Coast Guard News

[Acaciavet]

Hello fellow Coasties
  I saw this and didnt know where to post it.I set my Google News Alert for U.S.Coast Guard and sometimes some thinfs come across tahts makes you proud to serve or like me a proud Vet of USCG. \

US Coast Guard: Silent sentinel of the sea in Iraq, Gulf

 
From Iraq's offshore oil platforms to the coastlines of the Northern Arabian Sea and East Africa, the US Coast Guard has a quiet role in defending vital infrastructure and training local navies and police forces to better defend their sea boarders.

For the last several years, the involvement of Coast Guard cutters and sailors has focused on supporting the war effort in Iraq and carrying out maritime security operations (MSO) alongside coalition navies to deny terrorists and smugglers maritime access.

At home in the United States, by the service's own count, the Coast Guard saves 14 lives every day. On a daily basis in and around US waters, it averages 123 people assisted in distress, 22 illegal migrants interdicted at sea, responds to 12 oil or chemical spills, conducts 78 search-and-rescue cases, seizes 8.4 million dollars worth of illegal drugs, and administers 21 commercial vessel examinations.

But far from home, the most visible war effort for the Coast Guard has been the protection of the Iraqi Khawr al-Amaya Oil Terminal and al-Basrah Oil Terminal, where they have maintained a presence of five to six cutters to help enforce the security zones around the platforms.

The protection of the two platforms, which were captured by US Navy SEALs and Polish special forces during the opening hours of the Iraq invasion in March 2003, remains one of the most critical missions for the coalition forces four years after they ousted Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad.

The oil production of the two fields account today for more than 80 per cent of Iraq's revenues, and while Iraqis control the production from the platforms, the coalition remains responsible for their security.

In April 2004, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Bruckenthal from Smithtown, New York, became the first Coast Guardsman killed in combat since the Vietnam War, when he and two US Navy sailors died foiling a suicide bombing attempt on one of the Iraqi oil terminals.

The attack prompted the coalition to declare a 3-kilometre warning zone and 2-kilometre exclusion zone around both terminals.

"We consider the platforms a critical infrastructure, and we are out here to protect them at all cost," Lieutenant Matt Moyer, commanding officer of the cutter Wrangler, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

As his cutter performed security operations around the platforms, he described how the Coast Guard is working closely with the Iraqi Navy and Marines to help train and prepare them to take over the responsibilities of protecting the platforms.

Lieutenant Kerry Mckeever is commanding officer of the cutter Monomoy, which is also involved in platform security operations. He said that the Coast Guard continues to assist distressed vessels but with caution, knowing that such cases could be a ruse prior to an attack.

"Search and rescue is one of the primary missions of the Coast Guard, and we will offer assistance when we can."

Both the Wrangler and Monomoy have offered assistance to Iranian and Iraqi fisherman on board Iraqi fishing dhows.

Like the rest of the Coast Guard expeditionary force deployed in the Gulf, McKeever volunteered for the year-long tour of duty to serve in Iraq.

There are more than five applicants for for every volunteer spot on the mission from among the more than 40,000 active-duty Coast Guard enlisted people and officers, according to some figures.

"I volunteered because I wanted to do something for my country," said Lieutenant Junior Grade Meghan Hague, executive officer aboard the Monomoy.

She has previously done a lot of drug interdiction missions and law-enforcement operations in South America before deploying to Iraq.

The Monomoy is the only mixed-gender Coast Guard cutter currently operating around the Iraqi platforms, making Hague the highest-ranking female Coast Guard officer operating in the Iraqi theatre.

Lieutenant James Gatz from the patrol forces for South-West Asia pointed out that the US Coast Guard brings a set of unique capabilities including expertise in port security, patrol boat operations and vessel boarding, skills that they share with regional partners.

"The Coast guard is very experienced in doing both compliant and non-compliant boarding, so we have teams that deploy with the Navy and we have two law-enforcement teams that carry out training," he said.

