UPDATE #2 ON COAST GUARDSMEN'S RETURN FROM DEPLOYMENT TIME

DATE: December 11, 2004 7:27:38 PM EST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District

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Press Release

Date:
Dec. 11, 2004

Contact:
(727) 429-1759

UPDATE #2 ON COAST GUARDSMEN'S RETURN FROM DEPLOYMENT TIME

*Media Advisory: The media is invited to attend the homecoming event early tomorrow morning at 1:30 a.m. A second group of PSU members are slated to arrive sometime early tomorrow morning. Media interested in attending this event as well are asked to page (727) 429-1759 to ask to be notified once the arrival time is confirmed. Please see below for details on the media availability location for tonight and tomorrow.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Members of Coast Guard Port Security Unit 307 (PSU 307) based here will return home Saturday after an 11-month deployment to the Persian Gulf.

PSU 307 deployed in February and was assigned under U.S. Central Command for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

More than 100 PSU 307 personnel were deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During their deployment to the Middle East, they utilized their skills and expertise to help enforce antiterrorism and force protection for U.S. operations at the Kuwaiti Naval Base and in Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait. Despite a high operational tempo, PSU members continued a rigorous training schedule in a variety of weapons, tactics, and a possible mass casualty scenario with U.S. and Kuwaiti forces. Port Security Unit members are trained to provide waterborne and limited land-based protection for shipping and critical port facilities throughout the world.

PSU 307 has been deployned three other times since 2001. Following the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen, members of PSU 307 deployed to Bahrain in February of 2001 for five months for Operation Southern Watch. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, catapulted the unit into action in the port of Boston for ninety days for Operation Noble Eagle. In June 2002, they were deployed to Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for six months again as a part of Operation Noble Eagle.

Editor's Note: PSU 307 is scheduled to arrive at a local hotel at 2 a.m. tomorrow. Media is invited to attend the homecoming of the PSU at the LaQuinta Inn in Clearwater (3301 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater, Fla. - 727-572-7222). Family members will be at the hotel to greet their returning loved ones.

There will also be a welcome home ceremony at Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater at 2:00 p.m., Monday, Dec. 13. Media is also invited to attend this ceremony. Those interested in attending the ceremony should be at the air station by 1:30 p.m. Monday.

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The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the
Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America.

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