With her crew of 24 officers and 160 enlisted men and women, she was homeported in Seattle, Washington under the operational and administrative control of Commander, Pacific Area (COMPACAREA).

Coast Guard Cutter Midgett's keel was laid April 5, 1971 at the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana, and she was launched on September 4, 1971.

Her responsibilities included Homeland Security, Search and Rescue, Maritime Law Enforcement, and Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations as well as maintaining military readiness in support of NATO allies and the U.S. Navy.

One of ten high endurance cutters on the west coast, her normal patrol areas included the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska and Central American waters, enforcing the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (200-mile or 320-kilometre limit) and drug interdiction laws.

Her namesake, the late Chief Warrant Officer John Allen "BOSN/Bosun" Midgett, Jr. was born in 1876 in Rodanthe, North Carolina, and served for nearly forty years with the United States Life-Saving Service and the Coast Guard.