CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Coast Guard students and instructors of the Gulf Regional Fisheries Training Center visited the Texas State Aquarium to familiarize themselves with the various species of marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, Thursday.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Gulf of Mexico was formed as a result of seafloor subsidence approximately 300 million years ago. It is approximately 995 square miles from east to west and approximately 560 square miles from north to south.

Circulating as a loop current, water enters the Gulf through the Yucatan Strait and exits through the Florida Straight, forming the Gulf Stream. This body of water is the ninth largest in the world; it serves as a deposit from the Mississippi River which pushes more than 3.3 million gallons of water into the Gulf every second, and its resources are some of the most productive in the world. 

These resources, such as fisheries, shrimp and oysters, are supplied to states all across the country.  To help keep the supply flowing, the Coast Guard helps regulate those resources and trains its members with instructors based at the Gulf Regional Fisheries Training Center in New Orleans. GRFTC conducts approximately 20 classes a year and trains nearly 400 law enforcement agents from the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and state and federal fish and wildlife agencies. The students are from units ranging from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Fla.

The training center instructors combine classroom lectures that include learning about everything from the different lengths and weight of fish to the different fishing seasons.

They perform practical exercises such as the proper method of measuring fish and turtle excluder devices. Class members were also are given written tests regarding laws and regulations, types of vessels, how to use marine measuring tools and how to identify and preserve the many different species of marine life.

“This course teaches our boarding teams how to enforce the National Marine Fisheries rules and regulations in order to protect our natural resources,” said Petty Officer 1st Class David Walson, an instructor with GRFTC. “Byproduct reduction devices and turtle excluder devices allow unintended species to escape from fishing nets while still capturing the intended catch.”

To identify the marine life up close, class members spent one morning at the Texas State Aquarium with a book about sport fish in the Gulf. This book helps with identification and information on all popular species that are in the 400,000-gallon Gulf of Mexico exhibit.

“Going to the aquarium was a great opportunity for hands on experience to transfer what we learned in the classroom to being able to identify various marine species,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle Timberlake, a student. “Overall the class was fun and I’ve learned new fisheries enforcement regulations to help protect the fishermen and our natural resources.”

After completion of the class, members return to the field to continue the living marine resource and the marine environmental protection missions with their perspective units along the Gulf Coast. They will conduct boardings using the skills taught to them by GRFTC.

The Gulf of Mexico has more than 400 species of shells, it is home to two of the 10 busiest ports in the world, and its shores and beaches are ideal for swimming, water sports and fishing. With all these facts in play, and many more, the goal of GRFTC is to ensure that class members learn and retain everything that is taught, and are prepared when boarding a vessel in the Gulf to help ensure the protection of the Gulf and its resources.

This most recent class included students from Station Sabine Pass, Texas, Station Port O’Connor, Texas, Sector Hampton Roads, Va., the Coast Guard Cutter Brandt stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Coast Guard Cutter Amberjack, stationed in South Padre Island, Texas.

Images are available of this event:
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1522933
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1522930
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1522927
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1522915
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1522903 

Video is available here:
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1523506
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1523503 

In 1943, Max Glazner, a graduate of Breckenridge High School in San Antonio, was sure he was to be drafted into World War II. So he went to a military recruit depot with the intention of joining the Navy - or so he hoped. 

“The first guy that got a crack at you was a Marine,” said Glazner. “He said, ‘How about joining the Marines, son?’ I said, 'No, I want to join the Navy!' The recruiter replied, ‘Go on up, the Army will take you.’”

Glazner remembers that there were 250 people drafted at that location that day.

“I did my physical, and then we stood in a line. Sure enough, they wouldn't take me in the Navy,” he said. “They said, ‘We're overloaded in the Navy.’”

“I said, ‘You gotta have room for at least one!’” said Glazner.

The Navy recruiter told him that he might be able to join the Coast Guard.

“And I asked, ‘What's the Coast Guard?’” said Glazner.

Glazner was steered towards the Coast Guard recruiter, and he was accepted into the Service.  He received a ticket to St. Augustine, Fla., to attend the Coast Guard training center at the Ponce De Leon Hotel.

“I was sitting with this guy and I asked him if he knew where the Coast Guard base was at” recalls Glazner. “He said, ‘Yeah, I'm going right by it, I'll walk with ya.’ So we got off the train and walked into the hotel.”

The converted hotel was in the center of town, making Glazner and his company’s training very public.

“We marched down the streets with all the kids, and all the women and all,” he said.

