Adm.

Robert Papp
Commandant
Vice Adm. Sally Brice-O‘Hara
Vice Commandant
Rear Adm. Karl Schultz
Director of Governmental &
Public Affairs
Capt. Ron LaBrec
Chief, Public Affairs
Jordan St. John
Cool customers Deputy Chief, Public Affairs
Coast Guardsmen PAC CC Clayton
undergo ICCE training at Editor-in-Chief
Station Saginaw River. PA1 Kip Wadlow
Averting Executive Editor
No price tag on safety Disaster PA3 Victoria Bonk
Coast Guard inspectors work to improve Senior Editor
Coast Guard and Navy
commercial fishing vessel safety. Telfair Brown
crews team up to assist Surface tension Director of Photography
disabled cruise ship. Coast Guardsmen train to become Cutter PA1 Anastasia Devlin
Rescue Swimmers. PA2 Pat Kelley

30
Associate Editors

12 14
16 32 34
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Coast Guard Magazine, COMDT PUB

P5720.2, is produced for members of the
Week in the Coast Guard U.S. Coast Guard by members of the U.S.
Coast Guard. Unless otherwise noted, all
A snapshot of the many roles, missions and stories, photographs and graphics are
significant events the Coast Guard performed produced by Coast Guard employees.

during the week of Feb. 7-13. Editorial content is unofficial and not
authority for action. Views and opinions
expressed do not necessarily reflect those
of the Department of Homeland Security or
the Coast Guard. Stories may be reprinted
except stories and articles reprinted, by
permission, from other publications.

Cover: Marine Safety and Security Team

8 From the Helm San Diego boat crews conduct training

near the USS Midway in San Diego Bay Jan.
Coast Guard leadership discusses 4, 2011. Photo by PA1 Allyson Conroy.
their vision for the service. For mor
information about the Commandant‘s
Direction please visit: http://www.
uscg.mil/seniorleadership/DOCS/CCGs-
Direction-2011.pdf
 PORT CALL
JUNEAU, Alaska – The Coast Guard Cutter
Hamilton makes its approach to the pier
at Coast Guard Station Juneau following a
three month Bering Sea patrol, Feb. 4, 2011.
Photo by PA3 Jon-Paul Rios.
 CELEBRATING DIVERSITY

HONOLULU - Retired Master Chief Petty Officer Vincent

Patton, the first African American Master Chief Petty
Officer of the Coast Guard, addresses Coast Guardsmen
in honor of African-American history month during a
ceremony at Base Support Unit Honolulu, Feb. 24, 2011.
Photo by PA3 Michael De Nyse.
 Qualified vs. Proficient
Adm. Bob Papp, Commandant

O ne of my guiding principles as Commandant is to Honor

Our Profession. That is why one of my highest priorities
is to ensure that members of our Service work toward achieving
proficiency in their chosen field.
I have no doubt that each and every Coast Guardsman strives
to achieve excellence in his or her specialty. However, the
rapid expansion of activities we perform has led to a substantial
increase in the skills individuals must learn and retain. In many cases this has placed our focus on
simply training to a level of basic qualification.
Let me give you some examples. You can take your crew to the small arms range and get them
qualified. You can get a boat coxswain qualified. You can get a boarding team member qualified. You
can get a marine inspector qualified. You can get an air crewman qualified. But qualification is a
minimum standard.
Now I do not mean to minimize the value of qualification. Qualification is a significant step in
professional development – it is a certification by a Commanding Officer or supervisor that a Coast
Guardsman has not only completed the requirements to perform his or her duties, but has also exhibited
the necessary judgment. Qualification, however, is only the first rung of the professional development
ladder. My goal is for every Coast Guardsman to continue progressing up their professional development
ladder to proficiency and beyond.
To support this initiative, my Commandant’s Direction sets forth a plan that will allow all of our
personnel to achieve proficiency. I have directed our Force Readiness Command to provide clear policy
and doctrine, and training, equipment, tactics, techniques and procedures for all mission areas. It is
equally important for our Service to retain proficiency. Therefore, I have also asked our Personnel
Command to review how we can better support both the development and retention of proficiency in
specialty.
Ultimately, it will be deckplate leadership that propels us to proficiency. Proficiency is dependent
on every member of the service! Leading petty officers, chiefs and junior officers must ensure that
their personnel are trained, knowledgeable and exercised to proficiency. As the maritime arm of the
Department of Homeland Security, it is our duty to stand watch over our two million square miles of
exclusive economic zone, 95,000 miles of coastline, and 50,000 miles of navigable waterways. I need
each Coast Guardsman to be the very best at what he or she does, so we can proudly and competently
stand our watch with the expertise our Nation has come to expect of us over the past 220 years.

This is our chosen profession. This is our way. This is what we do.

