You’ve no doubt heard that the CGC BOUTWELL has returned from it’s global circumnavigating journey, and if you hadn’t, well, their back. In a story found on the LA Times we get a glimpse of the sights they saw and their mission. So where’d they go? Well they seemed to have visited all the glamorous areas of the world including the Bering Strait, the Caribbean and the Persian Gulf.

But the mission wasn’t all fun and play. They were also abound conducting training with foreign military and gave some humanitarian aid. However the real fun came when the crew was called to action to assist in the M/V SKAFTAFELL who was under a pirate attack when their distress call was received by the Cutter. An MH-65 was dispatched and upon being spotted by the would-be pirates, they tried to walk away… or at least they got into their little skiff and tried to head back into Somalia. However, the LA Times points out-

When the cutter was within about a mile of the fleeing skiff, the captain sent two Zodiac boats loaded with special boarding teams to detain the vessel.

In the end seven were detained… and released. But the fact that we, the USCG, were there and that’s enough to make me smile.

h/t E.D.