by Nick Delgado

Guam - If you traveled anywhere near the Agat Marina on Tuesday you may have noticed the high number of law enforcement and military personnel. It's part of the U.S. Coast Guard's search and rescue exercise.

"The Coast Guard has received a report of a party barge and fishing vessel colliding two nautical miles off of Agat, the report is over a dozen people in the water, all vessels in the area requested to keep a sharp lookout for any sightings," loudly announced a Coast Guard official over a squawk box of the mock situation. It's a mass rescue operation conducted down south this morning. Ltjg Richard Russel added, "We are simulating 30 people in the water so it s a pretty serious search and rescue case so we are working on interoperability and working together to respond to this big incident."

"This is one of the larger scale exercises the U.S. Coast Guard has joined with other local government law enforcement agencies including about 50 personnel, all done 3 and a half miles off the coast of Agat Marina."

A joint effort with the Guam Police, Guam Fire, Homeland Security, the National Guard, and for the first time - the Department of Agriculture's Aquatic Wildlife, according to conservation officer Rolando Delfin. "Because we are the Government of Guam and have asset resources, as far as search and rescue it's the basics that we have such as CPR-based on previous experience with homeland security, triaging and where to bring them to a site," he said.

The NAVY HSC 25, the USCG Cutter Washington, and the Coast Guard H-26 HELO all roving the area picking up the dummy victims made out of coconuts and weight suits, traveling on a 25-foot Coast Guard response also serves as a plus for these types of mission according to Senior Chief Nicholas Pavlik. "The speed is a must but also the boat is designed for high speed tactical type situations and that comes into play when we are doing ports, waterway and coastal security," he said.

It was a smooth exercise, but not so much smooth sailing battling the rough swells. Each casualty pulled to the shore for treatment if they survived the crash. All in all a successful joint mission complete.