OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, US Coast Guard Photo

UMM QASR, Iraq (March 10, 2004)-Chief Petty Officer John Bannow, 39, from Utica, Mich., of U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 203, retrieves a sample of residual oil from hidden tank during a dockside inspection of a 250-foot container ship suspected of oil smuggling with conflicting claims of registry. This was the first combined operation in the Iraqi Port of Umm Qasr involving the U.S. Coast Guard, the British trained Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service (IRPS), Royal Marines and Royal Navy. Members of LEDET 203 searched the vessel while the British trained IRPS, Royal Marines and Royal Navy provided security. Coast Guard LEDETs frequently deploy aboard U.S. Navy ships, and they are considered specialists in vessel boardings and shipboard investigations. The Chesapeake, Va., based LEDET 203 is deployed to the North Arabian Gulf to assist coalition forces as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. USCG photo by PA1 Matthew Belson