After completing training in St. Augustine, Glazner was assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Orchid, a 190-foot buoy tender that was re-purposed for war. The Orchid was one of 8 Manzanita-class buoy tenders constructed for the Lighthouse Service.

“From the training center, I could see the Orchid,” said Glazner. “It was in dry dock.”

“We were tasked with setting the buoys,” recalled Glazner. “On the fantail we had depth charges. But the skipper said, ‘If we drop one of them depth charges, we're not fast enough to get off of it.’”

After his 3-year tour on the Orchid, Glazner was assigned to a 45-foot patrol boat in New York harbor. There, Glazner was part of a 16-man crew, and they had one primary function – to keep the harbor clear for the ships bringing home U.S. troops. 

“We were making sure the boats weren't in the way,” said Glazner. “They hit this coal ship and sunk it, but it was sticking out in the way. It didn't slow the ship down; it was just their loss.” 

Glazner does recall one instance where the boat crew had to perform a search and rescue operation.

“The interesting thing was I got in a New York newspaper,” he said. “We got a call and a bunch of kids had picked up a raft, and went to sea. So our job was to go catch them and bring them back, and we did. They were having a ball. Except that when we got back to the harbor, there was everybody in New York waiting for us: all the police, all the papers, everybody. So I got in the paper for helping them.”

Glazner completed his time in the Coast Guard and was given a ticket back to San Antonio, where he attended college and became a chemist.

After 30 years of working as a chemist, Glazner retired and went to work at NASA, from which he also retired. He now volunteers at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center as a tour guide. Additionally, he and his wife, Elaine, volunteer at the Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston as ushers.

The Coast Guard is known for its aquatic prowess and scouring the high seas for things ranging from missing mariners to illegal drug traffickers.

But what do you do when the unthinkable happens, and Coast Guard members are suddenly the ones needing to be rescued?

Coast Guard Air Station Houston personnel hold "wet drills" every year. Wet drills are hands-on training sessions that help to train or refresh crewmembers in basic survival skills, the proper use of pyrotechnics and dewatering pumps.

The training is part of an annual requirement for all air crewmembers throughout the Coast Guard and is designed to increase their survivability in the water and on land. This year the wet drills were held at the 288 Lake Houston Scuba Diving and Sports Training Facility, Oct. 12, 2011.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryan Sutherland, an aviation survival technician at Air Station Houston, was one of the instructors for the air stations latest round of wet drills.

"Once a year, Air Station Houston conducts wet drills to teach and refresh all the important skills aircrew members must know," said Sutherland. "This training could be the difference between life and death if the air crewmembers ever finds themselves in a survival situation.”

"Not only did they learn very important life-saving skills, but also how to work with your aircrew and solve the problems that will be laid before them in the event that something goes wrong," Sutherland stated.

The participants were divided into teams and presented with team building scenarios that encompassed all the required training and familiarization with our survival equipment.  Each team was required to have a range of pay-grades, but only the most junior person could answer the trainer's questions.  

One of the members being trained was Lt. Joseph Hunter, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter pilot at Air Station Houston.

"Contribution from junior members was just as important as senior members to team success," said Hunter. "Which is also the way it is in the aircraft,  everyone has to be heard because any person can have information that keeps the crew safe regardless of their rank."

"Lack of familiarity with survival equipment can mean the difference between a bad situation turning out great, to becoming tragic," stated Hunter. "And that's why water survival is some of the most important training we do because it keeps us refreshed and prepared for worst case scenarios."

Coastie for a day, hero forever

Story and photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Stephen Lehmann

They’ve served with distinction since 1790. Today, they are responsible for 11 missions that keep America and its waterways safe and secure. U.S. Coast Guard crewmembers have served their country with honor, respect and devotion to duty since the first revenue cutter took to the water, but if there’s one trait that could sum up the reputation of the entire service, it might just be courage.

 On Nov. 7, 2011, the crewmembers of Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., met a person whose bravery matched and exceeded their own.

 Luke Wiedeman has lived with a brain tumor for more than three years.  He’s been through tests, scans, surgeries, chemotherapy, and through it all, he’s kept his smile. Even when dealing with procedures that are far from comfortable. Luke’s mom, Janet Wiedeman, wrote the following in his blog:

 “We've met numerous medical professionals over the last few days. They always ask Luke if he has any questions. He usually has at least one serious question plus his favorite: "Tallahassee is a city in Florida. How do you spell that?" You can tell a lot about someone by how they respond to a 9-year-old boy's jokes. In case you're wondering ... the answer is t-h-a-t.”