Semper Paratus!
A crewmember aboard the CGC Waesche stands
lookout duty as the ship sails to Coast Guard Island in
Alameda, Calif., Feb. 2. Photo by PA2 Patrick Kelley.
8 Coast Guard — Issue 2, 2011 uscg.mil/mag 9
 Message from Master Chief Michael Leavitt,
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard
One of the principles in my vision statement is caring for Master Chief Petty Officer of the
our shipmates, which falls under one of the Commandant’s four Coast Guard Michael P. Leavitt meets
principles, Respecting our Shipmates. with the officers and crew of Coast
On Feb. 10, 2011, Admiral Papp, using his four principles Guard Sector Long Island Sound
delivered the State of the Coast Guard Address and set the course in New Haven, Conn. Photo by PA2
Patrick Kelley.
for our service. In his address, he announced 2011 as the Year
of the Coast Guard Family. We are committed to enhancing the
quality of life for our Coast Guard families. The Commandant’s
Shipmates #11 ALCOAST 073/11 details our goals and the course
ahead.
Regardless of location Coast Guard families face significant
challenges, particularly those located in small coastal towns, in Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Leavitt,
isolated and in seasonal, high cost areas. Obtaining affordable or Adm. Bob Papp, Commandant of the Coast
adequate housing and locating good quality medical and dental Guard, and Janet Napolitano, Secretary of
Homeland Security, render honors during a
care providers can be very challenging. In addition, childcare
Veteran’s Day Memorial Ceremony.
providers can be scarce and in most cases, very expensive. Photo by PA3 Victoria Bonk.
We understand these as well as the many other challenges
service members face.
Adm. Bob Papp and
For the past nine months, I have traveled around the country
Master Chief Petty
visiting units and listening to the concerns of hard working Officer of the Coast
Coast Guard men and women, and their families. That said, Guard Michael
some of our members and their families have expressed concerns Leavitt testify before
with the quality of the sponsor program, a program that we Congress, March 1.
control. Throughout my travels, I have witnessed some very Photo by PA2 Patrick
strong positive command climates and among other things, Kelley
the leadership puts a strong emphasis on their reporting
personnell sponsor program because they understand that a
quality sponsor program is the heart of maintaining high crew
morale and readiness. I encourage all leaders to be engaged and
involved with our members and their families before, during
and after transferring in. As most of our service members know,
transferring from one unit to the next can be very stressful so we
must help our shipmates.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve. We are all thankful for Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard
Michael P. Leavitt receives a demonstration of
the men and women of the Coast Guard who stand the watch and
safety gear aboard Coast Guard Cutter Eagle
protect our homeland. during a visit to the Coast Guard Academy.
Photo by PA2 Patrick Kelley.

Semper Paratus!

10 Coast Guard — Issue 3, 2010 uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 11

 No Price Tag on Safety
Story by PA3 Nate Littlejohn, PADET Astoria
The 2010 Coast Guard Authorization Act
sets the following long term strategy
and goals:
1. Reduce the number and rates of ma-
rine casualties.
2. Improve the consistency and effec-
tiveness of vessel and operator enforce-
ment and compliance programs.
3. Identify and target enforcement ef-
forts at high-risk vessels and operators.
4. Improve research efforts to enhance
and promote vessel and operator safety
and performance.
12 Coast Guard — Issue 2, 2011
T
he waters of the Pacific Northwest offer some of the
most treacherous yet bountiful work opportunities in the
world.
Dungeness crab fleets hailing from Oregon and Washington
are among the world’s elite. The reward for their toils, however,
does not come without a price.
In the Pacific Northwest, the dungeness crab fishing fleet has
had its share of deadly casualties. According to a 2010 study
conducted by National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, 27 fishermen died while participating in the dungeness
fishery during the past decade. That equates to a rate of 310
deaths per 100,000 workers. As a comparison, the Bering Sea
king crab fishery in Alaska saw a rate of 260 deaths per 100,000
workers. In 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics identified
commercial fishing as the deadliest occupation in the nation at
200 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Surviving the inevitable risks inherent with crabbing in the
Pacific Ocean requires preparation, proper education and a
survivor’s attitude.
Safety training for fishermen can provide the education piece Fire Drill
and a good instructor can help instill the right attitude so a Joseph Maki, a crewmember aboard
person can think like a survivor. Enter the fishing vessel safety fishing vessel Cape Saint James out of
professionals at Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Portland, Ore. Warrenton, Ore., issues a mock-MAYDAY
Curt Farrell, commercial fishing vessel safety coordinator for call on the radio during a fire drill, Feb. 11.
MSU Portland, and Mike Rudolph, fishing vessel safety examiner, Photo by Mike Rudolph
are passionate about safety. When it was discovered that a
serious training void existed along the central and southern harm,” said Michelle Ann crewmember Mike Donovan. “No one The Coast Guard, Oregon Sea Grant, and dungeness crab
Oregon Coast for fishermen, the pair sought specialized training panicked, we all knew what we had to do and dealt with the fishermen will continue to work in conjunction to improve the
through the Alaska Marine Safety and Education Association to issue. No one was hurt.” safety of commercial fishing employment here in the Pacific
become certified drill instructors. The Michelle Ann was able to make it safely to port without Northwest.
“The safety training that we have provided over the past four being towed, was repaired quickly and back out fishing a few “It has started to change the way the fishermen think,” said
years has made the biggest difference in the safety of the fleet days later. Farrell. “Especially with the younger crewmen who attend, as
than anything else that we do,” said Rudolph. “I get very excited Commercial fishing vessel drill conductor courses, promoted they push their captains to do drills, once they know about them
when a fisherman comes to me on the dock months later and by Oregon Sea Grant, provide practical information on and that their life depends on it. That change in thinking will
says the training I provided helped avert a casualty or saved a survival equipment found on most commercial vessels and on help as we transition to an expanded, continuing, and ‘required’
life.” conducting on board emergency drills. Skills are learned in a training regimen, per the new CG Authorization Act.”
Rudolph’s training efforts recently had a significant impact hands-on format. “We have all seen commercial fishing as the leading
when the crew of the 66-foot dungeness crab vessel Michelle “The class is very intense,” said Farrell. “Students will be putting occupation for casualties for way too many years. In the future
Ann experienced a stack fire Dec. 18, outside Yaquina Bay, Ore. on immersion suits, jumping into the water, entering a life raft, I hope that these new training requirements make training the
“We all were facing potential disaster, but thanks to the fighting a fire, stopping leaks and shooting off flares. They will new ‘normal’ when it comes to fishing; 1) Boat ready, 2) Bait
methodical and highly structured tactics we learned from the do realistic emergency drills aboard a fishing vessel with artificial ready, 3) Gear ready, 4) Safety Drills conducted,” he continued.
safety class, we were able to take proper actions and avoid smoke.”
uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 13

Coast Guard and Navy crews come
together to help a cruise ship...
Avert Disaster
Story by PA2 Henry Dunphy,
PADET San Diego The dining rooms and passageways were dimly lit with
emergency power, and the odor of smoke could be detected
in the still air. The dance floors were silent and the swimming
pools deserted. For the nearly 3,300 guests aboard the cruise
ship Carnival Splendor, this was not the luxury excursion to the
Mexican Riviera that they had bargained
for. Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of
many entities involved, the passengers and
crew of the disabled vessel were safe and
headed to port in San Diego.
Two days into the cruise, on the
morning of Nov. 8, 2010, a fire erupted in
one of the cruise ship’s engine rooms. After
several hours, the ship’s crew succeeded
in extinguishing the fire, but damage to
the electrical systems left the ship without
propulsion, leaving almost 4,500 people
aboard with enough electricity to power
only the barest essentials.
With the fire out the situation was stable,
but the ship was now adrift and facing
health and sanitation problems for those
aboard due to the loss of sewage systems,
ventilation, hot water and refrigeration.
Onscene Support To meet the immediate needs of the
people aboard, a team comprised of Coast
A San Diego based MH-60T Jayhaw helicopter Guardsmen from the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau and sailors
crew escorts the cruise ship Carnival Splendor from the USS Ronald Reagan worked to deliver supplies to the
into San Diego Bay, Nov. 11. Photo by PA2 Jetta stricken cruise ship.
Disco. The Coast Guard coordinated with the Navy to have 65,000
pounds of supplies, including water, bread and canned goods,
flown from Naval Air Station North Island, in San Diego, to
the Reagan. From there, the supplies were ferried by naval
helicopter to the cruise ship, where the replenishment team was
ready to receive them.
“Our first concern was being able to do the operation safely,”
said Coast Guard Ensign Steven Lewis, a landing signal officer
from the Morgenthau. “We had to make sure that the deck
was clear of any debris and that all the passengers were in safe
locations.”
14 Coast Guard — Issue 2, 2011
Safety escort
The Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau
ensures the safety and well-being
of the passengers and crew aboard
the Carnival cruise ship Splendor
as it enters San Diego Bay, Nov. 11.
Photo by PA3 Cory Mendenhall.
The Splendor has no helicopter pad, so an
improvised staging area was chosen on the
exercise track in front of the distinctive red,
white and blue smokestacks on the upper
deck. Lounge chairs were cleared from the
deck, and anything that could be moved by
the hurricane-force winds created by a Navy
SH-60 Seahawk helicopter overhead was
secured. Curious passengers were ushered
inside, and the flight operations commenced.
The pallets of provisions were slung three
at a time in cargo nets below the matte gray
aircraft. Lewis, the yellow-jerseyed landing
signal officer, guided the helicopter crews
into place using hand signals. When the cargo
dangled over the correct spot, a sweeping
lateral hand motion cued the aircrew to
release the bundles.
With each drop, the ground crew of Coast
Guardsmen and sailors moved in, unfastened
the cargo nets and cleared the supplies from
the deck to make ready for the next drop.
“This is what we do best, get supplies
aboard the ship,” said Navy Seaman Logistics
Specialist Immanuel Carter, whose day-to-day
job is performing similar supply operations
aboard the Reagan.
After several drops, a group of Splendor crewmembers good,” said Carter.
approached and offered to assist in moving supplies off the deck “It’s a great feeling knowing that Coast Guard and Navy
between drops. Together, the Coast Guard, Navy and Splendor personnel can jump in and work together after not knowing
personnel settled into a system of guiding in the helicopter, each other for even five minutes. We were able to safely conduct
detaching the cargo nets from the pallets, hauling the provisions operations together quickly and efficiently,” said Lewis.
off the deck and prepping the area for the next drop. Once the essentials were on board, the tugboat Chihuahua
By sunset, more than 20 drops had been completed, and started towing the Splendor to San Diego.
the people aboard the Splendor had enough food and water to “There is a lot of stability to this case,” said said Capt. Anthony
sustain them for the transit to port. Gentilella, commanding officer of the Morgenthau and on-scene
“When we were finished, we got a round of applause from commander for the response. “The passengers aboard the cruise
the crewmembers and the guests aboard. It made us feel pretty ship are safe, and they get a lot of peace of mind seeing that the
important. It was nothing new to us because this is our everyday Coast Guard is out here doing things to help them, like bringing
job, but seeing how we could impact the people aboard felt on food and water,”
uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 15
Week in the Coast Guard H
ave you ever wondered what the Coast Guard does in an average week during the winter months? While a lot of people
were digging themselves out from another winter snowstorm, the Coast Guard was out in full force, training, rescuing those
in need, securing the border, ports and waterways and preparing for the upcoming boating season. In other words, a winter
week for the Coast Guard is anything but slow.
During the week of Feb. 7-13, Coast Guard public affairs specialists and unit public affairs officers set out to document a week
in the life of the Coast Guard by capturing imagery from around the country to highlight the many missions the service performs.

Feb. 7-13, 2011

In all, the week garnered almost 1,400 images from locations like Lake Tahoe, N.V., to King Cove, Alaska. The following pages
detail some of the operations that happened this week. Where are the rest of the images? All photos from the week in the Coast
Guard event may be viewed on the Coast Guard Visual Imagery database at http://cgvi.uscg.mil. A quick search for “week in the
Coast Guard” will get you there.

16 Coast Guard — Issue 2, 2011 uscg.mil/mag 17

 A week in the Coast Guard
Monday, Feb. 7
Repair Crew
First Aid
Boatcrew members from Station
HS2 Charity Washko applies a Annapolis, Md., use their 41-foot boat to
bandage to a Coast Guardsman‘s take members from Aids to Navigation
thumb after removing stitches at Team Baltimore to the Thomas Point
the Rockmore King Clinic in Kodiak, Shoal Lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay.
Alaska. Corpsmen at the clinic Following a low-voltage alarm, members
provide 24-hour emergency care in from ANT Baltimore visited the lighthouse
addition to treating non-emergency to ensure that the lighting equipment was
patients alongside physicians during working correctly. Photo by PA3 Robert
the work week. Photo by PA3 Brazzell.
Jonathan Lally.
Kodiak
Washinton, DC Anchorage
Life Flight
A MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter
crew assists King Cove, Alaska,
emergency medical personnel in
transferring a 63-year-old woman
from the King Cove clinic to a Coast
Guard helicopter at 5:07 p.m. The
woman was reporting abdominal
pains and needed a medevac to Cold
Bay where she was transferred to
another flight for further medical
care in Anchorage. Coast Guard
photo.
Building Trust
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp
shakes hands with Indian coast guard
Director General Vice Adm. Anil Chopra
during the Indian delegation‘s visit to Coast
Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Photo by PA2 Patrick Kelley.
Practice, Practice
BM1 George London awaits rescue
by BM3 Michael Rivero during ice
rescue training conducted at Station
Harbor Beach, Mich. Such training
allows the crews to maintain
proficiency in the Great Lakes‘ cold
weather environment and gives
them the expertise and confidence
to respond effectively when called
to rescue or assist a citizen in
danger on the ice. Photo by BMC
Scott Cichoracki.
Chesapeake Bay Harbor Beach
Alameda San Francisco
Inspection Time
MST1 Julian Bell and MST3 Matt Rollins,
both port state examiners stationed at
the Sector San Francisco Prevention
Department, conduct an inspection on
the Carnival Splendor cruise ship, while
the ship undergoes repairs at dry dock
in San Fransico, Calif. On Nov. 8, 2010,
the second day of a voyage from Long
Beach to the Mexican Riviera, the ship
experienced a fire in the engine, cutting
all electrical power. Photo by PA3 Erik
Swanson.
Final Touches
Antonio Nunn, a member of the
buoy depot at Sector San Francisco
in Alameda, Calif., attaches a piece of
retroreflective tape to the top of a buoy
before it is deployed. Retroreflective
tape is attached to buoys to assist
mariners sailing at night. Photo by PA3
uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 19
Kevin Metcalf.
 A week in the Coast Guard
Tuesday, Feb. 8

Looking Below
John Murren, a marine
inspector at Sector Baltimore,
inspects the hull of a dinner
cruise ship in Washington, D.C.
Murren climbed through the
hull of the ship looking for
safety violations that required
correction. Photo by PA2
Brandyn Hill.
Training Time
Members of Auxiliary Division
12 conduct hoist training with Cool Jobs
aircrew members from Air Station The crew of the CGC Wire conducts
Los Angeles off the coast of Venice, icebreaking operations on the
Calif. The training involved Hudson River, near Rhinebeck, N.Y.
lowering and hoisting a rescue The Wire‘s crew, along with other
basket from an MH-65C Dolphin Coast Guard cutter crews, are in
helicopter onto the deck of the the upper Hudson River to help
Auxiliary Vessel Ladyfish III. Photo clear safe paths for ships carrying
by PA3 Cory J. Mendenhall. vital resources to upstate New York
residents. Photo by PA1 David
Schuhlein.

Washinton, DC Venice Hudson River

Makushin Bay Honolulu South Padre Island Indian River Inlet

Good Books
Crewmembers load pallets of books
into a HC-130 Hercules airplane at
Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii.
The air station donated 16 computers
and the Rotary Club of Kapolei,
Hawaii, donated more than 7,000
books to American Samoa public
schools. All to be delivered by a Tough Defense
Coast Guard aircrew. Photo by PA3 MK3 Terrell Wilburn, stationed at Station
Angela Henderson. Indian River Inlet, Del., fights off an
attacker after receiving pepper spray on
his face during law enforcement training.
Photo by PA3 Jonathan Lindberg..

On the Rocks
The 58-foot, long-lining fishing vessel Terri Looking up
Gail is hit by a wave after it grounded a
mile southwest of Makushin Bay near the A flight crew from Air Station Houston
island of Unalaska, Alaska. The TerriGail medevaced a man from a cargo
had five crewmen who were safely rescued tanker 10 miles south of South Padre
by a Kodiak-based HH-65 Dolphin Island, Texas. Watchstanders at Sector
helicopter crew before the vessel grounded. Corpus Christi received a report at
Photo by Marine Safety Detachment approximately 12 a.m. that a 40-year-
Unalaska. old male aboard the motor tanker Ballad
was experiencing extreme abdominal
pain. Coast Guard photo. uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 21
 A week in the Coast Guard
Wednesday, Feb. 9

Geared Up

Good to Go Coast Guard Special Agent Wes Forster

AST3 Brendan Dent signals that Not Sew Easy accompanies a Station Portsmouth
AST1 Brad Fitzpatrick is ready to be boat crew while on a patrol looking for
Seaman Andrew Marsteller of Station New
hoisted into an Air Station Detroit signs of pollution in the Elizabeth River
York whips - or reinforces - a mooring line.
rescue helicopter while conducting near Portsmouth, Va. Forster joined the
The line will be used aboard one of the
training on the frozen Lake St. Clair, station crew to become acquainted with
station‘s many response boats as the crew
Mich. Conducting rescue airlifts Operation Clean Sweep, an initiative to
performs the Coast Guard‘s many missions
on frozen surfaces presents unique patrol and reduce pollution and polluters
in and around the New York Harbor. Photo
challenges and the Coast Guard along the Elizabeth River. Photo by PA3
by PA1 Thomas McKenzie.
regularly practices techniques to David Marin.
maintain proficiency. Photo by Lt.
Mark Dukti.

Lake St. Clair New York Portsmouth

Baltimore Seattle Guam Vallejo

say Bye to BUI

MEC Ryan Hooper, a marine enforcement specialist
Top to Bottom at Training Team West, conducts boating under the
influence enforcement training for the boarding officers
Coast Guard divers familiarize
at Station Vallejo, Calif. Following the classroom training,
themselves with the hull of the ice
boarding officers had the opportunity to apply their skills
breaker Polar Star as part cold water
on volunteers. Photo by PA3 Pamela Manns.
diving training. The course is being
held in both Seattle and Diamond
Lake, Wash. Photo by PA3 Nathan W.
Bradshaw.

Working with others

Dirty Job BM1 Allan Wilkinson, a coxswain on board the
BM2 Tonya Mills, a crewmember aboard CGC Washington, operates the small boat during
the CGC James Rankin, assists with search and rescue and helicopter operations
hoisting a buoy from Baltimore Harbor, training with an SH-60B helicopter from Navy
Md. Photo by PA1 Tasha Tully. Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 in Agat Bay,
Guam. Photo by Lt. j.g. Justin Valentino.

uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 23
 A week in the Coast Guard
Thursday, Feb. 10
Open Wide
Capt. Michael Korale, senior dental
executive at the Coast Guard wing
of the Tripler Army Medical Base in
Honolulu, Hawaii, performs a dental
exam on a member. The clinic provides
physical examinations, immunizations
and clinical laboratory, pharmacy and
referral services to other treatment
facilities for specialty care. Photo by PA3
Class Michael De Nyse.
Honolulu
Lake erie SAUSALITO
Detail Oriented
Fireman Kristin Carfi, stationed at
Station Golden Gate in Sausalito, Calif.,
adjusts the hydraulic ram of a watertight
door on a 47-foot motor lifeboat, as part
of maintaining readiness at the station.
Carfi recently completed the machinery
technician strikers program and expects
a promotion to petty officer this summer.
Photo by PA3 Class Erik Swanson.
Follow the Leader
The crew of the CGC Morro Bay
makes their first close-assist pass
of the day near the articulated tug
barge Everlast in heavy ice as sea
smoke rises from the ice at their
stern in Lake Erie. The Morro Bay,
homeported in New London, Conn.,
is deployed to the Great Lakes for
icebreaking season. Photo by CGC
Morro Bay.
Study hall
Students learn to become
information system technicians
Charting the Course at Training Center Petaluma,
Adm. Bob Papp, commandant of Calif. ITs are responsible for
the Coast Guard, delivers his first establishing and maintaining
State of the Coast Guard Address at Coast Guard computer
Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, systems, analog and digital
D.C. During his speech, Papp painted voice systems, and installing
a picture of the state of the service and maintaining the physical
while laying out his vision for the network infrastructure that ties
future. Photo by PA2 Patrick Kelley. the systems together. Photo by
PA3 Pamela Manns.
Washington, DC Petaluma
Portland Fort Dix
Final Checks
GM1 Joshua Hendl reaches for his
bag at Fort Dix, N.J., before he
leaves for Kuwait City. Hendl is
attached to Port Security Unit 313,
homported in Everett, Wash. Photo
by PA2 Crystalynn A. Kneen.
Spill Response
MST1 Luke Potter maintains a safety
watch over the 431-foot, flat-deck
barge Davy Crockett on the Columbia
River, near Portland, Ore. The Davy
Crockett began leaking oil into the
Columbia River during a civilian salvage
operation on Jan. 27. Photo by PA2 Eric
uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 25
J. Chandler.
 A week in the Coast Guard
Friday, Feb. 11
Safety Check
BM3 James Schumer takes a break
atop a harbor light that the Aids to
Navigation Team Wanchese crew is
repairing near Oregon Inlet, N.C. The
Oregon Inlet and Roanoke Channels
are mazes of sand bars and drifts; the
ANT crew must constantly keep the
aids repaired and cleaned for the safe
navigation of the waterways. Photo by
PA3 David Weydert.
Oregon
Essexville Afognak Island
Riding on Air
A Coast Guard Station Saginaw River airboat
crew returns to base after an ice patrol near
Saginaw Bay, Mich. Photo by Commodore Jerri
Smith.
It’s a Gas
MST3 Michael Rushane works on a gas
chromatograph at the Marine Safety
Lab, New London, Conn. The gas
chromatograph is a tool used to aid in
determining the origin of oil samples from
pollution cases. Since the Deepwater spill,
caseload at the Marine Safety Lab has
increased. This week the lab processed
approximately 150 cases.
New London
San Pedro
High and Dry
A Kodiak-based Coast Guard crew
conducts an overflight assessment
of the grounded 68-foot fishing
vessel Midnite Sun looking for
environmental impact near Afognak
Island northwest of Kodiak, Alaska.
The Midnite Sun ran aground at
12:13 a.m. and its crew was safely
flown to Kodiak by a Air Station
MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew.
Photo by PA3 Jonathan Lally.
Submission Hold
BM2 Nicholas Kimose instructs DC2
Daniel Horn as he handcuffs MK3
Howard LaCroix during boarding
team training at Base Support Unit
San Pedro in San Pedro, Calif. Photo
by PA3 Cory J. Mendenhall.
San Pedro
Sacramento
Eye in the Sky
AST2 Jason McGrath watches as a HC-
130 Hercules aircraft operates with one
right-wing engine secured while flying
near Sacramento, Calif. The 186 Coast
Guardsmen who serve at Air Station
Sacramento carry out search and rescue
and maritime law enforcement missions
and provide air support for not only
California, but the entire West Coast.
Photo by PA3 Pamela J. Manns.
Safety Show
IS2 Mahasin Abdullah works on a voice-
over for a kids’ safety cartoon at a studio
in San Pedro, Calif. The cartoon, named
Station Safewater, aims to teach young
children how to stay safe on the beach,
in the water and on a boat. Abdullah
is voicing the part of PO2 Haley, who
teaches children how important it is to
not play on marine radios and make false uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 27
distress calls. Photo by PA1 Adam Eggers.
 A week in the Coast Guard
Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 12-13

Come Sail Away

The CGC Morgenthau and crew
patrol near the Pribilof Islands,
Lock and Load Alaska, in the Bering Sea with an air
GM2 Justin Gaudino, assigned to temperature of 12 degrees, Sunday.
Station Kings Point in Kings Point, The Morgenthau is conducting a
N.Y., cleans and inspects the station’s Bering Sea patrol to ensure the safety
weapons, Saturday. The station’s of mariners working in the Bering
Multi-tasking
crew and vessels are equipped with Sea and Northern Pacific. Photo by A boat crew launched from the CGC
.40 caliber sidearms, M-16 rifles and CGC Morgenthau Alligator simultaneously work to
boat-mounted 7.62 mm machine pump water from a recreational
guns to aid in law enforcement and vessel, while towing it toward
national security missions. Photo by Clearwater, Fla., Sunday. Photo by
PA2 Gary Rives. Lt. Marc Benson.

Kings point Pribilof Islands Clearwater

Hudson River Lake Tahoe Waianae Buffalo harbor

Weather Watch
Jack Leth, liaison officer for the
Coast Guard Auxiliary, and MST2
Aaron Demucha examine a weather
gauge on Lake Tahoe, Nev., Saturday.
The crew conducts search and rescue,
law enforcement, and national
defense missions, and maintains and
Prep Work
operates two 25-foot rapid response FN Mario Agudelo and SN Dana
boats. Photo by PA3 Pamela J. Parsons, both assigned to Station Buffalo,
Manns. prepare an ice rescue sled during ice
rescue training on frozen Buffalo Harbor
Sunday. Photo by BM3 Barrett Brauch.

Clearing a Path
Safety Check
CGC Penobscot Bay, a 140-foot icebreaking tug,
clears a shipping path through the frozen Hudson BM2 Bradley Poen, a crewmember stationed
River, Saturday. The Penobscot Bay, homeported aboard the CGC Ahi, informs mariners that he
in Bayonne, N.J., performs icebreaking missions and his boarding team will conduct a safety
up and down the Hudson River throughout the check, off the coast of Waianae, Hawaii. Photo
winter to facilitate navigation, as well as to by PA3 Anthony Soto
keep vital commerce moving, particularly so
that home heating oil can be brought upriver to
residents. Photo by PA3 Seth Johnson.

uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 29
 ICE RESCUE
F
or Petty Officer 2nd Class William Phillips, it might have
been tempting to simply turn up the thermostat inside Station
Oswego, N.Y., and wait for winter to go away.
After all, this is the 28-year-old Tennessean’s first tour in the
northern United States, and it’s a lot colder on the Great Lakes than
at stations in Galveston, Texas, and Tybee Island, Ga., where he’d
previously served.
“I didn’t have very much experience with ice and ice rescue before
this,” he said. “I had only gotten out on the ice three or four times.”
Of course, waiting out the weather isn’t really the Coast Guard’s
style. So the recent presence of Phillips and his Station Oswego
shipmate, Petty Officer 2nd Class Shaun Wilson, for a four-day
“train the trainer” course at the Ice Capabilities Center of Excellence
at Station Saginaw River in Essexville, Mich., wasn’t a complete
surprise.
“The school was great. It was fun,” he said. “It actually challenged
us, but it definitely challenged us in a positive way. My comfort
level has just skyrocketed, as far as what I feel my capabilities
are, but looking back to just a couple of years ago, I never would
have thought I’d be operating on an ice-covered lake with people
depending on me.”
That’s what ICCE trainers like Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew
Bell like to hear.
30 Coast Guard — Issue 2, 2011
Story by PA1 John Masson
9th District
“Where better to learn?” Bell said. “This year we’ve had four
or five guys who have never seen ice before in their lives,” he said,
adding that once transferred from warmer climates, their commands
quickly send them to the ice training.
Phillips may not have fallen completely into the “never seen
ice before” category, but he says he was close enough. For others
in the same boat, Bell and the ice trainers at ICCE have a vivid
demonstration.
“We ask three volunteers to submerge their hands in ice water
and try to assemble nuts and bolts after a minute,” said Bell, who
estimates he’s helped train 300 or so ice rescuers over the years. The
trainees come from all over the the Great Lakes and New England
and even the Coast Guard’s Polar Class icebreakers. “Guys are
always surprised at how much it hurts. And interestingly enough, it
seems like physiologically, the effects on their bodies, it’s tougher on
people who haven’t been around it before.”
That exercise continues with classroom training inside the ICCE’s
home station, in Essexville. First up is terminology, then drilling on
some of the movements required of teams taking part in coordinated
ice rescues. Then it’s on to personal protective equipment and what
that gear will and will not do to protect the people using it.
“Then it was time for hands-on experience — actually getting out
on the ice and getting comfortable with it,” Phillips said.
The work on a frozen Lake Huron included training in teams
around a 40-by-20-foot gash carved into the ice of Saginaw Bay.
The four-student teams spread out around the trench with instructors
evaluating their performance at each position. Later, participants
would be evaluated in the trainer’s role since the goal of the course
is minting new trainers to take the latest information back to their
stations.
In Phillips’ case, that means a nearly unique area of responsibility
that includes the very different ice conditions near Station Oswego
– Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, and the navigable waters of New
York’s canal system. When he got back to his station, Phillips, like
other newly trained trainers, was eager to organize scenarios for
shipmates who share search-and-rescue responsibilities.
“I want to get down to one of the lakes and run some good
scenario-based stuff, work with the guys to tell them about the
changes that have been made (to ice rescue techniques),” Phillips
said. “They’ve all got to be ice qualified, and there’s only a handful
of us who have actually been to the school. We’re the ones that went
this year, so we’re the ones who are able to pass the information on.”
Petty Officer 2nd Class Kraig McLellan of Station Cleveland
Harbor felt the same way. He, too, was looking to run creative drills
out of his station in downtown Cleveland.
“We really want to focus on multi-victim recoveries,” McLellan
On the way
Coast Guardsmen use a parachute
illumination flare to light a search area on ice
and snow-covered Lake Huron to help them
find a person who fell through the ice as
part of a night time training exercise Jan. 27.
Photo by PA2 Lauran Jorgensen
said. “Our training has seemed to focus more toward having one
person through the ice. We want to change that up, put two victims
in the water or maybe even three. One could be conscious, one could
be unconscious – one responsive, one not responsive. How do you
triage them? How do you know what’s out there?”
And that, said Chief Petty Officer Rebecca Polzin of Station
Michigan City, Ind., is the whole point. Polzin, currently on
her first tour on the Great Lakes, said getting up to speed on the
latest ice rescue techniques is an important part of her leadership
responsibilities — even though she’ll assign training responsibilities
to two of her junior petty officers, who also attended the class.
“From a career development point of view, that training part needs
to be with them, to get them into that position to be an officer-in-
charge someday,” she said. “But a lot of OinCs do go, to be that
expert and to be able to say, ‘This is something we’re doing well,’ or,
‘This is something we have to change just a bit.’”
Back in Saginaw, the students’ reactions were gratifying to Bell.
“There’s plenty more heartbreaks than there are pick-me-ups in
this business,” Bell said of the hurdles ice rescuers face. “But the fact
that … it’s a direct rescue from you to the victim … I kind of like that
solo-ness, if you know what I mean.”
uscg.mil uscg.mil/mag 31

Surface Tension Story by Seaman Adam Stanton
PACAREA
I
n 2009, the Coast Guard recorded more than 4,730 recreational
boating accidents that resulted in 736 deaths and 3,358 injuries.
With statistics like these, the Coast Guard relies on programs
such as the cutter surface swimmer program, which offers
another way for the Coast Guard to help rescue people in
distress.
The cutter surface swimmer program is standard on all Coast
Guard cutters.
The program is designed to have a permanent set of trained
swimmers, ready to assist with missions such as search and rescue or
man-overboard recovery.
Using a rescue boat crew is the preferred tactic for recovering
people in the water, but it’s occasionally necessary to deploy a
32 Coast Guard — Issue 2, 2011
swimmer to assist survivors who are fatigued, entangled or injured.
The surface swimmer program takes volunteer crew members
with strong swimming skills and maritime knowledge and trains
them in life saving skills and recovery situations. The selected
swimmers go through a physical and written qualification process,
where only the best qualified members are selected.
“The training builds you up to get in the ocean. You learn in a
controlled environment, and then, apply the training to a real life
situation,” said Coast Guard Seaman Joshua Angelica, a cutter
surface swimmer stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche,
homeported in Alameda, Calif.
The qualification process consists of pushups, sit-ups, a one-and-a
Seaman Deuter Ellard pulls BM1 Ryan Yoraschek, crewmembers aboard
half-mile run, a response test and a 500-meter swim test, all of which
needs to be completed in less than 12 minutes.
This program provides the Coast Guard with more search and
rescue options.
“When the sea state is over six feet high, a surface swimmer is
the safest deployable asset from a large cutter,” said Coast Guard
Petty Officer 3rd Class Forest Reimann, a boatswains mate stationed
aboard Waesche, and the cutter’s surface swimmer program organizer
for the cutter.
Coast Guard policy requires all cutters with flight decks to have at
least two outfitted and certified cutter surface swimmers aboard while
underway. All cutters without flight decks are only required to have
Cutter Rescue
the CGC Resolute during resuce swimmer training , Sept. 18, 2007.
Photo By PA3 Robert Simpson.
one surface swimmer.
A certified line tender is also assigned to each cutter swimmer.
The line tender is responsible for the swimmer’s tending line and
maintaining communication, through a series of hand signals with the
swimmer.
The cutter swimmers on the Waesche train two days a week and
conduct two man overboard drills twice a week to keep their skills
sharp.
The rigid training schedule maintained by surface swimmers
ensures they are prepared to respond to real life situations.
“I’m actually waiting to go to Aviation Survival Technician
A-school, and this was a great way to prepare for that,” said Angelica.
uscg.mil
33
A Brief History of Coast Guard Aviation
oversaw the training of new helicopter pilots for the Allies. As in
the early years of Coast Guard aviation, far-sighted officers saw the
potential of new technology and made the effort to experiment with
and promote that technology. In this case, it was William Kossler and
Story by Scott Price, Deputy Coast Guard Historian Frank Erickson who led the service’s efforts to develop the helicopter
as the hurricane winds moved inland. Over the coming days, Coast
Guard helicopters, HH-65 Dolphins and HH-60 Jayhawks, rescued
thousands of victims while fixed-wing aircraft surveyed damaged
areas, looked for spills and sunken vessels, and helped coordinate the
busy air traffic over New Orleans.

