What once was An Unofficial Coast Guard Blog

Moved... again...

2009-06-07T22:37:00.001-04:00

Even the Coast Guard DCMS (who?) has a blog

2009-06-06T11:00:00.000-04:00

It was announced in the comments of the FORCECOM message but at the time the site wasn't working... well it does now. The DCMS Log, or USCG Mission Support Log if you will, is up and running with availability to the public. The site is yet another "official" blog hitting the streets to aid in our current trend of transparency (I still like that word). The site is being touted as a "way to provide timely status updates out to everyone and allows you a quick and easy way to ask questions. Consider it a 24-7 All-hands meeting!" That is, in the realm of DCMS, which for your information stands for Deputy Commandant of Mission Support. We'll see how this one plays out... I have such high hopes.

I'm also diggin' the layout that some of the new sites have picked up, I think it came out of D9.

June 6, 1944... The Coast Guard was there

2009-06-06T01:46:00.000-04:00

Today was that day in 1944... D-Day. As such I'm willing to guess you'll see several posts on the subject of the Normandy Landings. Here are some great pictures I found over this past week, of course with Coast Guard related-ness, leading up to and on June 6, 1944. These were found on denverpost.com's MEDIA CENTER.

(Above) A U.S. Coast Guard LCI, heavily listing to port, moves alongside a transport ship to evacuate her troops, during the initial Normandy landing operations in France, on June 6, 1944. Moments later the craft will capsize and sink. Note that helmeted infantrymen, with full packs, are all standing to starboard side of the ship. (AP Photo)

(Above) A U.S. Coast Guard landing barge, tightly packed with helmeted soldiers, approaches the shore at Normandy, France, during initial Allied landing operations, June 6, 1944. These barges ride back and forth across the English Channel, bringing wave after wave of reinforcement troops to the Allied beachheads. (AP Photo)

(Above) Under heavy German machine gun fire, American infantrymen wade ashore off the ramp of a Coast Guard landing craft on June 8, 1944, during the invasion of the French coast of Normandy in World War II. (AP Photo)

65 Years Ago Today: The Coast Guard on D-Day

2009-06-06T00:00:00.002-04:00

65 years ago today, the liberation of France commenced under the command of General Eisenhower. We have all seen the footage of the battleships pounding the shores and men disembarking from thousands of landing craft. The CG Historian's Office has compiled an outstanding site for those who want to learn more about the CG's role in the liberation of Europe.

Scott T. Price of the CG Historian's Office writes:

"Coast Guardsmen manned 99 warships and large landing vessels for Operation Neptune and dozens of smaller landing craft. The Coast Guard lost more vessels that day than on any single day during its history, mute testimony to the ferocity of the German defenders and the bravery of the crews who took the infantry right to the enemy's doorstep. Eighteen Coast Guardsmen paid the ultimate price that day as well, while 38 more were seriously wounded. There were more casualties to come that summer from mines, torpedoes and attacks by the Luftwaffe as the ships sailed the English Channel carrying supplies and reinforcements and returning with prisoners of war and wounded GIs."

Auxiliary Image: William Kerr

2009-06-05T09:31:00.000-04:00

Auxiliary Facility 251013 William Kerr on the Columbia River, 03JUN2009. We don't often get flat water but it is a gift that all USCG photographers should look for and exploit. (Photo AUX Daren Lewis)

RCC Norfolk providing RCC Gris Nez search planning assistance

2009-06-04T11:29:00.000-04:00

From Rescue Coordination Center Norfolk (which is actually in Portsmouth and isn't called, at least inside the Coast Guard, generally, RCC Norfolk), comes this piece from the local TV station about technical support the Coast Guard has provided in search planning inputs for the Air France crash of Brazil:

USCG Order of Battle: 4-7 June 1942

2009-06-04T00:00:00.001-04:00

Today marks the 67th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. A great victory indeed for U.S. forces. While the main enemy body was headed to Midway, the U.S. was also focused on the Aleutian Islands. As you can see from the order of battle below, the USCG had deployed 5 cutters as part of TG 8.2.

BZ to all of our veterans from the Battle of Midway for a job well done.

