Office of External Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Date: Dec. 29, 2009

Contact:  Lt. Nick Leiter
(361) 939-6227

Petty Officer Renee C. Aiello
(713) 578-3080

Air Station Corpus Christi recognized in Coast Guard 2009 Top 11 Videos

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas— The Coast Guard has selected the video of a rescue of two men from a burning boat near Corpus Christi as one of its 2009 Top 11 Videos.  These videos highlight the year's most compelling cases and are examples of missions performed every day by America's Guardians.

In this video taken Sept. 12, a Coast Guard HH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew spots billowing smoke coming from a fishing vessel in the Intracoastal Waterway and diverts to find two people in a life raft next to the burning fishing vessel. The crew lowers the rescue swimmer into the water to assess the situation. One of the men has sustained burns to 20% of his body and is showing signs of shock.  Both men are transported to Spohn Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi. The complete 2009 Top 11 Videos compilation (presented in no particular order) is available for viewing and downloading from the Coast Guard Visual Information site at http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=731355.

In 2009, the Coast Guard:

• Screened more than 248,000 commercial vessels and their 62 million passengers and crewmembers before arrival in U.S. ports, identifying nearly 400 individuals in a person of interest watch list.
• Maintained a contingent of six patrol boats and 400 personnel to enforce United Nations sanctions in the Arabian Gulf, train Iraqi naval forces and protect Iraqi critical maritime oil infrastructure.
• Kept 352,862 pounds of cocaine and 71,234 pounds of marijuana from reaching the United States, while nabbing 322 suspected smugglers.
• Saved more than 4,747 lives and responded to 23,555 emergencies.
• Issued 73,168 merchant mariner credentials to qualified mariners
• Conducted more than 14,000 inspections of U.S. flagged vessels
• Investigated nearly 3,600 pollution incidents
• Conducted 49,276 armed patrols to protect critical infrastructure or key resources
• Maintained a 98 percent rate of availability for 50,000 short-range aids to navigation that helped mariners more safely navigate our nation’s 95,000 miles of coastline, 25,000 miles of waterways and 12,000 miles of inland waterways that comprise the U.S. Marine Transportation System.

“As the 23rd Commandant of the Coast Guard, it has been my pleasure to serve with such dedicated men and women who sacrifice so much to serve our great nation,” said Adm. Thad W. Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.  "I am truly grateful for their hard work and dedication. During 2009, they committed themselves to maintaining the nation's maritime safety, security, and environment. They are America's Maritime Guardians.  The best videos of 2009 clearly illustrate they are always here to protect and ready to serve."

The public is encouraged to vote online for their favorite video in the Coast Guard’s best video of 2009 contest.  The Coast Guard Compass, http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/, will be highlighting one video per day starting through Jan. 1, 2010.

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