 The summer of 2011, Luke encountered many dramatic ups and downs. From bad days that included long rounds of radiation treatments to good days like the day Luke received news that the local Make-A-Wish chapter was granting his wish to become a Coast Guard rescue swimmer.

 “He’s so much braver than I am,” said Richard Wiedeman, Luke’s father. “He’s been through a lot, especially this summer. He had to undergo doses of radiation daily for 31-straight days. We didn’t get the results we were hoping for as a result of the therapy, and for the first time in my life, I felt discouraged and thought he might have given up the fight.  That is until he realized that he was going to get to go take part in his wish and be in the Coast Guard for a few days. It turned him around.”

 Make-A-Wish members contacted ATC Mobile to request their help in fulfilling Luke’s desire to become an Aviation Survival Technician.  A month before the long plane trip to the training center, Luke was already hearing from his new shipmates.

 “Soon after we knew his wish was going to be granted, he started getting emails from some of the pilots at ATC, and some rescue swimmers from other air stations who offered words of encouragement and ideas of what rescue swimmers do and what the Coast Guard does,” said his father. “A dozen or half a dozen guys were corresponding with him and Luke wanted to respond back and keep the correspondence going. It was a lot!”

 One of his constant correspondents, Cmdr. David Saunders, operations division chief for ATC Mobile, couldn’t help but be impressed by Luke’s knowledge and passion for the Coast Guard.

 “I had to be on my ‘A’ game talking to him, because he’s very sharp, he’s done his research and knows his history, so he’s got some tough questions,” said Saunders.

 “I really like the idea of young boys and girls wanting to be a part of this organization,” said Saunders. “I asked his dad: What made Luke decide he wanted to be interested in the Coast Guard? And his dad didn’t know either. It’s just something he had a passion for at an early age.”

 Luke’s wish to become a rescue swimmer resonated with Saunders.  Being from the same part of the country as the Wiedemans, Saunders knows how important it is for the Coast Guard to reach out to regions where they are generally unknown.

 “I think it’s important for people to know who we are and what we’re about. In this case it was unique, because Luke is coming from Utah,” said Saunders. “Being from Colorado, that part of the country doesn’t get much exposure to the Coast Guard. His desire to be a rescue swimmer of all the things a young boy could want to do, we just thought that was awesome.”

 When the Wiedeman family made the 1,000-plus mile trip to the training center, they certainly had ideas about how their son would be participating in his training as an honorary Coast Guard rescue swimmer.  But, what the Coast Guardsmen of ATC had planned far surpassed what they anticipated.

 “We just thought we’d go, meet some personnel, shake some hands, maybe get a tour of the facility, some words of encouragement … our expectations were greatly exceeded,” said Luke’s father.

 For the first day of the training, Coast Guard ASTs ran Luke through pool drills and demonstrations of rescue techniques and equipment, having him try on each piece of their gear and explaining how each is used to either keep them safe or assist in a rescue.

 Afterwards, Luke was treated to the high-tech flight and aircrew weapons simulators that are unique to ATC. Trained pilots helped guide him through the controls and procedures for take-offs and landings.

 Luke’s first day didn’t end there.

 “[Vice Adm. Robert Parker, Coast Guard Atlantic Area commander] was on his way in on one of our 144’s,” said Saunders.  “We made a call while he was in the air and asked him if he’d be interested in talking to Luke, which he was.  It was a real highlight to Luke’s day.”

 Upon landing, Parker walked over to Luke and his family and talked to them about their visit. Before leaving them to their tour of the training center, Parker gave Luke his challenge coin.

 The second day of his wish, Luke was able to put his new skills to the test. ATC had orchestrated a search-and-rescue demonstration with Luke as the star. A boat had been arranged for his family to watch from as Luke was lowered into the water of Mobile Bay from an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, to rescue two rescue swimmers who were feigning distress. 

 Luke successfully loaded the two into the helicopter’s rescue basket and, lastly, was hoisted himself.

 Upon returning to the training center, Luke was welcomed by a round of applause and hearty handshakes from every available crewmember of ATC.  The celebration culminated in a ceremony where Luke received a letter of appreciation from the unit.

 “We didn’t think he’d get to participate in the training the way he did, participate in the mission like he did,” said Luke’s father. “Just the way the whole base turned out to make Luke, and  us, feel welcome. It was awesome.”

 Luke’s arrival had been planned months before he even set foot on the military installation. His favorite food had been researched and prepared by the staff of the mess hall.  During his stay, crewmembers were allowed to wear green undershirts with their uniforms. Green being Luke’s favorite color.  To say that the personnel of ATC wanted Luke to enjoy his wish might be an understatement.  It was an effort that wasn’t lost on his parents.

 “It was the most incredible thing I think we’ve ever experienced,” said Luke’s father.  “It exceeded our expectations the way the Coast Guard was so accommodating, so welcoming, so professional. I know for me, personally, what it did was give me peace of mind that no matter what happens with Luke’s situation that he had this and this was what he wanted more than anything else. For those three or four days that we were there, it was the happiest I’ve seen him, probably ever.  You can’t put that into words.”

 Even after saying his final goodbyes to a host of new friends and pen pals, Luke’s day was about to get better.

 By coincidence, the hotel the Wiedeman family was staying at was hosting a command conference for the Coast Guard.  As the family made their way through the lobby on their way to dinner, they were recognized by Adm. Parker, whom they’d just met the day before. 

 “He recognized us and happened to be with [Adm. Robert Papp, commandant of the Coast Guard] at the time and he said, ‘Oh, here’s someone I’d like you to meet.’ He introduced Luke to the commandant,” said Luke’s father. “Luke said ‘Sir, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I am not sure what the commandant is.’ I kind of whispered in his ear that this is the admiral in charge of the whole Coast Guard and Coast Guard operations.”

 “It was kind of a humorous moment.  [Papp] offered some words of encouragement. Just a great guy,” said Luke’s father. “I kind of explained to Luke a little bit later that this guy probably talks to President Obama on a regular basis.  It was a real highlight.”

 Coast Guard history is saturated with heroes that met immense obstacles and overcame them. Joshua James, Bernard Webber or Douglas Munro could tell tales of battling adversity that, if compared to those that Luke Wiedeman might tell, could sound vaguely similar.  And, just as the Coast Guard praises and elevates its heroes, the members of ATC felt very at home honoring Luke.

 “This really reinforces what we’re all about,” said Saunders. “This benefits us just as much as it benefits him. It really brings us together as a community, as aviators and it recalibrates what we’re here for. Whether you’re on an aircraft or a cutter, whatever, we’re all Coast Guardsmen, and we’re all out here to do the business of serving the American people.”

Where eagles scream and dive-bomb with equal fright and delight toward a beast of prey, a breed apart dwells amid the great sky. There is down-to-earth, and there is down to earth – as in, 10,000 feet, or roughly two miles straight down to splat - flat ground. Between heaven and earth, a warrior glides with the night. All the while, like a falconer, their guardians above keep a watchful eye.

On Oct. 19, 2011, an aircrew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., conducted the first high altitude-low opening and high altitude-high opening joint training exercise with the A-Team. That’s right - the A-Team. No television show or video game here, though. Just the real deal in action: elite joint U.S. Armed Services training operations.

The A-Team, or Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, trained alongside ATC Mobile and the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group for a series of HALO and HAHO joint training operations aboard an HC-144A Ocean Sentry airplane.

HALO techniques are used for missions to prevent detection of the aircraft and the jumpers. Extreme accuracy is required since the parachutes are deployed at a low altitude. Typically, the paratroopers jump at around 25,000 feet and freefall down to 3,500 feet. Plummeting at a terminal velocity of 120-125 miles per hour, parachutists can descend this distance within two minutes. HAHO techniques are used for missions that require minimal detection of the aircraft under conditions that restrict the aircraft from penetrating a certain area, such as the border of a country; HAHO is used for long-range insertion.

“For the jump exercise with the Coast Guard, we exited at 10,000 feet since personnel were not chambered or evaluated to ascend above 9,999 feet without being on supplemental oxygen,” said Chief Warrant Officer John Vergara, 7th Special Forces. “For altitudes above 10,000 feet [mean sea level], the use of oxygen is mandatory for aircrew members.”

As a critical component of the U.S. National Fleet, the Coast Guard regularly conducts defense readiness training operations alongside Department of Defense counterparts. The joint relationships evolved further with an agreement signed between the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security in May 2008. For the military free fall infiltrations later in the training, ATC Mobile requested a waiver from Coast Guard Headquarters to allow parachute jumps from the Ocean Sentry aircraft.

Objective: Preparation for the 7th Group’s Unconventional Warfare exercise, Oct. 26-Nov. 12, 2011.

“The collaboration for jointness is the desired end state or gold standard,” said Vergara. “We usually train for two to three months in advance for such a joint exercise.”

