[3][4] She was delivered to the United States Coast Guard for a final evaluation and shakedown on December 10, 2013,[1] and the vessel was commissioned on March 8, 2014.

[6] According to Marine Log, modifications to the Coast Guard vessels from the Stan 4708 design include an increase in speed from 23 to 28 knots (43 to 52 km/h; 26 to 32 mph), fixed-pitch rather than variable-pitch propellers, stern launch capability, and watertight bulkheads.

Charles Sexton joined in the search for the freighter El Faro, which disappeared during an October 2015 Hurricane Joaquin.

In November, 2018, the Charles Sexton, and her sister ship, the William Trump, interdicted 36 Cuban migrants, and repatriated 35 of them to Cabañas, Cuba.

The vessel is named after Charles W. Sexton, who served as a Machinery Technician in the United States Coast Guard.