U.S. FORCES IN THE ALEUTIAN CAMPAIGN

Task Force 8 -- RADM Robert A. Theobald (in Nashville)

TG 8.6 Main Body -- 2 CA, 3 CL

DesDiv 11 -- 4 DDs

TG 8.1 Air Search Group

3 tenders with 20 PBY of PatWing 4; 1 B-17

TG 8.2 Surface Search or Scouting Group

1 gunboat, 1 oiler, 14 YP, 5 Coast Guard cutters

TG 8.3 Air Striking Group

Ft. Randall -- 21 fighters, 14 bombers

Ft. Glenn, Umnak -- 12 fighters

Kodiak -- 32 fighters, 5 bombers, 2 light bombers

Anchorage -- 44 fighters, 24 bombers, 2 light bombers

TG 8.4 Destroyer Striking Group -- 9DDs

TG 8.5 Submarine Group -- 6 submarines

TG 8.9 Tanker Group -- 2 oilers, SS Comet

Oh, and that whole FORCECOM thing has come about...

2009-06-03T21:04:00.004-04:00

Gotta get some homework done, but here's the message...

FORCECOM COMMISSIONING
1. TODAY WE COMMISSIONED THE FORCE READINESS COMMAND (FORCECOM) IN ALAMEDA,CA. AS COMMISSIONED, FORCECOM WILL OVERSEE INDIVIDUAL AND ASSET-LEVEL OPERATIONAL TRAINING. THE COAST GUARD IS CONTINUING TO WORK THROUGH OUR NEW ADMINISTRATION AND WITH CONGRESS TO SEEK THE STATUTORY CHANGES NECESSARY TO MAKE THIS A 3-STAR COMMAND WITH FULL FORCE-PROVIDER FUNCTIONALITY.
2. INITIALLY STOOD-UP AS A 2-STAR COMMAND UNDER REAR ADMIRAL TIM SULLIVAN, FORCECOM IS A COMPONENT OF PACIFIC AREA AND IS CHARGED WITH THE CURRENT AND FUTURE READINESS OF THE COAST GUARDS WORK FORCE TO ENSURE THEY WILL BE READY WHEN CALLED TO EXECUTE THEIR MISSIONS. UNDER THE CURRENT CONSTRUCT, THE FORCE READINESS COMMAND ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITY AND PROGRAMMATIC OVERSIGHT OF COAST GUARD TRAINING CENTERS, TRAINING SUPPORT COMMANDS, AND SELECTED STANDARDIZATION AND ASSESSMENT TEAMS. CURRENTLY THE LEADERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER WILL REMAIN A COMPONENT OF THE COAST GUARD ACADEMY AND THE FISHERIES TRAINING TEAMS WILL REMAIN DISTRICT ASSETS. ONCE THE FINAL MODERNIZATION LEGISLATION IS APPROVED AND ESTABLISHES FORCECOM AS A 3-STAR COMMAND, FORCECOM WILL ALSO ASSUME ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF OUR DEPLOYABLE FORCES AND MARITIME PATROL FORCES.
3. ALL OF OUR MODERNIZATION EFFORTS ARE POSITIONING THE COAST GUARD TO EXECUTE OUR MISSIONS MORE EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY, THUS FULFILLING OUR MAIN PRIORITY: KEEPING AMERICA SAFE AND SECURE. THE FORCE READINESS COMMAND WILL ENSURE THAT ALL GUARDIANS ARE PROVIDED THE TOOLS, TRAINING AND EXPERTISE TO ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE IN MISSION EXECUTION.
4. AS GUARDIANS, WE MUST REMAIN STEADFAST IN OUR OPERATIONAL READINESS EVEN AS WE CONTINUE TO STAND UP NEW MISSION SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS. THE UPCOMING TRANSFER SEASON WILL BE CHALLENGING AS MANY OF OUR PERSONNEL TRANSITION TOWARDS THE NEW LOGISTICS AND SERVICE CENTERS WHILE RETAINING THEIR CURRENT COMMAND RESPONSIBILITIES. TO RECEIVE ASSET SUPPORT, ALL FIELD OPERATORS SHOULD CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEIR CURRENT POINTS OF CONTACT. WE WILL MAINTAIN OUR EFFECTIVENESS DURING THIS DYNAMIC PERIOD THROUGH TEAMWORK, CONSTANT COMMUNICATION, AND A STEADY FOCUS ON MISSION EXECUTION.
5. WHILE THE EVENTS OF 1 JUNE ARE MAJOR MILESTONES IN OUR MODERNIZATION EFFORT, MORE WORK REMAINS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH OUR CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES TO OBTAIN LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY TO FULLY IMPLEMENT OUR MODERNIZATION PLANS. WE WILL ALSO MAINTAIN OUR STRONG WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR CIVILIAN WORK FORCE. AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE ALL WANT THE SAME THING: A MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT COAST GUARD.
6. I ASSURE YOU THAT WE ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING FOR THE COAST GUARD AND THE NATION BY BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS BETTER POSITIONED TO CONDUCT OUR MARITIME SAFETY, SECURITY, AND STEWARDSHIP MISSIONS.
7. YOU CAN STAY INFORMED ON THE CHANGES TO OUR SERVICE BY VISITING WEB SITES FOR THE FOLLOWING MODERNIZATION EFFORTS: DCMS:HTTP://DCMSLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM, FORCECOM: HTTP://IFORCECOM.BLOGSPOT.COM, AND OPCOM:HTTP://CGWEB.LANT.USCG.MIL/LANTAREA/OPCOM/OPCOM/HOME.HTML (Note this last one ins't a blog...)
8. VADM DAVID PEKOSKE, PACIFIC AREA COMMANDER
9. INTERNET RELEASED AUTHORIZED.

