U.S. Coast Guard News
Remembering a Veterans Day Rescue
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy inscribes the names of its greatest heroes on a "Wall of Gallantry," which commemorates graduates who have demonstrated courage in the face of danger. Every year, for Veterans Day, inductees, their families and their friends return to the Academy for an induction ceremony. At this year's event, the academy inducted a servicemember for a heroic rescue that occurred on another Veterans Day - November 11, 1986. On that Veterans Day, 32 years ago, fall had turned to...
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Building the Tools to Explore Beneath Arctic Ice
[By Senior Chief Petty Officer NyxoLyno Cangemi] Sitting on a stool in tattered painter’s pants, hiking boots and a green t-shirt, Dr. Jason Gobat looks better suited for an afternoon hike than an Arctic expedition. His blue eyes look larger than life as he peers through the magnification goggles in front of him and down through the smoky plume coming from his solder iron. The salt and pepper stubble on his face serves as a reminder of the days he...
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USCG's Icebreakers Support National Security in the Arctic
The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy completed their second mission of their Arctic West Summer 2018 deployment last Thursday. Mission 1802 was a scientific mission to study stratified ocean dynamics in the Arctic (SODA) for the Office of Naval Research. The project, led by Dr. Craig Lee of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington, Seattle, aims to better understand how the Arctic environment affects the different water layers of the Arctic Ocean. Understanding...
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How the Coast Guard Supports Maritime Commerce
[By Lt. Amanda Faulkner and PA1 Seth Johnson] The Coast Guard is known for saving lives at sea, but did you know the service plays a huge role in the economy, too? As a regulatory entity, the Coast Guard conducts marine inspections on vessels entering United States ports to make sure the vessels do not pose a safety, security, or environmental threat to the country. With 90% of U.S. imports and exports entering or exiting the country by ship,...
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Unsung Coast Guard Rescue: The Empire State Building Crash
[By Petty Officer 1st Class William Bleye] Few people today know that on July 28, 1945, a large aircraft crashed into the Empire State Building. Fewer still know that the accident produced the world record for surviving an elevator fall, and that the fall’s victim was rescued by a coastguardsman. Saturday, July 28, was an extremely foggy day in New York City. A B-25 bomber was on a routine transit flight from Massachusetts to Newark Airport in New Jersey. The...
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Cadets Study the "Tears of the Arizona"
This summer, First Class Cadets Marshall Grant, Ali Re, Terry Jung and Third Class Cadet Linda Duncan, with the help of the National Park Service, placed four racks with metal test samples in the water on the USS Arizona. The metal test samples will be removed at different times and studied to determine their corrosion rate, which will then be used to determine how long until the hull of the USS Arizona has before it collapses. “This is the first...
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Coast Guard Ensign Seeks Olympic Gold
[By Carol Bareuther and Trueson Tarinelli] On average, less than two percent of collegiate athletes have the opportunity to compete at the next level. That opportunity is even more rare among service academies and Division III institutions like the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In fact, while there have been a handful of elite athletes that have had some affiliation with the Coast Guard - including Arnold Palmer and Jack Dempsey, who both served enlisted - there has only been one Academy alum who competed...
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Dredging for Gold in the Bering Sea
The snow has thawed enough for the gold dredging season to kick off, and dredgers in Nome, Alaska, are ready to be on the water in search of hidden treasures on the Bering Sea floor. With boats in the water and deckhands aboard, these gritty and independent men and women are ready to hit the season hard in hopes of finding their lucky cache. However, before these pioneers can seek out their awaiting treasures on their unique vessels, they must...
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Coastal Cutter Voyages to Marshall Islands
In 1849, the Revenue Cutter Lawrence made history as the first Coast Guard crew to sail into Honolulu Harbor, safely escorted in by Native Hawaiians in outrigger canoes. This entry and escort not only exemplifies local customs but also demonstrates the Coast Guard's effort in establishing positive relationships with the communities we serve. For the next 90 years, vessels from the West Coast regularly patrolled the Pacific, and in 1939 the 14th District was created. That commitment improved in 2017 as...
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USCG: Hoax Distress Calls can be Deadly
“This is the fishing vessel Sol e Mar. This is a mayday, we’re sinking, we need help now!” These were among the last words of 19-year-old Billy Hokanson, as the fishing boat that he and his father were on sank to the bottom of the ocean on March 25, 1990. Coast Guard Stations Menemsha and Brad Point, both off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, received the distress call on marine radio channel 16 – distorted by heavy amounts of...
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