Editor's Note: To view more or download high-resolution imagery, click on the photos above. For b-roll of migrant response operations, click here.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The crew of USCGC Bear (WMEC 901) is scheduled to return to their homeport in Portsmouth Wednesday following a 60-day patrol conducting migrant interdiction operations in the Florida Straits and Windward Passage, which included the interdiction, care, and repatriation of over 500 migrants at sea.
WHO: Cmdr. Brooke Millard, Bear's commanding officer, and Bear's crew
WHAT: Bear and crew members return home after completing a 60-day migrant interdiction patrol
WHERE: Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, 4000 Coast Guard Blvd., Portsmouth, VA, 23703
WHEN: 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023
Editor's Note: Media are asked to RSVP no later than 6 p.m. Tuesday with Atlantic Area Public Affairs at 757-614-9755 or by emailing D05-SMB-LANT-092@uscg.mil. Interested media are requested to arrive no later than 9 a.m. Wednesday with a valid driver's license and proof of insurance in order to be processed through security.
During the deployment, Bear intercepted Cuban and Haitian rustic migrant vessels bound for the United States. Bear and its crew prevented the dangerous and illegal voyages from reaching the U.S. mainland, upheld maritime laws and norms, and cared for hundreds of migrants before their ultimate repatriation.
Bear is a 270-foot, Famous-class medium endurance cutter with a crew of 100. The cutter’s primary mission areas include homeland security, law enforcement, counterdrug, search and rescue, migrant interdiction, and fisheries enforcement in support of U.S. Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.
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