Honolulu-homeported U.S. Coast Guard cutter Kimball has left Kagoshima, Japan after participating in a days-long joint training exercise with the Japan Coast Guard, U.S. officials said Feb. 16. Members from both agencies engaged in several search-and-rescue exercises and other activities in Kagoshima Bay, including “collaborative mission planning, boat handling and helicopter operations, and demonstrated techniques for locating, recovering and hoisting a simulated distressed swimmer.” The U.S. Coast Guard command also visited the Japan Coast Guard’s 10th Regional Headquarters and gave tours of the cutter to several Japan Coast Guard members and the community. The events nurture the newly inked memorandum of cooperation…

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Kimball returned to its homeport of Honolulu on Oct. 28 after participating in search and rescue activities and did patrols in fisheries enforcement in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and netted the vessel’s first Coast Guard Arctic Service Medal. The medal is awarded to any member of the United States Coast Guard who performs 21 days of non-consecutive duty afloat or ashore north of the Arctic Circle. While traveling more than 100 days and 22,000 miles, the crew came across Russian and Chinese naval vessels in the Bering Sea.  “The formation, which was transiting through…