Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The U.S. Navy has released details of its effort to
protect Kuwait.

The Navy’s Fifth Fleet has been conducting patrols in the northern Gulf
to prevent any attack on Kuwait. The Gulf Cooperation Council sheikdom
contains more than 25,000 U.S. soldiers, many of them assigned to sustain
the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan.

The Navy has been using a range of units, including the Coast Guard, to protect the Kuwait Naval Base. Joint patrols included an eight-meter patrol vessel as well as the Sea Ark tactical craft as part of the Commander Task Group.

“We completed every task with efficiency and professionalism.” Cmdr. Kevin Hanson, a commander of the group, said.

Commander Task Group 56.5 has been providing harbor security for Kuwait to ensure the flow of personnel and supplies in the northern Gulf. In an unusual arrangement, Coast Guard personnel were assigned to operate Navy vessels in Kuwaiti territorial waters near the coast of Iran.

“The deployment’s been really good, especially the training,” Steve
Murdick, a technician with the Coast Guard Port Security Unit 307, said. “The opportunity to get on Navy boats and learn something different was very valuable.”

In January, the U.S. military amassed a brigade-size
rapid-deployment force to respond to any crisis in Iraq as well as the Gulf.
The 4,000 combat troops were arriving in Kuwait and expected to reach full
strength within a few weeks.

“It speaks a lot to how well our units have integrated,” Hanson said.

  000 troops, 25, Cmdr. Kevin Hanson, Commander Task Group 56.5, Kuwait Naval Base, U.S. Coast Guard Port Security Unit 307, U.S. Fifth Fleet patrolling Gulf to secure Kuwait, U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet