Dolphin helicopter turns 25
November 19th, 2009 | Aviation Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
MH-65D, the latest iteration of MH-65 helicopter platform. // Coast Guard photo
The Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter is celebrating its 25th birthday today. The service accepted the HH-65A Dolphin helicopter for service on Nov. 19, 1984.
The Dolphin has served the Coast Guard well, and they have another 18 years to go in service before they will be replaced under the Deepwater program. By the end of October, the service had moved 48 of the upgraded MH-65Cs through their third segment of upgrades. The biggest change is a new engine that provides 40 percent more power and offers greater reliability. The helicopters also have new weapon mounts. Pretty nifty birthday gifts.
The MH-65Ds began in-flight testing in March. Look for a new flight navigation system, which is common to DOD helicopters and replaces the current compass, gyro systems and GPS system.
When the $901 million upgrade is finished in 2017, the Dolphins also will have equipment that will allow them to be secured and transferred to the hangars of the new national security cutters.
The Bourne Interdiction
September 17th, 2009 | Coast Guard Morale | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
Matt Damon made a visit to Coast Guard Station New York Tuesday while filming his new movie, The Adjustment Bureau. The movie, about mysterious forces trying to keep two lovers apart, includes a cameo with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Photo by PO3 Seth Johnson/Coast Guard
Memorial marks one-year anniversary of crash
September 8th, 2009 | Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point lost four crew members in a helicopter crash Sept. 4, 2008. The air station marked the one-year anniversary of the crash Friday with a memorial.
The air station also took part in a unique event conceived by Master Chief Petty Officer Patrick Daniels, the command master chief at Air Station Atlantic City. Five ensigns were sent to every Coast Guard Air Station, where air crews took photos with the flags. The photos were placed in albums given to family members of the lost crew members. Each of the four families took home an ensign. The remaining flag will stay at Barbers Point. A touching feature story written by Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson details the journey these flags took.
Legare on patrol off the African coast
August 14th, 2009 | Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
I just wanted to share these cool photos of the medium endurance cutter Legare on patrol in the Atlantic Ocean Aug. 8. The Legare, home-ported in Portsmouth, Va. is deployed off the west and central coast of Africa in support of Africa Partnership Station, under the direction of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, 6th Fleet. I was struck by the stark contrast between ships. The photos were sent to us today from U.S. Naval Forces Africa Public Affairs.
PA2 Thomas M. Blue/Coast Guard
The Legare patrols alongside the Senegalese Navy vessel, Poponquine. During the six-day joint operation, several Senegalese boarding team members embarked Legare and participated in boarding and training exercises along with Coast Guard boarding team members.
PA2 Thomas M. Blue/Coast Guard
Coast Guard crew members aboard the Over-the-Horizon deployable boat from the Legare, maneuver near the cutter.
Happy 219th, Coast Guard!
July 31st, 2009 | Coast Guard Navy | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
Petty Officer 2nd Class NyxoLyno Cangemi/Coast Guard photo Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Shawn Beaty, 29, of Long Island, N.Y., looks for survivors in the wake of Hurricane Katrina Aug. 30, 2005.
In honor of the Coast Guard’s birthday Aug. 4, the Naval Institute has put together a new collection of rescue photos, including historic photographs and modern images.
“While the equipment and technology have vastly changed, the Coast Guard’s ‘always ready’ spirit remains the same,” according to the Naval Institute.
And you can save 20 percent on your photo order. Check out the link for the coupon code.
‘It was funny for the first 10 seconds’
July 14th, 2009 | Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
As Lynn Burton climbed back onto the boat to call for help, she shot a few quick frames of the growing nest of bees on her boat. (Lynn Burton, for FLORIDA TODAY)
Holy Cow.
Florida Today reports on a swarm of bees that got tired as it crossed the Indian River Lagoon and decided to take a break aboard a small boat. The frightened boaters took refuge in the water at first, but then climbed back in the boat once they realized the bees were staying at the stern. They huddled at the bow and called in the troops. The Melbourne Police launched a rescue boat; Indialantic Police sent a personal watercraft; the Coast Guard launched a rubber dinghy; and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office sent a helicopter to the rescue, the newspaper reports.
“It was funny for the first 10 seconds,” Lynn Burton, the boat owner, told Florida Today.