One law enforcement team operates out of a training facility in Bahrain, while the other is located in the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr to help train Iraqi Marines.

"For non-compliant boarding, we enter the vessel tactically using a small team to bring it under control," Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael McGrail, who heads a Coast Guard tactical law-enforcement team, said during a vessel boarding training operation Thursday in Manama.

Approximately 250 Coast Guard personnel are currently operating in Iraq and throughout the Gulf, down sharply from the approximately 1,250 personnel from various units deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom at the height of combat operations. dpa maz tl

[vftb]

 

[Salba]

 

Best Wishes

[vftb]

Gen. Petraeus recognized the Coast Guard, in theater, by name; didn't just lump them in with "sailors".    \

[EX-CG-GM]

Gen. Petraeus recognized the Coast Guard, in theater, by name; didn't just lump them in with "sailors".    \

Petraeus for President!   

 

Maybe he could pull us out from under the Dep't of H.S. (or is it B.S.?)  Put us back under Treasury where we started.  I fear being part of the Dep't of H.S. will eventually sully our name with their reputation.  Don't want to be lumped in with FEMA....

[BuoyJumper]

Thanks for the article Ace, very informative of what the CG is doing in Iraq.

Here's a video (no audio) of the cutter Monomoy in action   U.S. Coast Guard Patrolling Iraq's Shores

[BuoyJumper]

CG Commandant Talks Shop at Cape May Base
By Jack Fichter
April 22, 2008


Left, Adm. Allen talks with Cape May Station personnel
during visit. CG Photo by CWO Veronica Bandrowsky

CAPE MAY -- U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen visited Training Center Cape May (TRACEN) April 22 addressing recruits and staff about how the Coast Guard intends to keep up with rapidly changing technology and uncertain economic times.

After landing in a helicopter and having chow, U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd) accompanied Allen to a stage in the training center's gym.

Allen and LoBiondo presented a Meritorious Unit Award to TRACEN for completing one of the largest scale renovations of any training center in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Allen said the work took place from 2003 to 2006, “During a time of scarce acquisition, construction and improvement funding.”

He said the work included a $9-million renovation of the largest healthcare facility in Coast Guard, a $5-million refurbishment of recruit barracks, a $3.5-million pier rehabilitation and a $1.5 million modernization of the dining facility here During the time the renovation was under way, TRACEN graduated over 11,300 men and women, said Allen.

Allen's speech mirrored parts of his annual State of the Coast Guard Address he gave in Washington in February highlighting ongoing modernization and initiatives underway to improve training, financial management and unity of efforts across all levels of government.
Wearing a wireless microphone, Allen walked about the stage as he addressed the capacity audience. He said as a lieutenant from 1979 to 1982, he served as group commander of Air Station Atlantic City.

Allen said Coast Guard support functions would be organized over the next 12-18 months around “service centers” for surface forces, aviation forces, shore infrastructure, command control communications and personnel. He said the Coast Guard was requesting the creation of two, new Deputy Commandants, one for mission support, and one for operations.

“We are doing away the distinction between Atlantic and Pacific areas,” said Allen. “We'll create a single Coast Guard operational command in the Tidewater area.”

A Force Readiness Command will be created in Alameda with a focus on force allocation, standardization and training. Under discussion, having everything except the Coast Guard Academy including training, under the Force Readiness Command, said Allen.
He said while the Coast Guard is a small service, “like a family,” it has close to a $9 billion budget.

Allen fielded questions from recruits and training center personnel.

On a question of how growth of the Coast Guard would impact TRACEN in Cape May, Allen said with its current missions of homeland and marine security, the Coast Guard is not big enough to meet all those demands.

“We have to have an conversation with America, the administration and with Congress whether or not the Coast Guard is the right size to carry out its missions,” he said.

A member of TRACEN's engineering staff asked Allen if their work would be moved to a central location outside of Cape May. She said staff members were concerned the loss of expertise on site would adversely affect TRACEN.

