| LIFE IN SOLERA | DECEMBER 2022 | 23
People are often surprised when I tell them that our care package
project is sending packages to the Coast Guard in the Middle East.
They think of the Coast Guard as just patrolling our Coastal Waters.
While they do that, they also do much more. To tell the truth, back
in 2013, I was a bit surprised to learn that we had our Coast Guard
serving in Bahrain, in the Middle East. So I did a little research on
Bahrain — it is a small island in the Persian Gulf, near Saudi Arabia.
Great Britain established a presence there in the 1800s and a base in
1935. During the second world war, the United States used their base.
In 1971, the British treaty with Bahrain ended. In 1992, through an
agreement with the Bahrain government we took over part of the old
British base. Our Navy now has a base and an air base there. Having
a base in the Persian Gulf is very beneficial, as it is surrounded by
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Solera has supported the Navy, Army, Marine units as well as the
Coast Guard there.
We first started supporting the shore based Coast Guard in August
of 2013. In July 2015, we sent our first package to the cutter, Adak.
We supported the cruise for six continuous years until the ship's
decommissioning. We are currently supporting three of the six new
modern fast response cutters, stationed in Bahrain. These new cutters
are larger, faster, and more lethal. They can stay out longer and travel
farther than their predecessors. The cutter Robert Goldman made
some significant drug interdictions during her first year of service.
During the first part of October, the cutters Glenn Harris and Charles
Moultarope were part of a task force patrolling the Gulf of Oman.
They both made significant drug interdictions. See the photos above.
On Oct. 10, the Harris seized an estimated $48 million dollars worth
of drugs. She has interdicted almost $100 million dollars worth
of drugs since May. On Oct. 12, the Moulthrope also seized drugs
estimated at $29 million dollars. The two photos, with the cutter in
the background, are of the Harris. The picture with the small orange
boat alongside the ornate fishing boat is the Moulthrope crew. Solera
is supporting all three of these cutters. Thank you for caring. ~ Jesse
Donardt
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