvering exercises with a Russian Border Service ship.

In many of the ports, Legare was open for tours. In addition, the crew worked with other countries' navies in training exercises, search-and-rescue demonstrations and environmental protection methods.

``The crew felt good about what they were able to accomplish through military exchanges in 18 of the 20 countries we visited,'' Alexander said. ``I'm proud of our men and women and their professionalism.''

After stops in Estonia and Latvia, Legare went on to Belgium, where the aviation detachment participated in a two-day air show, and the crew had a chance to visit Paris and Amsterdam.

While Legare was in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, its helicopter worked in an exchange and joint training program with the Royal Air Force in Belfast. The cutter's basketball team played against a local Londonderry team, losing the game by only one point. But the crew didn't see only Northern Ireland; Legare also made a port call to Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin, where an Irish Air Corps Eurocopter Dolphin helicopter conducted shipboard landing training as part of the military exchange program.

In August, Legare sailed to Casablanca, Morocco, and to Istanbul, Turkey. By the middle of the month, the cutter was in Georgia - part of the former Soviet Union.

The half-world tour opened many doors and lots of possibilities for the smallest branch America's armed forces. Accustomed to law enforcement missions, including drug and alien migration interdiction, search-and-rescue operations, and environmental cleanups, the Coast Guard now has a vision of what can be done in the world that lies far beyond American coasts.

``I believe a deployment such as this validates our service and the overall importance of the Coast Guard,'' Alexander said.

Last Friday, the day after Legare's return to the Integrated Support Command in Portsmouth, the cutter had a change of command: Capt. John E. Crowley Jr. was relieved by Cmdr. Eric J. Shaw. ILLUSTRATION: MARK MITCHELL

The Virginian-Pilot

Sheila Rouse welcomes her husband, Wayne, with a kiss in Portsmouth

last week. He was part the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Legare,

which completed a tour of 20 countries.

THE DELPOYMENT

GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

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