Bert: ‘Life is very tenuous here’
July 6th, 2009 | Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
PA3 Richard Brahm/Coast Guard
Capt. Melissa Bert, the new commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, said she has been impressed with the “Good Samaritan” spirit she has encountered in her first month on the job in Alaska. A dozen private vessels and two volunteer sea planes helped in the search for a missing boater last week after a Good Samaritan spotted an unmanned, powered canoe 34 miles west of Wrangell in Clarence Strait. The Coast Guard ultimately had to call off the rescue mission after two unsuccessful days of searching for the former Marine.
“It is amazing how many good Samaritans will help,” Bert said. “That’s very important in remote areas.”
Bert said the weather can be unpredictable, making safety measures extremely important. It is not uncommon in the winter for winds to reach 70 to 80 knots. “While it’s magnificent one moment, it can be terrifying the next,” Bert said. “Life is very tenuous here.”
‘Any means necessary’
June 23rd, 2009 | Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
Paul Conner, the search and rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. (Lt. Lauren Trochio/Coast Guard)
The wonders of modern communication.
Coast Guard Sector Northern New England was searching Sunday for a possible overdue fisherman out of Cobscook Park in Eastport, Maine, until a search on Facebook helped locate information which ultimately closed the case and saved up to $30,000, according to Coast Guard officials.
A park ranger who spotted a lone vehicle and trailer without a boat sitting in an empty parking lot passed along the license plate number to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard traced the name, address and phone number of the vehicle owner but couldn’t reach him.
Before launching a costly search, Paul Conner, the search and rescue controller, decided to use Facebook to check for any contact information on the missing fisherman or his relatives. Conner sent an e-mail to one of the man’s relatives, but Connor ended up hearing back first from the fisherman by phone. He was simply moored at a different location and was A-OK.
“Sometimes we have to be very creative in our information gathering,” said Conner. “A simple internet search can often help us locate a missing person before a boat or aircraft is even on scene.”
Later that day, in that very same district, the Coast Guard called off a search after a boater sailing from Block Island to Newport sent an e-mail to his family that he was safe after a storm.
“For over 200 years the Coast Guard has been using any means necessary to fulfill our mission,” said Captain Jim McPherson, commander at Sector Northern New England. “Now we can add social online media as another tool in our lifesaving kit.”
‘Thank God for moms and the Guard.’
June 22nd, 2009 | Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
Coast Guard
Are you one of the million people who have been plucked from the water to safety by a Coast Guardsman?
The nonprofit Coast Guard Foundation announced a campaign to find out the true stories behind the more than 1 million people rescued since the creation of the Coast Guard.
The foundation launched the ‘Are You One in a Million?’ campaign June 18 in conjunction with its own 40th anniversary celebration. The foundation, initially created to support the Coast Guard Academy and its cadets, expanded its charter in 1986 to support projects that enhance the education and morale of Coast Guard members and their families.
A picture of individuals rescued and their families may be submitted with each story, according to a foundation press release. Individuals can submit their stories at www.one-in-a-million-rescued.org.
Click here to read why David Weiss of Annapolis said, “Thank God for moms and the Guard.”
Nightmare scenarios No. 2 and No. 3
June 15th, 2009 | Coast Guard | Posted by Susan Gvozdas
The editorial board at the Tampa Tribune had a far-reaching interview last week with Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, who among other things, touched on piracy, illegal immigration and lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. Here are a few nuggets:
Allen expounded on one of the statements he made Tuesday at the Arctic Symposium at the Naval Academy , where he mentioned two things that keep him up at night. The first is something – accidents, oil spills, etc. — happening in the Arctic, where the Coast Guard does not have a presence. The second thing is the potential danger of small boats.
“If I were to give you a common thread between the Mumbai attacks, piracy off the Horn of Africa, these self-propelled semisubmersibles that are coming up from South America, the Cole attack – the common denominator on all those are unregulated small boats. It’s the modality of attack.”
Capt. Timothy Close, the Coast Guard’s captain of the Tampa port, sat in on the meeting. Apparently, luxury boat owners have their own nightmare scenario to worry about: Migrant smugglers are stealing high-end boats along the west coast of Florida to do their dirty work. Here’s what Close had to say:
“In a couple of cases they’ve had GPS locator chips in the boats, and we actually got one phone call from a guy who was somewhere in Oklahoma. He called the local police down in Marco Island saying, ‘Hey, I just got a page my boat’s being moved.’ So they went and got that boat back immediately and arrested a couple of folks, too.”