Allen said he did not think anything in Cape May would “materially change.” How maintenance is supported logistically here is what will change, he said.

Allen said those who offer services for the command would remain in Cape May.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

House poised to approve Coast Guard bill with LNG
security provision despite veto threat

By ANDREW MIGA , Associated Press
Last update: April 24, 2008 - 10:35 AM



WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard would have to enforce security zones around eight liquefied natural gas terminals and any arriving tankers _all potential terrorism targets — under a bill headed for House passage.

The White House has promised a veto of the $8.4 billion Coast Guard bill, saying it would divert the Coast Guard from other high-priority missions and provide "unwarranted subsidy" for LNG owners.

Democrats scoffed at the White House's complaints, saying President Bush is ignoring the huge security threat posed by LNG sites on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. They plan a final vote Thursday afternoon.

"I am simply appalled that this administration would refer to protecting our families as an unwarranted and unnecessary subsidy," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who chairs the House Transportation subcommittee that oversees the Coast Guard.

Under the bill, security plans for LNG sites cannot be approved unless the Coast Guard determines there are adequate agency, state and local government resources to handle security risks, Cummings said.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said the LNG security provision could hamper the flow of much-needed natural gas as energy prices and demand rise. "We're creating more red tape and more impediments," Mica said.

The Government Accountability Office says a terrorism attack on an LNG tanker arriving at a terminal could ignite an explosion and fire so fierce that people a mile away would be burned. But GAO auditors also say the Coast Guard is already stretched too thin to meet its own standards for protecting arriving LNG tankers from attack.

A dozen more LNG terminals are being planned due to increased demand for natural gas and limited domestic supplies.

The bill also sets stricter crime reporting requirements for cruise ships and requires double hulls around fuel tanks on large cargo ships to prevent catastrophic oil spills like the one in San Francisco Bay last November.

To address complaints that crimes aboard cruise ships are underreported, the bill makes line operators report to the Department of Homeland Security all security incidents — including deaths, serious bodily injuries and sexual assaults.

Cruise lines last year announced a voluntary agreement with the FBI and the Coast Guard to improve and standardize crime reporting.

"The bottom line is, the crime statistics provided by the cruise industry are inaccurate and inadequate," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn. "This has got to change."

The bill also addresses a problem that has plagued the Great Lakes region — invasive species that sneak into U.S. waters aboard oceangoing cargo ships and wreak havoc. Oceangoing ships would be required to install ballast water treatment equipment to keep foreign species from U.S. waters.

Ballast tanks help stabilize ships in rough ocean waters. But ballast water is widely considered a leading source of aquatic invaders, which compete with native species for food and habitat.

At least 185 invasive species have been identified in the Great Lakes, including zebra and quagga mussels, which clog water pipes and do more than $150 million worth of damage a year.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

Home / News / Nation / Washington 
House passes Coast Guard bill despite Bush veto threat

By Andrew Miga
Associated Press Writer / April 24, 2008

WASHINGTON—Defying President Bush's threatened veto, the House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill making the Coast Guard enforce security zones around eight liquefied natural gas terminals and any arriving tankers --all potential terrorism targets.

more stories like thisThe White House has complained that the requirement would divert the Coast Guard from other high-priority missions and provide an "unwarranted subsidy" for LNG owners.

The 395-7 vote margin on the $8.4 billion Coast Guard bill was well beyond the two-thirds needed to override a presidential veto. Seven Republicans voted against the measure.

After the vote, the White House praised the passage of a GOP-backed amendment to the bill that permits the Coast Guard to take into account agency, state and local government security resources when deciding on security plans for LNG sites.

"The administration remains concerned about several key provisions in the House bill," said White House spokesman Trey Bohn. "However, the veto threat prompted members to adopt a Republican amendment which made significant changes to the bill. We will continue to work with members of Congress as this legislation moves forward."

The Senate is considering its own version of the bill.

