Coast Guard Unit Returns Home Following Nine-Month Deployment to Gitmo

Coast Guardsmen, who is assigned to Port Security Unit 311, holds his daughter upon arrival on March 11, 2019. Port Security Unit 311 returned to Long Beach, CA after being deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for nine months in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. PSUs are anti-terrorism force protection expeditionary units with boat crews and shore-side security teams capable of supporting port and waterway security anywhere the military operates. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Emaia Rise)

SAN PEDRO, California — Coast Guard members from San Pedro-based Port Security Unit 311 returned home April 11 following a nine-month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a release.

During the deployment, PSU 311 members maintained a continuous maritime anti-terrorism and force protection presence in the Naval Defensive Sea Area of Guantanamo Bay, directly supporting the commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo.

The unit coordinated operations and conducted joint training with elements of JTF Guantanamo, the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Harbor Protection Unit and the Marine Corps Security Force Company. The units are jointly responsible for providing anti-terrorism and force protection of Guantanamo Bay Naval reservation and adjoining waters.

“I am extraordinarily proud of the men and women of PSU 311 and their professionalism, diligence and devotion to duty while deployed to Guantanamo Bay,” said Cmdr. Laila Grassley, PSU 311’s commanding officer. “They gave their all to the mission at hand — standing a vigilant watch while conducting their maritime security and force protection mission.”

Established in May 1995 as a Coast Guard Reserve unit, PSU 311 is an expeditionary warfare unit specializing in maritime anti-terrorism, force protection and port security in support of military or humanitarian operations worldwide. The unit has an operational heritage, including deployments to Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq, providing force protection for critical infrastructure and U.S. and coalition vessels in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.