C
oast Guard aviation history begins in 1903 at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina. It was there that the keeper of the Kill Devil
Hills Life-Saving Station, Capt. Jesse Etheridge Ward, and
his crew assisted the Wright Brothers in their quest to become the
first to fly a heavier-than-air machine. One of the surfmen under
Ward’s command even took the famous photograph of that first flight.
The practical start to Coast Guard aviation came in 1915 in the
minds of two innovative officers, Elmer “Archie” Stone and Norman
Hall, who believed that aircraft could be an efficient way to augment
the Coast Guard’s small fleet of cutters and shore stations. Working
with the Curitss Aeroplane and Motor Company, they conceived
the idea of a flying lifeboat. Their commanding officer, Benjamin
Chiswell, saw merit in their efforts and approved their request for
flight training. They both were ordered to flight school and went on
A Waco J2W-1 secured to the quarterdeck of
the Spencer, 1937.
to establish a dynamic Coast Guard aviation program. The Navy even
borrowed Stone for most of the next decade during which he piloted
the famous NC-4 flying boat on the worlds’ first trans-Atlantic flight
and participated in the development of early carrier aviation.
Underfunded but innovative, using borrowed aircraft flown from
unused airfields, the first few years of Coast Guard aviation were
quite a test of the flyers’ courage, intelligence and perseverance.
But they were the first to practice the tradition of aviators who,
with or sometimes without the authorization of higher command,
experimented with new or advancing technologies to enhance the
Coast Guard’s ability to fulfill its always changing mission.
From those early years onward, aviation grew to become a
first as an anti-submarine and convoy escort aircraft and then as a The Coast Guard and its aviation branch have also long been
vital part of the Coast Guard. Aviators served in World War I, search-and-rescue platform. Erickson witnessed the Japanese attack involved with operating in polar regions and over Alaska. Helicopters
commanding air stations in the United States and France, hunting on Pearl Harbor first-hand as the duty officer on Ford Island that flew from each of the service’s icebreakers (the Coast Guard from
enemy submarines and rescuing shipwrecked survivors at sea. In the morning. The event profoundly influenced his thoughts on aviation 1965 has been in charged with operating the nation’s icebreaking
period between the wars, the service refined their search-and-rescue and rescue capabilities. Erickson experimented and perfected the fleet) that resupplied bases in the Arctic and Antarctica every winter
techniques, including the always dangerous attempt to land their helicopter’s capabilities, including using hoists to recover persons in and explored the world’s ice crusted seas. Coast Guard aviation also
seaplanes far out at sea to assist mariners in need. It was one of these the water and techniques to land and take off from ships underway. scours the North Atlantic for errant icebergs for the International Ice
missions that another Coast Guard aviation pioneer, Carl von Paulsen, As a direct result of their efforts, what was then like the first Wright Patrol, first established after the loss of the HMS Titanic. Now, the
and his crew earned Gold Lifesaving Medals for a heroic rescue that Flyer--an ungainly and dangerous air machine--ultimately became venerable but updated HC-130 carries on the almost-century-old task
almost turned disastrous—he landed his seaplane at sea to rescue a what it is today—the versatile workhorse of today’s Coast Guard of safe guarding international shipping.
boy adrift in small skiff. The landing so damaged his flying boat that aviation fleet. The spirit of innovation still pervades the service as it did at the
Paulsen had to taxi his way back to the beach. The helicopter continually proved its worth as an excellent search beginning years of Coast Guard aviation. Whether preparing to
Charged with enforcing Prohibition, the Coast Guard discovered and rescue platform over land as well. Coast Guard helicopters aid hurricane survivors, surveying oil spills, flying helicopters off
that aircraft made it possible to patrol large areas of coastline responded to dozens of domestic floods and hurricanes, pulling of ships far out to sea to hunt for smugglers, rescuing mariners in
more quickly than cutters could and at a cheaper cost. With the survivors in imminent danger off rooftops and out of trees from distress, developing a rescue-swimmer program safeguarding the
addition of radio and flooded land. Surface forces also responded to these events but the nation’s coasts, flying over the North Pole, or developing a logistic
navigation technology helicopter proved its versatility in being able to arrive on scene as system that became the model for current Coast Guard logistics’
improvements, the a storm moved inland or the flooding crested and instantly begin modernization efforts, the service’s aviation program leads the
aircraft came into its pulling survivors to safety. Indeed, the Coast Guard’s most shining way. Powered flight has never been entirely without danger though,
own. Coast Guard moment came during just such an incident in 2005. Literally minutes something understood by all who fly, and such daring has had a cost.
aviators experimented after Hurricane Katrina screamed ashore along the Gulf coast in But to the women and men of the Coast Guard, those who take to the
with arming their aircraft 2005, a sea of orange helicopters strategically placed prior to the air or sail on the sea, “service before self” is a way of life and they
to convince “rummies” storm swarmed over the ravaged areas and began rescuing survivors willingly accept that cost and the challenge.
to comply with their
orders. The experiment
was short-lived and Two Fokker PJs and one Douglas RD Dolphin
during the coming overfly a 165-foot cutter. The aircraft were
decades (except the stationed at Air Station Miami, circa mid-
years of World War II) 1930s.
Coast Guard aircraft
flew unarmed. The
Coast Guard has recently
reinstituted armament to
some of its aviation fleet
in response to changing
drug interdiction
operations as well as
evolving homeland
security missions.
During World
War II, Coast Guard aviators again hunted for enemy submarines,
escorted convoys, and rescued survivors from torpedoed vessels,
even rescuing a few German submariners who had found themselves
adrift off the American coast when their U-boat was sunk by an
Army bomber. In Greenland, they hunted for downed U.S. aircraft
and aviators lost on ferry flights and German weather stations placed
along the coast. Coast Guard aircraft participated in the construction
and maintenance of radio-based navigation stations, called LORAN,
around the globe.
In one of its most important aviation missions of the war, though,
the Coast Guard began experimenting with rotary-winged aircraft.
In fact, they led the nation in the development of helicopters and

34 Coast Guard — Issue 3, 2010

 STATE OF THE COAST GUARD

Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Bob Papp, delivers his first

State of the Coast Guard Address at Bolling Air Force Base in
Washington, D.C., Feb. 10. Photo by PA2 Patrick Kelley.