Lt. Jake Monson played football most of his youth, so when he graduated high school, he looked for options with that “team feeling” that could also help pay for college and be something that mattered.
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He headed to the Coast Guard Academy in New London, an hour from where he grew up in Connecticut. Then to the USCGC Reliance, a 210-foot class cutter based in Florida.
Last year, Monson was named commanding officer of the USCG Narwhal, an 87-foot patrol boat typically docked in Newport Harbor and one of six charged with regularly protecting the coast from the Mexican border to the Channel Islands.
Kyle Franco, US Coast Guard cutter Narwhal Boatswain Mate 2, stains one of the ships quarterboards, bearing the name “Narwhal,” ahead of a visit to Dana Point Harbor on Sunday, as the ship is docked in Corona del Mar on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register/SCNG)
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Annabella Farabaugh and Lt.J.G. Jake Monson salute at the Coast Guard Cutter Narwhal (WPB-87335) change of command ceremony, at the harbor in Newport Beach, California, July 17, 2025. Monson relieved Farabaugh, who will be assigned to the Force Design 2028 team. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photos taken by Petty Officer 3rd Class Richard B Uranga)
Lt. Jake Monson stands with his crew aboard the Narwhal, a Coast Guard patrol boat that operates off Southern California and is the only active Coast Guard unit in Orange County. (Photo courtesy of Jake Monson)
A narwhal toy sits atop a radio in the bridge of the US Coast Guard cutter Narwhal, an 87-foot Marine Protector-class coastal patrol cutter, docked in Corona del Mar on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The unit crest of the US Coast Guard cutter Narwhal, an 87-foot Marine Protector-class coastal patrol cutter responsible for patrolling the waters off Southern California, docked in Corona del Mar on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lt. Jake Monson stands on the deck of the US Coast Guard cutter Narwhal, an 87-foot Marine Protector-class coastal patrol cutter, docked in Corona del Mar on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lt. Jake Monson sits on the bridge of the US Coast Guard cutter Narwhal, an 87-foot Marine Protector-class coastal patrol cutter responsible for patrolling water off Southern California, docked in Corona del Mar on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The job, Monson said, turned out to be exactly what he envisioned when he signed up, hitting all the ABCs: “A career that includes adventure, belonging to a team and forming close bonds with people who have each other’s backs, and working with people of character.”
“I really like being afloat,” he said of his days over the last year out at sea with his crew of 10 on the Narwhal. “I’ve been loving it ever since.”
He’s been all over the world: Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guantanamo Bay, Mexico and Panama.
“All the things that a normal person doesn’t get to do,” he said of his opportunities. “They don’t get to see all the stars at night, or see the dolphins and whales for free, see these cool places and ports of call. Being separated from the rest of the world for a while is also a cool experience.”
As commanding officer of the Narwhal, Monson has had his share of excitement on duty. The Narwhal’s mission is to secure the country’s maritime borders, but its crew also participates in search and rescues, oversees local fisheries, and responds to oil spills.
His crew helped form a safety zone around the OOCL Sunflower, an ultra-large container ship on a voyage from Taiwan to the Port of Los Angeles in March; the Narwhal was the patrol commander for the Pacific Airshow and created a safety zone in the water off Huntington Beach; and the crew has made “a few migrant busts” this year near the California/Mexico border.
On Saturday, the Narwhal will visit the Dana Point Harbor, docking next to the Ocean Institute, as part of a public outreach mission. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the public can tour the ship, speak with its crew, and learn about some of its capabilities. An earlier planned visit in January had to be canceled when the vessel remained at sea during a mission.
Its visit is coordinated by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Division 6. The volunteers support the service branch’s active-duty members with recreational boating outreach, safety inspections and active-duty missions, but do not engage in law enforcement activities.
A recent boost in funding for the Coast Guard by the Trump Administration — a historic nearly $25 billion in 2025 and another $13.5 billion for 2026 — to help protect the homeland is strengthening the service overall, a Coast Guard spokesperson said. It’s undergoing a major transformation for the first time in decades, recruiting 15,000 new people to its ranks and bolstering its leadership.
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That includes adding a secretary and undersecretary of the Coast Guard in a federal bill introduced this month. It would be a first for the 43,000-member service and give it parity with the other armed forces.
The service expansion also includes investing in future officers, revitalizing the Coast Guard Reserves, and removing bureaucratic hurdles for its civilian workforce, officials said. The service is also investing in new technology.
Monson said he has seen firsthand the benefits of the additional funding in the form of creature comforts for his ship. New mattresses, cookware, dishes and cups have arrived. There are also new desks for officers and enlisted Coasties to do their paperwork.
Many of the patrol boats — including the Narwhal in the future — are being overhauled in dry docks for better maintenance. In dry dock, Monson said the ships can get a more thorough workup and address some maintenance that had to be deferred.
“They laid out a plan to change the Coast Guard for the better, and they’ve slowly been implementing each of those phases,” he said, including lots of new Coasties. “I see now we’re a little bottom-heavy and that’s because so many people are coming in.”
Monson said it is very easy to get new “non-rates,” which are enlisted service members that haven’t yet been sent to a special school to learn a specific job or skill, such as navigation and seamanship skills or going to machinery technician school where they learn to work with engines and be engineers aboard cutters, small boats or stations.
“There’s a lot of initiative to bring people up quicker based on their ability,” he said.
Still, getting into the much smaller service might not be as easy as the nation’s other service branches. The recruiting standards focus on high academic scores and have very little tolerance for medical or criminal waivers, officials said. Some recruiting is done by members themselves.
Monson said he went on recruiting leave while at the academy and spoke at local high schools. There is also “hometown recruiting,” a newer effort in which Coasties are given a month to go back to their own hometown and recruit for enlisted members.
“The people we do get are high-performing, who care about the community and take a lot of pride in what they do,” Monson said. “I haven’t met any Coasties that are lazy. They want to get after it; they want to help people. I think the standard person you find in the Coast Guard they go above and beyond. They’re from cross-sections of America, just really great people.”
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If you go
What: Narwhal visits Dana Point Harbor
When: Saturday, July 25
Where: Docked at the Ocean Institute, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr.
Tours: Free between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Parking: Ocean Institute and harbor lots nearby are free