Democrats scoffed at the White House's objections, saying Bush is ignoring the huge security threat posed by LNG sites on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

"I am simply appalled that this administration would refer to protecting our families as an unwarranted and unnecessary subsidy," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who chairs the House Transportation subcommittee that oversees the Coast Guard.

A dozen more LNG terminals are being planned due to increased demand for natural gas and limited domestic supplies.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said the LNG security provision could hamper the flow of much-needed natural gas as energy prices and demand rise. "We're creating more red tape and more impediments," Mica said.

The Government Accountability Office says a terrorism attack on an LNG tanker arriving at a terminal could ignite an explosion and fire so fierce that people a mile away would be burned. But GAO auditors also say the Coast Guard is already stretched too thin to meet its own standards for protecting arriving LNG tankers from attack.

The bill also sets stricter crime reporting requirements for cruise ships and requires double hulls around fuel tanks on large cargo ships to prevent catastrophic oil spills like the one in San Francisco Bay in November.

To address complaints that crimes aboard cruise ships are underreported, the bill makes line operators report to the Homeland Security Department all security incidents, including deaths, serious bodily injuries and sexual assaults.

Cruise lines also are required to post crime statistics on an Internet site maintained by the Coast Guard, with links from the cruise line public Web sites.

"Sometimes, even cruise ships need sunshine," said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.

Cruise lines last year announced a voluntary agreement with the FBI and the Coast Guard to improve and standardize crime reporting.

"The bottom line is, the crime statistics provided by the cruise industry are inaccurate and inadequate," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn. "This has got to change."

Cruise line industry officials say the reporting requirement is redundant, since they are already doing so voluntarily.

The bill also addresses a problem that has plagued the Great Lakes region: invasive species that sneak into U.S. waters aboard oceangoing cargo ships and wreak havoc. Oceangoing ships would be required to install ballast water treatment equipment to keep foreign species from U.S. waters.

Ballast tanks help stabilize ships in rough ocean waters. But ballast water is widely considered a leading source of aquatic invaders, which compete with native species for food and habitat.

At least 185 invasive species have been identified in the Great Lakes, including zebra and quagga mussels, which clog water pipes and do more than $150 million worth of damage a year.

"This is a great day for the Great Lakes and the coastal areas," said Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich. "Let's get out there and fight those nasty zebra mussels."

The bill also would increase the Coast Guard by 1,500 members to 47,000. Another provision would tighten agency management controls over Deepwater, the $24 billion program to modernize the agency's aging fleet. It has been plagued by cost overruns, design flaws and lax oversight.

------

The bill is H.R. 2830.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

Coast Guard eyes funds for pier

By MICHAEL GANNON
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Apr 25, 2008 @ 01:02 AM

New London, Conn. — Officials at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy are cautiously optimistic
that funding is on the way to replace a dilapidated pier used to berth the training ship Eagle.



The U.S. House of Representatives passed an authorization bill Thursday for next year’s
Coast Guard budget with a request for $6.7 million to replace the pier.

The Eagle is a barque that can run by sail or engine. It was given to the Coast Guard in
1946 after being seized from Germany after World War II.

The pier, which is on the Thames River at the academy, has deteriorated to the point the
ship is docked at Fort Trumbull.

“The Eagle is essential to our training program here,” said academy spokesman Petty Officer
Ryan N. Doss. “In all four years, our cadets will take multiple training sessions, spend much
time on board. When the cadets are not on board our officers’ candidate school utilizes it for
training. The pier in its current state does not allow us to tie up there.”

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said the funding, should it make it all the way through
the appropriations process, is not just some perk being brought home to the district.

“I think you need a viable dock for the Eagle that actually is safe and secure,” Courtney said
Thursday. “That’s not the case today. The Eagle is a complete training vessel. We need to
make sure the academy has a fully operational facility for its cadets.”

Courtney said U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is shepherding a similar authorization bill 
through the Senate. It then would have to go through the appropriations process in both houses.

