1960s and 1970s In her earlier years,
Dallas collected
meteorological and
oceanographic data while on ocean station as part of the Gate Project, and she assisted commercial aircraft crossing the
Atlantic Ocean. During seven combat patrols off the coast of
Vietnam,
Dallas undertook 161 gunfire support missions involving 7,665 rounds of her 5-inch ammunition. This resulted in 58 sampans destroyed and 29
Viet Cong supply routes, bases, camps, or rest areas damaged or destroyed. Her gun made her very valuable to the naval missions in the area. During the United States Bicentennial in 1976,
Dallas became the first US vessel to serve as escort of .
Dallas served as a patrol vessel for the 1977
America's Cup Regatta out of
Newport, Rhode Island. In September 1978,
Dallas joined the search on
Georges Bank for
Captain Cosmo, a fishing vessel out of
Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Dallas encountered seas during that search as high as the bridge wings, the decks of which are 38 feet from the waterline.
Dallas also came upon the
Queen Elizabeth 2 on that patrol, which reported taking a
rogue wave over the bow that cracked windows on the bridge. The
Captain Cosmo was lost with all hands in high seas. In April 1979, as
Dallas was wrapping up a patrol and heading into
Bermuda for a weekend of
R&R, she received orders to sail south to the Caribbean island of
Saint Vincent. Its volcano,
La Soufrière, was threatening to erupt and
Dallas might be called upon to evacuate islanders. After several days of patrolling nearby, the volcano did send a large ash plum skyward, but an evacuation was not needed.
1980s In 1980,
Dallas was the command ship for the historic
Mariel Boatlift, during which 125,000 Cuban refugees set sail for the shores of
Florida. At the time, it was the largest humanitarian operation ever undertaken by the Coast Guard. In 1983, the
Dallas earned a Coast Guard Unit Commendation for achievements that included the seizure of seven vessels smuggling over of
marijuana and the interdiction of 90 illegal Haitian migrants. In 1986,
Dallas served as the on-scene command for the
search and rescue operation following the
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. For her service during this operation,
Dallas received the Coast Guard's Meritorious Unit Commendation. In the late 1980s,
Dallas underwent a
fleet rehabilitation and modernization (FRAM) program in the
Bath Iron Works shipyard at
Portland, Maine. During that period, her living quarters, electronics, sensors, and weapons systems were upgraded to allow continued service beyond the year 2000.
Dallas was recommissioned by the "
cross-decked" crew from on December 20, 1989.
1990s During the Haitian migrant crisis of 1991–92,
Dallas performed as the
flagship of a
flotilla of twenty-seven Coast Guard cutters that rescued 35,000 migrants from hundreds of overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels.
Dallas received a Humanitarian Service Medal and another Coast Guard Unit Commendation for her efforts in establishing an operation task organization that serves as the model for today's Coast Guard multi-unit operation. In response to the renewed threats of a mass exodus from Haiti, Operation Able Manner began in January 1993, with large numbers of Coast Guard and
U.S. Navy ships and aircraft deploying to the Caribbean.
Dallas assumed command of this flotilla on three separate patrols in 1993, earning her yet another Coast Guard Unit Commendation.
Dallas spent the summer of 1994 representing the Coast Guard in France at the 50th
D-Day invasion anniversary. During those festivities,
Dallas steamed with the reenactment fleet to commemorate the event. Soon after the D-Day celebration,
Dallas was called upon to be the flagship for the Operation Able Vigil in response to another mass exodus from Cuba. Able Vigil was the largest Coast Guard commanded, but multi-service, operation since the 1940s. During the summer of 1995,
Dallas operated with the
United States Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Among her many assignments,
Dallas worked with the Battle Group in support of
Operation Deny Flight off the coast of
Yugoslavia.
Dallass crew conducted nation-building training and professional exchange in various countries in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea, and the Black Sea.
Dallas worked with the navies, coast guards, and maritime agencies of Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Slovenia, Albania, and Italy. This marked the first time that a U.S. Coast Guard cutter operated with the U.S. Sixth Fleet and also entered the Black Sea.
Dallas earned the Armed Forces Service Medal for her contributions to Operations Deny Flight, Maritime Monitor, and Sharp Guard. During 1997 and 1998,
Dallas served as the flagship for Operations Frontier Shield and Frontier Lance, the largest interagency, international counter-narcotic operations in the Caribbean to date. In the summer of 1999,
Dallas was again assigned to the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and Black Seas to support allied forces during the conflict in
Kosovo. While en route, the conflict ended, but
Dallas was ordered to remain in theater to conduct training and professional exchanges with US Naval units and foreign naval forces.
Dallas became the first Coast Guard cutter to enter the ports of
Haifa, Israel, and
Antalya, Turkey, and she conducted training exercises with the
Ukrainian Navy, Turkish Coast Guard,
Georgian Navy, and the armed forces of
Malta. During the entire 1990-2000 decade
Dallas held the Commander of the Atlantic Area's Operational Readiness Award for sustained excellence in all Coast Guard warfare mission areas.
2000s Following the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on
New York and
Virginia,
Dallas was deployed as part of
Operation Noble Eagle off the coast of the southeastern United States. Her mission was to interrogate and board vessels entering US waterways. This marked a change in the Coast Guard's operations as an emphasis on homeland security preceded
Dallass previous missions of drug interdiction and operations with the U.S. Navy overseas. During the summer of 2002,
Dallas took part in a new approach to maritime drug interdiction. Deployed alongside
Gallatin, the only other 378-foot cutter on the East Coast,
Dallas took part in Operation New Frontier. Operation New Frontier utilized armed helicopters from the
Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) to stop small high-speed vessels ("go-fasts") before they could reach their destination. In 2003,
Dallas was assigned to the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Dallas initially provided armed escorts through the Straits of Gibraltar and conducted boardings of vessels leaving the Suez Canal, as the Iraqis retreated.
Dallas made port calls in
Rota, Spain,
Split, Croatia,
Sicily, and
Madeira, Portugal. In August 2008,
Dallas was sent to Georgia's shoreline on the Black Sea in support of
Operation Assured Delivery in order to bring humanitarian supplies to those affected by the
South Ossetia war. With Georgia's main naval base at
Poti effectively under Russian control,
Dallas instead docked at
Batumi, as did and nine other
NATO ships.
Dallass awards include: two
Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, three
Coast Guard Unit Commendations, a
Navy Unit Commendation (as part of the
Battle Force 6th Fleet Task Force 60 for Operation Iraqi Freedom), two
Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations, a
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, the
Vietnam Service Medal, the
Armed Forces Service Medal, three
Humanitarian Service Medals, numerous
Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbons, the
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, the
Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation, and the
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Transfer to the Philippine Navy The
Philippine Navy officially confirmed the Joint Visual Inspection (JVI) by its officials led by Rear Admiral Orwen Cortez of South Carolina-based
Hamilton-class cutter USCGC
Dallas from October 31 to November 5, 2011. The ship was transferred as an excess defense article through the
Foreign Assistance Act via a "hot transfer" in May 2012. The Philippine Navy renamed the vessel after a
World War II naval hero,
Ramon A. Alcaraz. ==In popular culture==