Nowhere on the North Olympic Peninsula is stepped up security more noticeable than in Port Angeles Harbor.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Coast Guard took on a new, more militarized role.
The pace of Coast Guard operations surged, shifting swiftly from traditional search and rescue duties to homeland security.
New cutters and patrol boats have arrived at Coast Guard Group Port Angeles — which covers a command stretching from Port Townsend to LaPush — and more are planned in the coming years.
In the Strait of Juan de Fuca, patrol boats from Port Angeles and Port Townsend escort Trident nuclear submarines from their Hood Canal berths at Bangor Naval Submarine Base to the Pacific Ocean.
In the sky, HH-65A “Dolphin” helicopters from the Coast Guard air station at the tip of Port Angeles’ Ediz Hook fly over ships in the Strait on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.
On the ground, a guard is stationed at the entrance to the Ediz Hook station, which wasn’t always the case before Sept. 11.
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