Didn't do your USCG Self Validation? No big deal- I guess

2009-06-03T16:21:00.004-04:00

I wrote last month about the mandatory self validation that was/is to be required by all active and reserve personnel. At the time the mandatory self validation of Direct Access information was being touted as being, well, mandatory. And according to the previous ALCOAST on the subject the "no later than date" was to the last day of May... three days ago. Well low and behold there's a month long extension available as noted in the ALCOAST 333/09: MANDATORY TASK - EXTENSION OF SELF-VALIDATION DEADLINE TO 30 JUNE 09. And why the extension you may ask? Well, as expected for an organization as large as ours, we didn't meet our goal of 100%. Per the recent message-

SUPPORT OF THIS INITIATIVE HAS HELPED ACHIEVE AN 86 PERCENT OVERALL COMPLETION RATE AT THE END OF THE 31 DAY VALIDATION PERIOD

Just for your own knowledge 86% is 45,322 of your fellow Coast Guard types.

So if you haven't done your verification yet, this might be a good time to get it done; otherwise you may find yourself caught in next months extension. ;)

CG could use a PowerPoint makeover... would you agree?

2009-06-03T15:08:00.006-04:00

Late last night I came across an interesting post with some Coast Guard nexus that may be of some great help next time you need to do a PowerPoint show for a Coast Guard function of sorts... The site, Thoughts On Presenting And Design, has posted a great makeover of a PowerPoint presentation that was shared last month at FEMA's Government Web 2.0 Best Practices Workshop. Mike Pulsifer, the sites author, has this to say about the presentations seen at the show-

Given my experience, the federal government is a fertile breeding ground for poorly designed and down-right ineffective slides. This event did not disapoint. As you would expect, using slides from where I work would not be a career-enhancing move. However, the event organizers’ decision to make the slide decks available to participants a couple weeks ago gave me just what I needed to share with you a slide make-over.

The subject of this make-over is the slide deck presented by the US Coast Guard. I have included the slides below so that you can see what we dealt with in the audience.

And he did not disappoint either. The screen shots are of the first slide providing huge improvement right off the bat. Check out his site for a before and after of the whole show- maybe we'll be able to improve all of our briefs.

And for those of you wanting to know the status of the site I have this to say: I don't know; a few options are available, now it's up to them (the optioniers)... stand by.

Moving toward a learning organization

2009-06-03T13:46:00.004-04:00

JFK Library
Originally uploaded by grooveb

As a modernized organization, the Coast Guard is going to have to become a learning organization. Oh, I know, that's a term that's tossed around quite a bit, and you probably think it means nothing.

Perhaps. But try this on for size: When you learn something, how does the person next to you, or the person who comes behind you, get to know what you learned? Too often, individuals learn, and there's no direct organizational learning.

In an attempt to help provide a tool to increase organizational learning, the new CG Portal hosts an Academic Papers Repository (link accessible only from inside CGDN), a place for all academic papers, essays, theses, and dissertations Coast Guard related.

At the moment, the APR is merely a shell with not a single paper uploaded. But, at less than a day old, I guess that's to be expected. Help change the situation, dig out your academic papers, and upload them to the APR.

