SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 — The U.S. Coast Guard’s International Maritime Officer School is hosting the 72nd International Maritime Officer Course in Yorktown, Virginia. Twenty-seven students from 23 countries are attending the 12-week course, which aims to teach them how the USCG operates and to provide insight into the history and culture of the United States.
“It’s really international relationship building,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeremiah Mims, International Resident Training Branch and International Military Officer School chief. “They can learn from the way the U.S. Coast Guard does things, but it’s really about that relationship building. It’s amazing to watch how quickly they bond together.”
The students visited Philadelphia, Boston, the U.S. Coast Guard Leadership Development Center (LDC), New York City, Washington D.C., and the U.S. Naval Academy.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know multiple cultures from all over the world,” said Lt. j.g. Saif Chaouni, Royal Moroccan Navy. “It gave me more chances to get to know people from different countries, to discuss our differences, and to have a good time together.”
The East Coast trip is both historically informative and educational. The students worked together on bridge simulators at the LDC, demonstrating their knowledge of the rules of navigation and their ability to collaborate, regardless of their different backgrounds and experiences.
“IMOC was a really good experience. It allows you to learn a lot of the U.S. Coast Goard doctrine and how they do different procedures, and you get to compare them with how, in my case, the Colombian Navy does it,” said Lt. j.g. Pablo Gutierrez, operations officer, Santa Marta Coast Guard station, Columbian Navy. “I got to learn incident command systems procedures. It would be nice if we start implementing them because it is really helpful to handle different situations and emergencies. Also, I got to learn how the U.S. Coast Guard does search and rescue. There are also small differences that we can implement.”
The curriculum of IMOC helps facilitate interoperability for future joint operations. Each nation will have a better chance of knowing what to expect when working together.
“The U.S. Coast Guard is a global coast guard, but we are not the global coast guard. We like to share what we’ve learned with other coast-guard-like organizations and learn from them,” said Brian Lisko, USCG International Training chief. “At the end of September there will be 1660 IMOC graduates globally since its inception those graduates all help enforce the international rules-based order of which all our like-minded nations are a part of.”
The students will graduate on September 26, returning to their home countries with lasting friendships and the chance to share and apply what they have learned.
Story by Bryan Myhr
U. S. Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown