Coast Guard Magazine articles from May 2008

Coast Guard Magazine archives from May 2008

Up front.
May 1, 2008... TACTICAL TRAINING Members of Port Security Unit 313, based in Tacoma, Wash., fire M203 grenade launchers during a training exercise at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, April 28. PSU 313 was deployed to the area in December 2007. The unit's primary mission...

Up front.
May 1, 2008... RETRIEVAL READY AST1 Chuck Ferrante gives the thumbs up signal to a hovering HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter for the rescue basket, while holding a practice dummy to be hoisted aboard during a search and rescue demo, which gave the helicopter crew...

All coast.
May 1, 2008... RANGER RESCUE SN Gregory Crane and SN Nathan Cramer assist a crewmember from the fish processing vessel Alaska Ranger after he was lowered to the CGC Munro, from a rescue helicopter. The Alaska Ranger sank 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor March...

Delivering the design: Coast Guard plans become reality in a full speed sprint to modernize the service.(MODERNIZATION)
May 1, 2008... Every day, Coast Guard men and women face the challenge of ensuring the materiel readiness of old and difficult-to-maintain platforms against a grueling operational tempo. At the same time, the nation's demand for a mission-ready Coast...

Comparisons: the new National Security Cutter faces off against the aging high-endurance cutter.(NSC VS. 378)
May 1, 2008... After accumulating more than five years of sea time on three high-endurance cutters, ELC2 Matthew Boyle has seen a lot of the Coast Guard, but none of it compares to his current tour aboard the National Security Cutter Bertholf, the service's...

Hard hitter; firing plan: test, evaluation & successful initial firing of the 57mm gun mount.(57 MM)
May 1, 2008... On February 11th, the pre-commissioning crew of the CGC Bertholf successfully fired the 57mm Mk 110 Gun Mount for the first time. The achievement stands as a culmination to testing, evaluation and installation on board one of the Coast...

The gun.(57 MM)
May 1, 2008... The 57-mm Mk 110 Naval Gun system from BAE Systems is a multi-mission capable, medium-caliber shipboard weapon that has been selected for the U.S. Coast Guard's National Security Cutter and the Offshore Patrol Cutters. The Mk 110 Naval Gun...

Rotating crews.(MULTI-CREWING)
May 1, 2008... Nowhere is tradition more important and relevant then to the crews aboard the medium endurance cutters that make up the Coast Guard's legacy fleet. Coast Guard crews aboard these ships still rise in the morning to the sound of a...

Educating on Bertholf: the crew of the Bertholf develop an award winning learning program to familiarize themselves with the new cutter's systems.(TRAINING)
May 1, 2008... When YN2 Richard DePascale and YN3 Anne Marie Bubion joined the CGC Bertholf's crew, the ship was being built more than 2,300 miles away. They didn't have welcome aboard packages, watchstander qualifications or even offices. "When we began...

A Rush of teamwork: underway in the Bering Sea on a search and rescue mission. Suddenly the frigid ocean breaches the ship and the alarm sounds--forcing the crew to save each other.(378 HULL CASUALITY)
May 1, 2008... EMC Anthony Trueitt, CGC Rush's engineer of the watch, was swirling around in the Bering Sea's harsh roller coaster-like waves Feb. 2. Twenty five-foot walls of water and 50-knot winds pounded the crew while they searched for a Japanese...

Jet power: the new Response Boat-Medium has all sorts of technology, including ...(RB-M)
May 1, 2008... The artificial glow of instruments and displays pierce a jet black night. Outside, the low rumble of the engines drones a mechanical lullaby until the radio hisses and pops in your ears. A voice from miles away reveals your mission. Your grip...

HC-144A Ocean Sentry: HC-144A Ocean Sentry achieves two firsts.
May 1, 2008... A couple of hours into a routine training mission over the Gulf of Mexico, the newest Coast Guard airplane was tested in a real-time situation. "We heard some chatter over the radio about a possible F-15 fighter jet collision and pilots in...

Sharpening dolphin theeth.(MH-65C)
May 1, 2008... The new MH-65C may look like any other Coast Guard-65 out there, but this dolphin has teeth and is taking a bite out of the drug trade. All HH-65Cs will eventualy receive the necessary conversions to transform the entire fleet into the MH-65C....

