The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Rentz (FFG 46) is expected to depart San Diego for a scheduled deployment to the 4th Fleet area of operations, July 25.
The ship is expected to play an integral part in the counter transnational organized crime (C-TOC) mission Operation Martillo (Spanish for “hammer”). Operation Martillo is a U.S., European, and Western Hemisphere partner-nation effort targeting illicit trafficking routes in coastal waters along the Central American isthmus. U.S. military participation is being led by Joint Interagency Task Force-South, a component of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM).
Operation Martillo is a component of the U.S. government’s coordinated interagency regional security strategy in support of the White House strategy to combat transnational organized crime and the U.S. Central America Regional Security Initiative.
“Rentz has a history of being involved in these types of operations, having deployed most recently to the U.S. 4th Fleet in 2011 in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force-South,” said Cmdr. Lance Lantier, commanding officer of Rentz. “We are pleased to assist our brothers and sisters in the law enforcement community with stemming the flow of illicit narcotics from entering our shores.”
Rentz will also participate in the annual multinational UNITAS maritime exercise in September with naval forces from Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom and Canada. The exercise will be conducted in the Southern Caribbean Sea off the coast of Colombia.
Along with the crew of Rentz, the drug interdiction team includes the ship’s organic Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team providing support for the Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET-104). Rentz will be supported by the “Scorpions” of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 49, Det. 5, based at Naval Air Station North Island.
Rentz helps provide deterrence, promote peace and security, preserve freedom of the seas, and humanitarian/disaster response when deployed.
U.S. Third Fleet leads naval forces in the Eastern Pacific from the West Coast of North America to the international date line and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy.
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