Coast Guard plays second fiddle

2009-06-03T08:06:00.002-04:00

Boutwell Departing from San Diego
Originally uploaded by theadrian

Yesterday I noted that Norwich University claims to have elements from all four of the branches of American military in their corps of cadets. (Er, aren't there five branches?)

This morning I woke up to read this headline: US navy ship in first Libya visit for 40 years. That U.S. Navy ship? The Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell.

Well, at least Norwich University is led by a retired Coast Guard flag officer and the American naval vessel in Libya was painted white and had a big red racing stripe on the bow.

Oh look, a hurricane prep video

2009-06-02T08:02:00.001-04:00

ex-USCGC Apalachee (WYTM-71) to Become Museum in Cleveland (Updated and Bumped)

2009-06-02T07:39:00.000-04:00

UPDATE to my February 2009 Post on the 110-foot Apalachee:

It arrived in Cleveland, OH on 31 May 2009. For more, click here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcia MacVane of the Portland Press Herald writes,

The former Coast Guard cutter Apalachee will become a maritime and Coast Guard museum ship in Cleveland, beginning in June.

Based as part of Cleveland's lakefront revitalization project, the Apalachee will be used for education purposes as well as a working venue for organizations such as the Sea Scouts, Navy Sea Cadets, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and Coast Guard and Navy reserves.

Commissioned in 1943, the Apalachee was assigned to Baltimore, Md., until her transfer to Portland in September 1984 where she stayed until decommissioning in April 1986.

The U.S. Coast Guard Tug Association is seeking donations for maintenance, restoration and repairs. For more information, contact U.S. Coast Guard Tug Assoc., PO Box 771535, Lakewood, OH 44107 or call 603-547-7375.

This is great news. As loyal readers of CGblog, you know that preserving and enhancing Coast Guard history is one of my favorite topics to post about.

Moreover, blogging is getting expensive for me as I just sent the USCG Tug Association a gift to help restore the Apalachee. (I am going to have to ask Peter for a raise).

patch courtesy of Wess Wessling's United States Coast Guard Patch Archive.

Monday Funny: Modernizing the Coast Guard Yoeman

2009-06-01T16:59:00.000-04:00

Brought to us by SCUTTLEBUTT: A Comic for Coasties

'09 Hurricane Season; The Coast Guard's on Stand By

2009-06-01T15:53:00.000-04:00

The National Hurricane Center, that little subset of NOAA, recently held its annual Hurricane Preparedness Week which lasted all of last week. Big deal 'eh? Well today officially starts the 2009 Hurricane Season and as of now it's being predicted, with the latest numbers from April 7, 2009 via the Tropical Meteorology Project of Colorado State, that we'll have 12 named storms of which six will be hurricanes, and two of those are expected to be intense. These numbers of course are on the conservative side as NOAA predicts there will be nine to 14 named storms for the 2009 season.

Now the real test begins; are you ready for a major storm to make landfall this year? The obvious answer is that none of us are, though we tell ourselves and family members so. There really isn't any reason for me to remind you of the devastation that resulted after Katrina is there? (oops, sorry, I think I just did) And though the Coast Guard was there to assist where needed, and we'll always be there to do the same again- it makes it a lot easier on all of us, the USCG and local authorities, if everyone would just heed the warnings that are given. I sense an entrance here...

The Coast Guard recently released it official piece on this years season with the following emphasis on being prepared-

Stay informed: The public should monitor the progress and strength of the storm through local television, radio and the Internet. Boaters can monitor storm progress on VHF channel 16. Information can also be obtained on small-craft advisories and warnings on VHF channel 16.

Evacuate as necessary: If mandatory evacuations are set for an area, the public is urged to heed evacuation orders. Coast Guard personnel and other emergency responders may not be able to evacuate those in danger during the storm.

Secure your belongings: Owners of larger boats are urged to move their boats to inland marinas where they will be less vulnerable to breaking free of their moorings or damage. Trailerable boats should be pulled from the water and stored in a place that is not prone to flooding. Those who are leaving their boats in the water are reminded to secure life rings, life jackets and small boats.

Be cautious of hazardous materials: If you have hazardous materials on or near the water you are responsible for any spills that may occur. Take the necessary precautions to secure them prior to any foul weather.

Stay clear of beaches: Even the best swimmers can fall victim to the strong waves and rip currents caused by storms. Swimmers are urged to stay clear of beaches until local officials say the water is safe.

Running theme here folks: Common Sense.

