European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Assignment red sea Seaman John Mikulon Iii readies a .50 Caliper machine gun to protect a Stark boarding party. Stark Petty officer 2nd class Charles Hagan signals an australian ship. Aboard the Sydney an australian Navy ship sailors practice at protecting a boarding party. 6 the stars and stripes january 4, 1992assignment, red sea 1 coast guard it Pat Belsh goes Over ships documents with the master of a cargo ship registered out of Malta. . Coast est bring Thor special skills by j. King Cruger staff writer the multinational naval maritime interdiction Force has intercepted More than 12,000 ships and boarded nearly 2,800 in the Effort to keep the clamps on Iraq. Quot it has acted As a tremendous deterrent to Iraq reconstituting its military although some other goods May be smuggled in or out Quot said . Coast guard capt Ned Kiley until recently the ranking coast guard officer on the staff of . Naval forces Central come in Bahrain. Kiley who helped coordinate the commands maritime intercept operations All current maritime interdiction efforts against Iraq Are taking place in the red sea. Iraq s ports on the arabian Gulf Are inoperable due to War damage and blocked Waterways so maritime cargo destined for Iraq must be landed at Jordan sport of Aqaba and then trucked to Iraq said Kiley a 45-year-old resident of Annandale a. The coast guard has 24 people assigned to naval forces Central come in Bahrain. The primary duty of a dozen of them is to advise the command on which merchant ships should be allowed to proceed to their destinations Kiley explained. The other 12 Are assigned to three four Man enforcement teams each headed by an officer that help the Navy Board ships. Two teams recently were operating in the red sea aboard the . Navy frigates Aubrey Fitch and Stark the third team was training arabian Gulf navies in boarding techniques and was poised to conduct intercepts should Trade to Iraq Start up again through those Waters Kiley said. One of the 24 coast guardsmen serving in the red sea Waits to scramble up the Side of a cargo ship. The maritime interdiction operations against Iraq began late in the summer of 1990 after the United nations Security Council acting in response to iraqis invasion of Kuwait passed Resolution 661 that Resolution prohibited the Export or import of All but Medicine and some food shipment subsequently the United nations adopted Resolution 665 allowing member nations to use naval Force to enforce 661. Kiley said the sanctions have remained in effect because Iraq did not comply with the timetable Tor destruction of certain of its weapons and did not allow proper inspection of its weapons facilities under terms of the cease fire Resolution 6b7 food shipments into Iraq Are permitted without prior notification also certain humanitarian supplies such As tents Lor refugees and irrigation pumps Are allowed provided the shipments Are cleared by the u n Kiley said however no Trade at All is allowed out of Iraq and Impi ships Are not allowed to engage in trading of my kind Kiley stated a the coast guard brings a wealth of expertise in the Mif s efforts in the red sea. Said  Navy Cut Itei bulk Eloy until recently the commander of the Milf operation the Quot casties Quot have extensive experienc it e a boardings and know the Layouts of various vessels he said also they Benefit from their continuing involvement with drug interdiction efforts a four Man parly of coast guardsmen is Purl of every 12-Man boarding team and the casties say the american sailors have caught on fast a the Navy is so Well trained in boarding operations Here that my Job is practically not needed said coast guard it Pat Bemish. A boarding team Leader aboard the Aubrey Fitch Quot this the Mif operation has Given the Navy a whole depth of experience in boarding Thal could pay of m America s drug interdiction  Kiley added january 4, 1992 the stare and stripes 7