Hear the call: rescue 21 aims to upgrade communication capabilities and close coverage gaps.(RESCUE 21)
May 1, 2008... In May of 1994, the Coast Guard recognized their 70s era National Distress Response System was fast becoming obsolete. The system's direction-finding capability was little more than the needle of a compass--mariners in peril were somewhere out...

Restructuring: changing our organizational DNA for sustainable misson execution far into the future.(SUSTAINABLE MISSION EXECUTION)
May 1, 2008... Change is a natural part of our Service's history. All strong, high-performing organizations must continually take stock of themselves. The organizational changes that make up the Coast Guard Modernization are based on extensive studies and...

How to: stay up-to-date.(ACQUISITION NEWS)
May 1, 2008... Delivering the Goods is a comprehensive information and analysis publication about the Coast Guard's $27 billion investment in modernization. Published monthly by the Coast Guard's Acquisition Directorate (CG-9), the newsletter delivers hard...

You don't have to wear an orange stripe ... to be a lifesaver.
May 1, 2008... On the icy fringes of the North Atlantic, a massive cruise ship glides westward across a quiet sea during its maiden voyage to New York Harbor. The vessel is an engineering marvel; it's stronger and faster than anything that ever came before....

Forgotten: the U.S. Coast Guard contribution to the Normandy invasion.
May 1, 2008... About 64 years ago, in the largest amphibious invasion in history, Allied forces landed on a hostile shore in the name of freedom. Amongst the thousands of ships making the voyage from England to the coast of France were 97 warships,...

Greenway House: a piece of Coast Guard history.
May 1, 2008... On Dec. 29, 2007, I took a step back in history--U. S. Coast Guard history. I visited Greenway House in Devon, England, home to Agatha Christie from 1938 to 1959. In Spring 1944, Greenway House was requisitioned by the Admirality to be used as...

Command center with a hitch.(LOGBOOK)
May 1, 2008... Evacuations during Hurricane Katrina forced response coordinators out of their command centers without their normal command and control capabilities. Radios, cell phones and PDAs kept them connected but there were huge gaps in the operational...

Some heroes stay home.(LOGBOOK)
May 1, 2008... A nation at war asks a lot of its military. When we ask them to go and protect our liberty and our lives we also ask just as much from the families they leave behind. The wives and husbands, who stand proudly behind their heroes sent into...

Guardians above.(LOGBOOK)
May 1, 2008... The nose of a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet points down the runway, waiting patiently like a restrained greyhound for the control tower to give permission for take-off. Inside the cockpit the pilots check the controls and search the...

The middle of nowhere isn't going anywhere.(LOGBOOK)
May 1, 2008... There is road you can drive down for hours without seeing another car. To the left and right are vistas of snow covered plains. Only miles away is the desolate Canadian border. Your chances of seeing a timber wolf are equal to...

The night shift.(LOGBOOK)
May 1, 2008... The sky is set ablaze with warm colors of red and orange as the setting of the day's sun falls closer to the horizon. Night is fast approaching and is welcomed by a blanket of thick, warm, vaporous fog. Laughter, set off by undertones of a...

Carrying the flame.(GREETINGS FROM)
May 1, 2008... "I never get picked for anything." This time she did. Surrounded by the extravagence of the San Francisco Hilton Grand Ballroom, wearing a white Olympic logo tracksuit, SN Mallory Schafer, assigned to the carpentry shop at Integrated...

Sector Seattle: a rich maritime tradition.(GREETINGS FROM)
May 1, 2008... For over 150 years, Revenue Cuttermen, Lighthouse Keepers, Lifesaving Servicemen and Coast Guardsmen have worked Puget Sound. Sector Seattle carries on this rich tradition as the crew executes its many missions to keep the Pacific Northwest...

Chairitable affair.
May 1, 2008... For most of us, the hum of clippers usually doesn't evoke a lot of emotion. That sound usually means just another haircut. However, to BM1 Joseph Fitzgerald and the rest of the crew of Station Channel Island Harbor, Calif., that sound carries a...

Hull and engineering group Damage Controlman (DC).
May 1, 2008... DCs are stationed throughout the Coast Guard. Afloat assignments for DCs include all major cutters, buoy tenders, and river tenders. Shoreside assignments for DCs include Integrated Support Commands, Air Stations, Groups, LORAN Stations, Marine...