For the daytime validation jump, Coast Guard Cmdr. David Saunders and his crew arrived at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and took up two teams of six Green Berets and delivered them to a drop zone near Meridian, Miss. Green Berets are a trainer force that operate independently and provide premier unconventional war-fighting capabilities to help host nations defend themselves.

At 10,000 feet, the Coast Guard loadmaster, in close coordination with two Army jumpmasters, lowered the ramp. The paratroopers, each with altimeter gauges the size of night-stand alarm clocks on their wrists, approached the edge of the airplane. Just a few feet from the edge and abreast with the clouds, the wind tunnel’s gusts mustered the hairs on the back of the neck into formation high atop taut goose bumps.

When the jumpmaster spotted the drop zone at an Eglin test site, they gave the thumbs up. Each of the six jumped one after another.

Geronimo!

When each paratrooper reached the optimal height of 6,000 feet, they pulled their chute and descended to the drop zone.

Then, on Oct. 25-26, the ATC Mobile crew staged at an airfield in Alexandria, La., and conducted aircraft familiarization and load training with the Special Forces jumpers.

“The training helped refine our procedures and terminology prior to conducting two planned night events in support of the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group exercise,” said Saunders, pilot for the first parachute operations aboard an HC-144.

For the military freefall infiltrations later in the training, the Special Forces jumped at night, while carrying about 150 pounds of gear and weapons.

“The additional gear doesn’t increase descent unless the jumper positions his body into a head-down configuration,” said Vergara. “Basically, the combined weight of the parachutist, parachute and equipment cannot exceed 360 pounds.”

On both nights, the Ocean Sentry aircrew picked up 12-man teams from Alexandria, La., and transported them to drop zones in the vicinity of Foley, Ala. As they landed, the 144 crew tracked the location of the “operators,” as the Green Berets landed on a blacked-out drop zone. The Ocean Sentry airplane was an ideal platform for the operation.

As a medium surveillance aircraft, it features a mission system pallet that controls communication and sensor systems such as forward-looking infrared, or FLIR. The FLIR enabled the 144 crew to monitor the movements of the insurgents and transmit real-time imagery to operational commanders.

“The versatility and use of the HC-144 as a multi-mission platform is one our greatest strengths,” Saunders said. “This joint training exercise helped maintain proficiency and expanded our crew’s skill sets to prepare them to adapt to a variety of missions on short notice.”

The infiltration of the two A-Teams set the stage for the unconventional warfare exercise that took place between Oct. 27-Nov. 12, 2011. Throughout the training, the Coast Guard garnered the close cooperation and interagency operability with another branch of the Department of Defense.

Across the spectrum, high up, where all is black, white, red and sky blue, Coast Guardsmen and Green Berets stockpiled honor, courage and clarity. For them there is no middle ground. A rarer sense of honor, perhaps, are, vigilant sentinels aiding the defense of a nation under the cloak of night. For the reverence of that nation, their redoubt envelops a purple halo.

By Petty Officer 3rd Class Casey J. Ranel

The United States has more than 25,000 miles of inland navigable waterways, almost all of which are in the eastern half of the country. 10,300 miles of those navigable waterways are in the Eighth Coast Guard District. The most navigated of these is the Mississippi River, which is the fourth longest and the tenth largest among the world’s rivers. The upkeep of the Mississippi River’s many Aids-To-Navigation falls within the districts responsibility to ensure the safe flow of commerce; the life blood of America.

The Mississippi rises in Minnesota and flows southward for 2,230 miles until it reaches the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it drains into tributaries in all or part of 31 states between the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains. With all this navigable water, rules of the road have to be set and followed.

ATON was first established in 1716 with the Boston Lighthouse located in Little Brewster Harbor in Boston. Before this light, navigation aids consisted of burning fires on raised platforms, or on shore. Today those fires have been replaced by a variety of signals to alert mariners. Some of these signals include green and red day boards with large numbers on them, as well as green and red buoys. Some either float while others are secured to a beam sticking out of the water. They may blink brightly, rotate around in a circle or make a loud sound. These signals are paramount to marine safety.

“ATON is important because it shows mariners where dangers lie, and can include shallow water, obstructions or mishaps on the waterways,” said Petty Officer 1^st Class John Sadler, a boatswains mate assigned to Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Pittsburgh. “ATON facilitates the smooth flow of commerce by promoting a safe route-of-navigation for mariners to follow.”

In order to navigate the water or to help plan a trip, it is helpful to have a chart. Charts show the nature and shape of the coast, buoys and beacons, water depths, land features and much, much more.

“It is imperative to know the difference between different types of aids-to-navigation,” said Sadler. “Taking the time to learn about different aids-to-navigation and their meaning could easily prevent you from damaging your vessel, or far worse, you and your crew.”

The Coast Guard operates and administers the United States ATON System, which is intended for use with nautical charts and has the goal of promoting safe navigation on the waterways. Safety signals are maintained by different types of ATON teams that are positioned on waterways across the U.S.

Some of these units include tenders, such as the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, a 240-foot ice-breaking cutter that navigates through some of the coldest waters. Cutter Mackinaw and its crew are responsible for keeping channels and harbors open to navigation to meet the winter shipping needs of commerce. In addition, the Mackinaw has state of the art mission capabilities that include search and rescue, servicing buoys, law enforcement and the ability to deploy an oil skimming system for use during pollution response. The Cutter Mackinaw is homeported in Cheboygen, Mich.

Another type of ATON unit’s are the Juniper Class buoy tenders. These 225-foot long tenders have a Dynamic Positioning System that can hold the vessel within a ten-meter circle using a Global Positioning System that allows the crew to service and accurately position floating ATON. The cutter is also equipped with a single controllable pitch propeller as well as bow and stern thrusters, which give the cutter the maneuverability it needs to tend buoys offshore and in restricted waters.

Coastal Buoy Tenders, also known as the Keeper Class, are 175-feet long and are designed to rotate 360 degrees. The maneuverability is unmatched because of the thruster in its bow. These buoy tenders also have a DPS, which allows it to maneuver and position aids accurately and effectively.

The Inland Construction Tender is probably the most unknown and unrecognized in the fleet. At 75-feet long, the cutter pushes a barge equipped with cranes and other ATON equipment. These tenders drive piles and work smaller buoys along rivers and lakes throughout the country. Other missions include search and rescue, law enforcement, ice breaking and environmental operations. The fleet also has Inland Construction Tenders that are 160-feet long without barges.

There are two 65-foot Inland Buoy Tenders; the Coast Guard Cutter Bayberry, homeported in Portsmouth, Va., and the Coast Guard Cutter Elderberry, homeported in Petersburg, Alaska.

The smallest of the fleet are the River Tenders. Ranging from 65 to 75-feet in length, they push barges varying from 90-feet to 130-feet. These barges are equipped with cranes to work ATON and some are equipped with jetting devices that are used to set and anchor buoys in rivers with sandy or muddy bottoms.

From muddy bottom rivers to seas of ice-filled waters, the Coast Guard has a tender that can handle any day board, buoy or beacon light to keep America’s waterways safe and moving.

By Petty Officer 2nd Class Bill Colclough

Winter loitered on the banks of the Missouri River in Leavenworth, Kan., in 1979, at about 5:30 p.m., as seismic echoes rippled beneath the feet of two Coast Guardsmen.  They were working aboard a drydock that held the Coast Guard Cutter Scioto, a 65-foot river buoy tender and its 90-foot aids to navigation barge. Like boot heels crushing a bag of corn flakes, a cacophony of thwacks, cracks and pops erupted as ice tore free from the banks.

The river quaked and the Missouri Valley Shipyard drydock pushed off en masse like an aircraft carrier, carrying with it the Scioto, its barge and its crew. Chief Petty Officer Douglas Robinson, the executive petty officer, and another crewmember leaped onto the Scioto as it began to free float down the river.

Robinson darted to the pilot house and alerted the engineering petty officer. "Light off the engines!" He screamed. The rest of the crew sprinted to their general quarters positions. Within seconds, Robinson throttled both main engines ahead, away from the stern of a moored barge. The drydock was resting on the outboard side of the ATON barge as the ice shuttled them down the Missouri like an out-of-control industrial flotilla.

Robinson left the engines at full throttle attempting to keep the Scioto as close to the banks as possible. The engineering petty officer yelled for Robinson to watch out for a barge spud. The Scioto and the spud nearly collided with each other, and Robinson fought to keep control of the ship. The spud passed by the ship so close, Robinson could have touched it from the bridge wing.

A minute and a half after the incident began, it ended abruptly as wires broke and metal tore, and the Scioto struck a barge. Robinson kept the engines at full-ahead to keep the ship near the bank, allowing the crewmembers to abandon ship safely. Scioto sustained a gaping hole, which caused a 40-degree list.

It was March 2, 1979, and the Scioto, aground in a muddy clutch, nearly became dead-in-the-water, not just on, but actually in the Missouri River.

On April 1, 1979, Seaman Apprentice Jay Bealer reported to the Scioto fresh from boot camp. Once he arrived, he found that his unit was little more than a lighted handrail. As the river stages rose and fell by a foot or two every day, the hand rail was the only part of the Scioto that remained above the water.

