69 Fall 2025 Proceedings for Bering and Arctic-deployed cutters: U.S. Coast Guard Base Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands’ commercial port facility in Dutch Harbor. While the two facilities are well established in providing all necessary logistics for Arctic deployments, they are a significant distance from the Arctic Circle. Kodiak Island is approximately 1,300 nauti- cal miles (NM) south, equating to roughly three-and-a- half days of transit for a national security cutter (NSC) in the most economical cruising speed and propulsion plant configuration, burning more than 33,000 gallons of fuel—roughly 15% of total fuel capacity. Dutch Harbor, the closest shoreside refueling option capable of handling an NSC alongside the pier, is approximately 800 NM south of the Arctic Circle, requiring a transit time of more than two days and burn- ing more than 20,000 gallons of fuel, or roughly 10% of total fuel capacity. Given the relationship between cut- ter speed and fuel consumption, the need to maintain a safe reserve fuel level for emergent operations, and the distance required to reach the next refueling port T he “tyranny of distance” is a considerable chal- lenge and planning factor throughout the Pacific. It is of particular significance in the Bering Sea and Arctic, where the challenges of distance are compounded by the exigencies of weather in an area known to meteo- rologists and mariners as “the birthplace of winds.” With increasing presence of foreign competitors operating throughout the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean, CGC Stratton developed options for refueling and resupplying farther north than the Coast Guard’s established logistics hubs in Kodiak and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The Arctic as a Competitive Space CGC Stratton, a national security cutter, deployed to the high latitudes from July through November 2024, sail- ing under the operational control of the Coast Guard’s Arctic, based out of Juneau, Alaska. While CGC Healy was temporarily sidelined for emergency repairs, CGC Alex Haley covered the Bering Search and Rescue (SAR) Guard. Stratton conducted Arctic operations, meeting the presence of foreign competitors, particularly in instances where those competitors crossed the Maritime Boundary Line separating U.S. and Russian exclusive economic zones.1 These strategic competitors included Russian submarines and naval surface ships,2 multiple People’s Republic of China (PRC) research vessels,3 a multina- tional group exercise featuring PRC and the Russian Navy,4 and a first-of-its-kind joint patrol of the Bering Sea and Arctic by the Russian Border Guard and the PRC Coast Guard.5 Anticipating the continued growth of the Arctic as a space that will require consistent U.S. Coast Guard maritime presence, Stratton sought opportunities to extend on-station time and capacity through refueling and resupply venues other than established bases in the Aleutians. Logistics Challenges in Arctic Operations Following an operational in-brief in Juneau, Stratton con- ducted logistics stops at the two primary logistics bases Arctic Fueling Extending time on scene in high latitudes through commercial fueling at sea by Capt bRian KRautleR Commanding Officer CGC Stratton U.S. Coast Guard CGC Stratton sails through Beaver Inlet near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in February 2024. Stratton and CGC Bailey Barco conducted joint cutter boat training and formation steaming while on patrol in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for fisheries enforcement, safety of life at sea, and sovereignty projection. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ian Gray
