41 Fall 2024 Proceedings stakeholder in the Indo-Pacific. We maintain strong part- nerships with the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, who each have teams devoted to assessing and improving port security in the region. Our interests and goals are aligned so closely that senior leaders in each country have signed SOIs agreeing to collaborate in numerous ways including sharing schedules and con- ducting joint capacity-building operations. A signed SOI or MOU sets the framework for years of cooperation between the United States and our trade partners in Oceania and Southeast Asia. At the tip of the spear, IPSLOs operationalize and personalize those agreements, which is exactly what I was tasked to do in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). In Majuro, the four-square-mile capital of RMI, our visiting Coast Guard team of four was quickly the talk of the town. Upon arrival, we met with our program contact, a commander in the Royal Australian Navy, and after some handshakes, “mates,” and other colorful lan- guage that I had to later Google, we were invited to an event at the ambassador’s compound. The compound was five cinderblock bungalows situated a few feet from the Pacific Ocean. It was stunning. As if we were old friends, the Australian commander prepared a homemade meal for us. It was the most deli- cious poke I have ever had anywhere. For five hours our Coast Guard team, the Australian ambassador, and his naval staff bonded over stories of our travels in the region, subsequently revealing themes of common suc- cesses and struggles. When we flew out the next day, we not only left with business cards for official corre- spondence, we also left with friends and colleagues we could call on for support and advice in the crowded and complex Indo-Pacific. Three weeks later, my plane screeched to a halt on a tiny runway on the island of Kosrae, the smallest and easternmost island state of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). It is the kind of place where there are only two flights arriving and departing each week, so your host knows which flight you are arriving on because it is only one landing on the island that day. When you depart, you can park your unlocked rental car at the airport and leave the keys in it. Everyone knows and trusts everyone. Hence, the afternoon we arrived everyone knew our Coast Guard team was landing on the same plane as the country’s vice president. To our surprise, the state’s governor was there to greet both parties. The governor invited us to celebrate the opening of a new fish process- ing plant on the island and the vice president invited us to breakfast with him and his wife the following morning. At the celebration, we broke bread with the governor and the community elders, who have significant, albeit unofficial, leadership roles on the island. We danced to local songs played by the island’s lone band and listened to our hosts’ stories of changes they have seen on Kosrae over the years. The next morning, we met the vice presi- dent for breakfast. He ordered seared tuna with eggs over-easy, which was not on the menu. I complimented his choice and ordered the same. As fate would have it, he was a basketball player and an avid fan. Our conver- sation flowed comfortably when he learned of my days playing for the Coast Guard Academy. We talked about the upcoming Pacific Island Games and his hopes for the FSM team’s success. Lastly, we agreed to play basketball on my next trip to the island. This conversation took place while delegates from FSM were in Washington, D.C., renegotiating the Compact of Freely Associated States Treaty—an agree- ment between FSM, RMI, Palau, and the United States. No contracts were signed that morning over our eggs, but the smiles and mutual love of basketball strengthened relationships and likely contributed to the advancement the Coast Guard’s shiprider agreement. The agreement allows Coast Guard patrol boats to enforce illegal, unre- ported, and unregulated fishing laws on behalf of the FSM government. Two months later and 4,000 miles to the southwest, I was on a mission in Kuala Lumpur, the bustling capi- tal city of Malaysia. The city is a beautiful balance of From left to right, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Vice President Aren B. Palik, Coast Guard LCDR Grant W. Johnson, CDR Brierely Ostrander, FSM Second Lady Adelita Abraham Palik, FSM economic officer Frank Talluto, and LCDR Christine Igisomar pause for a group photo following an informal breakfast meeting on the island of Kosrae. Courtesy photo by LCDR Grant W. Johnson