"Just before boot camp graduation, the company commanders congratulated me, tongue-in-cheek, for becoming a new submariner," said Bealer, who retired in 2009 as a Chief Warrant Officer. "When I reported to Group Leavenworth, the boat was half in the water buried in the middle of dark ice."

For two and a half weeks, Bealer and his shipmates labored day and night to raise the boat from its watery grave. The work was intensive and deliberate.

"The objective was, go in the compartment, strip it and get the mud and water out of it," Bealer remembered.

They disassembled the twin Caterpillar D353 main diesel engines and removed them from the side of the ship. They ran fire hoses and P-300 dewatering pumps underneath the hull, as other crewmembers removed mud and silt. According to Bealer, the powerplant removal was a decision point for salvageability. The Coast Guard, at the time, was considering whether or not to keep the vessel in the fleet.

The Scioto did not get underway again until 1981. Operating out of Leavenworth, the Scioto's area of responsibility extended from just north of St. Joseph, Mo., to Jefferson City, Mo.  In 1983, she and the crew moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where they assumed the responsibility of 100 shore aids and 1,000 river buoys along 322 miles between Alton, Ill., to Clinton, Iowa. Although the ship had been given a stay of execution, her time seemed to be coming to an end.

Fast forward 32 years, 3 months and 2 days from the Missouri River incident to June 4, 2011. The Scioto once again finds herself in drydock, this time in Memphis, Tenn.

The Scioto was selected to receive a major upgrade to her aging systems as part of the Inland River Emergency Subsystem Sustainment project. The Scioto was the last river tender that would receive a service-life extension by renewing specific systems in lieu of replacement.

During drydock for the IRESS, which occurred during a four-month period from June to September 2011, contractors overhauled the propulsion, firefighting and steering systems.

First, contractors cut a square out of the starboard-side beam and removed both of the Caterpillars, the same workhorses that had been in place since 1962. Then, they installed the new Isotta Fraschini Motori twin V-12 diesel engines.

"The new engines allow me to drive the ship without operating at max capacity," said Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Ellis, officer-in-charge of the Scioto. "We were running the Caterpillars at 120 percent."

Double the cylinders and more than twice the horsepower, the IFM V-12s are actually lighter as well, which poses a slight problem.

The new, lighter engines reduce the cutter's weight by approximately 3,000 pounds, and with the propellers a foot below the waterline, cavitation becomes a potential issue.

Designed to operate at 1,400 horsepower, engineers detuned them to 670 horsepower, which is still nearly double the power of the Caterpillar D353s at maximum capacity.

"They tend to suck air in because the engines are pretty powerful," said Ellis.

On Sept. 10, 2011, the crew successfully completed sea trials, and all that remains until their estimated departure in October is detail work. The day prior to returning home, the crew will conduct ready-for-operations drills complete with a series of main space fire drills and fog navigation drills.

"My main goal is to provide all assurances that we are ready to respond to any emergencies," said Ellis. "The most dangerous period for any crew is the one immediately following an extended drydock. The crew might be rusty, breaking in new equipment."

"This drydock period was a stark reminder for us. You have to be ready - because this boat was at the bottom of the river, " concluded Ellis. "There were no yardworkers back then. The crew did it all by themselves."

If what's on the inside is what's important, the Scioto received a new heart of sorts. Mud, floods and river tides subside, but for the Scioto, it's the mud to modernization that defined the journey.

September 11, 2011, marked the 10^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  Coast Guard personnel from Air Station Houston participated in a run to honor those who died on that historic day. The race also recognized those who have gave the ultimate sacrifice fighting in subsequent wars to ensure our enduring freedom.

This year’s 5k race was sanctioned by the City of Houston and held at Ellington Field. It featured emergency responders and other participants from the city of Houston, the mayor of Houston, the Houston Police Officer’s Union and the Houston Airport System, the Coast Guard, all branches of the military, and others. 

“It was an honor to see our folks participate in a run for such a noble cause,” said Master Chief Petty Officer Craig Potts, command master chief at Air Station Houston. “It was a very uplifting experience to see everyone come together and it was a great time.”

The Heroes Run benefits the Travis Manion Foundation.

Manion, a 1^st Lt. in the U.S. Marines and graduate of the Naval Academy, deployed to Iraq on December 26, 2006, for his second tour as part of a Military Transition Team.  During his final patrol mission on April 29, 2007, Manion was killed by enemy sniper fire while fighting courageously to defend against an enemy ambush.

