THE ALASKA STORY
Oct. 25, 2026 – The Coast Guard cutter Munro has completed a 112-day Alaska patrol that included monitoring three Chinese research vessels, conducting exercises with Canadian forces and enforcing fishing regulations in the Bering Sea.
The 418-foot national security cutter returned to its homeport at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, Calif., on Oct. 9 after traveling more than 23,000 nautical miles across the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, according to the Coast Guard.
Operating under the Coast Guard Arctic District, Munro’s crew patrolled the nation’s northernmost maritime approaches, combining homeland defense missions with fisheries enforcement and joint operations with international partners.
During Operation Frontier Sentinel, the cutter monitored three Chinese-flagged research vessels operating in and around the US Arctic maritime domain. The Coast Guard said the crew worked to ensure the vessels complied with international maritime law while maintaining a U.S. presence in the region.
The patrol announcement did not identify the Chinese vessels or report any violations.
Munro also conducted combined exercises with the Royal Canadian Navy, practicing joint maneuvering and strengthening coordination on maritime law enforcement and awareness of vessel activity in polar waters.
Through a separate mission, Operation Tundra Merlin, the cutter worked with U.S. and Canadian military assets to test northern homeland defense capabilities. Those operations focused on integrating command-and-control networks and testing the readiness of forces responding to threats in northern maritime corridors.
“The Arctic is a demanding maritime environment that can test any crew and vessel,” said Capt. Adam J. Disque, Munro’s commanding officer.
“We were proud to sustain U.S. presence in the region to safeguard our Arctic coastline and reinforce a rules-based order in the High North.”
Disque said the deployment also strengthened coordination with Canadian counterparts across the remote region.
“I am exceptionally proud of everything this crew accomplished in one of the world’s most challenging maritime environments,” he said.
Alongside its defense missions, Munro carried out boardings of commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea. Law enforcement teams checked compliance with federal safety requirements and fisheries laws, supporting protection of an Alaska commercial fishing industry the Coast Guard valued at $6 billion.
Commissioned in 2017, Munro is one of four Legend-class national security cutters homeported in Alameda.
The cutter honors Signalman 1st Class Douglas A. Munro, the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient. Munro died Sept. 27, 1942, while helping rescue nearly 500 Marines under enemy fire at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal.
Munro’s roots were in the Pacific Northwest. Born Oct. 11, 1919, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to American parents, he moved with his family to the United States in 1922 and grew up in South Cle Elum, Washington. He briefly attended Central Washington College of Education before enlisting in the Coast Guard in Seattle in September 1939.
After recruit training at Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, he joined the cutter Spencer as it transferred from Valdez, Alaska, to Staten Island, New York, and served aboard it on Atlantic Neutrality Patrols. He later transferred to the attack transport USS Hunter Liggett, serving in Pacific operations that included the Guadalcanal campaign.