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

8 Cuban migrants rescued off
New Orleans

Sunday, April 27, 2008
BY JONNELLE MARTE
jmarte@MiamiHerald.com

Coast Guard officials said Sunday they have called off the search for two
missing Cuban migrants whose raft turned up on the Gulf Coast Friday, about
300 miles south of New Orleans, far from the Florida Straits where most
migrants are found.

The two Cubans were among 12 people reported to be on the raft. Two other
Cubans who were a part of the same journey were found dead, and the remaining
eight were rescued.

According to Coast Guard officials, authorities were alerted about the raft
when crew members from an 800-foot tanker ship reported that they saw
a raft ''in distress'' and that there were people in the water.



The Coast Guard immediately sent the Coast Guard Cutter Cypress, a 225-foot
medium endurance cutter (it's a seagoing buoy tender idiots ..  )
who was 75-miles away conducting deep-water buoy maintenance. They
coordinated with Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to provide an Air Force HH-60
rescue helicopter.

Coast Guard medical personnel determined that six of the migrants needed an
immediate medical treatment and the Air Force HH-60 rescue helicopter
transported them to West Jefferson Hospital in New Orleans, where they were
reported to be in stable condition as of Saturday night.

It is unusual for Cuban migrants to turn up so far north, but this is not the first
time, said Coast Guard Lt. Anastacia Visneski.

''It is rare, it really just highlights how dangerous trying to make a journey like
that is, '' Visneski said. ``If they end up in the middle of the gulf you know
they're way off course.''

Original Article

[BuoyJumper]

CGHQ Press Release

Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau to Deploy to Asia,
Participate In International Training Exercises



ALAMEDA, Calif. - The Alameda-based Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau will depart Monday at approximately 2:30 p.m. to participate in the international training exercises, Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) and South East Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEA-CAT) 2008.

The departure of the 378-foot high endurance cutter represents the 14th time the U.S. Coast Guard has participated in these bilateral training exercises.   From 1995 to 2001, the Coast Guard provided support with deployed teams to provide maritime law enforcement and search and rescue training to the host nations.   

This year, CARAT will be hosted in the countries of Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The Morgenthau will be acting as the leading unit for most of the security boarding team events that include visit, board, search and seizure exercises, and legal discussions.  The focus is to foster cooperation between the various nation's naval and Coast Guard forces.

The primary Coast Guard mission is to provide maritime law enforcement and search and rescue training to the host nation forces. CARAT's focus is on improving combat oriented operational interoperability among U.S. Naval forces and each host nation's naval forces. 

In an attempt to combat the global maritime terrorist threat and introduce a multi-lateral exercise to the region, the Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEA-CAT) was created in 2002. While technically a separate exercise, SEA-CAT involves the same six countries and is conducted during the same time frame and utilizing the same U.S. assets as CARAT.  The SEA-CAT exercise focuses on refining maritime security skills, which includes training related to boarding team tactics/techniques, small boat skills, boarding-at-sea and joint boarding capabilities. 

This year, the 179-member crew of Morgenthau will participate in each phase of CARAT, conducting training with foreign nations and the U.S. Navy.  The Coast Guard's background in international maritime law enforcement and homeland security will be utilized during each of the training sessions.  Morgenthau crewmembers will provide training in shipboard damage control, maritime law enforcement and search and rescue. 

In addition to professional exchanges and training, the crew of the Morgenthau will also get an opportunity to interact socially with the various host nations.

While the Coast Guard normally performs its homeland security, maritime law enforcement and search and rescue missions close to home, the service is also called upon at times to support Department of Defense missions like CARAT.

[EX-CG-GM]

Lucky *******s!  They should take me along.  I can show them the fun spots......

[popeye]

I would like to go as well I think I may have kids in most of those places. And I know where most of the Off limits places are

[vftb]

I would like to go as well I think I may have kids in most of those places. And I know where most of the Off limits places are