Philippine Dental Assistant Erlinda L. Tagud consults with U.S. Navy HM2 Eric Fogt and Philippine Navy CHM Diosdado Delasa about a young boy’s prescription at Kalalake High School in Olongapo City. Photo by PH2 Laura Heinkel, USNR

The U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement team conducted two days of classroom discussions with their Philippine counterparts. The third day was a practical exercise aboard the cutter Mellon.  Armed with mock 9-mm pistols, 60 Filipino sailors and Coast Guardsmen boarded the cutter in groups of 10 as if it were an errant ship. The safety team visits the pilothouse first. There they talk to the vessel’s master, check its paper work, and ask questions about the master’s intentions.

During the exercise, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Emily Reuter played the part of the suspicious ship’s captain. “We have one person unaccounted for,” she told the Philippine boarding team. “He came on board the ship during our last stop. I don’t know a lot about him, and he’s been a problem.”  The Philippine boarding team then searched for the missing man.

“Every corner should be covered when you’re trying to clear a space,” said U.S. Coast Guard OS2 Denys Rivas. “Come into a space close, tight, and quick when you’re looking for someone,” he added, as they searched and cleared spaces on the ship. “Don’t stand in the middle of a doorway when you’re entering an adjoining space. That’s called the fatal funnel. You need to stand at an angle in the doorway and, hopefully, if he’s in that next space, you’ll see him before he sees you.”

Noting the U.S. Coast Guard’s method of searching a ship, Lt. Cmdr. Ernesto Magrare, the Philippine Navy’s exercise CARAT evaluator, said, “The U.S. Coast Guard has a very systematic procedure. It’s very applicable to our Navy and Coast Guard. We can improve our procedures based on what we’ve learned during this exercise.”

When the boarding team caught the ship’s missing crewmember, the next step was to search and detain him. Once the exercise was over, OS2 Rivas noted that the book the crewmember had in his hand could have been dangerous. “I have found guns in beepers and guns in shoes,” he said.

The U.S. Coast Guard learned from the Philippine Coast Guard about a new technique used by smugglers that would help the U.S. Coast Guard in future boarding operations. “They’re seeing contraband placed in the fish hole of a ship,” said Lt. j.g. Reuter. “The smugglers cover the contraband with a layer of rotting fish to create a repulsive condition. If we run across rotting fish, maybe it’s someone who is trying to hide something.”