According to the foundation, not long after Manion was killed, checks in his memory began appearing at the Manion’s home. In lieu of flowers, checks from all over the country and the world soon amounted to more than $100,000. His parents, Tom and Janet Manion, pledged to give every penny to causes that kept alive the spirit of service and love of country.

The foundation’s website states that it operates three major programs that honor the fallen: Character Does Matter Leadership program, an Honor the Fallen program that offers Challenge Grants and Fellowship pairings, and the 9/11 Heroes Run. The foundation also fund Good Grief seminars, scholarships, and community service projects that benefit wounded and disabled veterans and Families of the Fallen.

The run in Houston had the largest attendance of all the Heroes Run events across the nation, said Houston Mayor Annise Parker at the start of the run.  After the canon fired, military units ran in formation alongside police, firefighters, adults, children and parents pushing strollers. There were also aircraft flyovers and an exhibit of various military vehicles.

“To me, it’s very important, because all the Services had a lot to do (with the response to) 9/11,” said Petty Officer 2^nd Class Brad Pigage, a rescue swimmer at Air Station Houston, and winner of the Heroes Run. “I have a ton of respect for all of the firefighters and policemen that were there that day.”

*Top image courtesy of Houston Police Department
** Above image courtesy of Bryan Sutherland 

The tear-streaked face of a child buried in the uniformed shoulder of his or her parent as the parent returns from war.  That’s the image, which, to many, says “the end.”  The parent made it home safely, so that’s it… right?  As far as Congress was concerned, it wasn’t.

As part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, Congress mandated implementation of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (YRRP). The Secretary of Defense was directed to establish the program and provide Reserve members and their families with sufficient information, services, referrals and proactive outreach opportunities throughout an entire deployment cycle.

In 2010, the Coast Guard established the YRRP to ensure deploying Coast Guard members, families and others connect with local resources before, during, and after deployments.

Through studies and surveys, the YRRP leadership determined that the best method to achieve its goals resided in multi-pronged, educational events, held during all phases of a deployment cycle. The first is a pre-deployment event held for the members and their families before deployment. That is followed by a mid-deployment event held specifically for those loved ones left behind. Then, when members return home, the reintegration phase begins.

“Studies have shown that the toughest part of any deployment is that reintegration phase,” said Cmdr. Karl Leonard, Yellow Ribbon manager. “During a program like this one, we focus on giving the members the tools to successfully reintegrate back into their civilian life with their spouse or significant other. We know from studies that [post-traumatic stress disorder] can start to surface at the 6-month mark.  So, even that far out, after coming back, people are just starting to exhibit signs of PTSD.  That’s why this is a continual process.”

Recently, a YRRP event was held in Orange Beach, Ala., for Coast Guard Port Security Unit 308 of Kiln, Miss. At first glance, one might not have known an event was happening.  Even though they are part of a military organization, the members of YRRP don’t wear uniforms to events and neither do their event participants. But there is a rational behind this mandate.

“It’s intentional that nobody’s in uniform,” said Leonard.  “Everyone’s in civilian clothes because it’s about the member. It’s about the member’s family.  It’s not about rank.  It’s not about chain of command.  It’s not about military structure.  We want the focus to be squarely on the individual and his or her family.”

The hallway leading to the presentation room was lined with tables populated by representatives eager and willing to assist reservists, including Humana and the chaplain’s office. There was even a table for the University of Phoenix.

“This was my sixth deployment and my first Yellow Ribbon Program. I learned a lot,” said Cmdr. Stephen Browning, commanding officer of Port Security Unit 308. “My first deployment was in ’90, ’91 for Desert Storm.  We got off the airplane, they handed us a release from active duty form and that was it.  This was very informative.  It’s been great to find out the benefits and resources available that I didn’t know existed.”

“It would have been great to have had something like this before now.  Especially with the chaplain’s stuff, the VA stuff,” Browning added. “I had no idea about any of that and now we have good phone numbers, resources and websites.”

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jabari Arnold agreed.

“I’ve gotten a lot of information,” said Arnold.  “There are a lot of schools that take our benefits that I wasn’t aware of. I’ve learned a bunch of stuff, good information to take in.”

With hundreds of reservists returning from deployment every year, there will be many more welcome home celebrations, many more tear-streaked faces and relieved family members.  But, when coming home, there will also be the threats of PTSD and financial, educational and work-life issues to contend with.  As long as these threats exist, as long as brave Coast Guard reservists are risking their lives to keep America safe, the YRRP has a job to do.