AccuWeather 2009 Video Info

As many of you know I work in the LANT Command Center as a Search and Rescue Controller. This storm season is on the minds of all who are working on the watch floor, and we're all in agreement that we hope the public from Southern Texas to the Upper Mid-Atlantic are/will be taking any and all precautions very seriously. I suspect (total guess here) that in the coming weeks we can expect to see some senior CG staff releasing their own messages to the public urging them to think and react appropriately in a storm situation.

Stand-by to stand-by... this could be an interesting season. And in the event you wanted to know, here are the names for the 2009 storm season in the order they will be given:

Bill

Claudette (claw-DET)

Danny

Erika ( ERR-ree-ka)

Fred

Grace

Henri (ahn-REE)

Joaquin

Kate

Larry

Mindy

Nicholas (NIK-o-las)

Odette (o-DET)

Peter (Stinson?)

Rose

Teresa (te-REE-sa)

Victor (VIC-ter)

Wanda

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell Arrives in Tubruq, Libya

2009-06-01T12:40:00.002-04:00

Talk about a historic port visit: AFRICOM.mil is reporting:

TUBRUQ, Libya, Jun 1, 2009 — U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell (WHEC 719) arrived in Tubruq, Libya on May 31, 2009 as part of a theater security cooperation mission to strengthen the maritime partnership between the United States and Libya.

Boutwell is the first U.S. military ship to visit Libya in more than forty years. During the ship's three-day port visit, the crew will conduct various training and leadership exchanges with Libyan maritime enforcement personnel and also participate in several cultural exchanges.

Training topics range from international search and rescue operations to damage control training and techniques.

More here.

The Boutwell's visit is just another example of the unique role the USCG plays in international affairs.

HQ asks: What does the Coast Guard do?

2009-05-29T20:43:00.002-04:00

As one who continuously prides himself on knowing what's going on in our service I guess I've kind of lost touch of the fact that not everyone out there knows what we've done, nor do some care for that matter. And to prove that point our good friends in the HQ's PA world set out to find out exactly what people do know of the Coast Guard (thanks Nick for pointing me towards this). And as most would guess, Kevin Costner is the golden child for Coast Guard recognition. But, hey, we're also known to guard the coast... watch.

A Coastie earns her Jump Wings... AIRBORNE!

2009-05-29T16:18:00.002-04:00

What's better than just being in the Coast Guard? Well not much, but you could try being in the Coast Guard and being able to wear your Jump Wings that you earn while being in our service. Well that's exactly what PO Bridgette Milheim did while being assigned to the Joint Maritime Training Center. PO Milheim earned her wings this last week at the U.S. Army Airborne School, Fort Benning, Ga. I too went through Airborne school in '95 and to this day I can't wear my wings; but hey, 'tis the life of a prior service Coastie.

And why did the CG send her to Airborne school? Well,

The opportunity arose to send a Coast Guard servicemember to the school, and Petty Officer Milheim had all the skills and physical fitness required, making her an ideal candidate. This opportunity increases our diversity awareness in the Coast Guard and allows us to build upon our working relationship with other DoD services," said Capt. Steve Weiden, the Coast Guard Commanding Officer for the Joint Maritime Training Center.

That's a good answer. The Coast Guard has sent a few individuals through the school as part of their continued effort to create a more diverse working environment and to cross train with Department of Defense components. And one has to admit it's kind of cool to be able to wear those things on a CG uniform.

So here's to you PO Milheim, Congrats! And here is the full press release.

Cross posted from ryanerickson.com... Oh, and we'll be making an announcement for CGBlog soon... stay tuned.

Good Reads for 29 May 2009

2009-05-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

Irish Kitesurfing Association and Howth Coast Guard undertake kitesurfing rescue exercise
Last night, Howth Coast Guard undertook an exercise with Puremagic Kitesurfing School and the Irish Kitesurfing Association. 18 members of the unit undertook a theory session on rescuing kitesurfers from both shallow water and boats.

A Day in the Life Part 1: U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka
Since the United States Coast Guard established Air Station Sitka, Alaska in 1977, its aircrews have saved over 2,000 lives, assisted thousands of others, and saved hundreds of millions of dollars in vessel property from the perils of the sea. In this two-part series, Lt. Adam Merrill describes a typical day in the life of a Coast Guard pilot at Air Station Sitka.

Ceremony off coast of South Georgia remembers merchant seamen
It was six days late, but Don Robertson finally placed a wreath at sea Thursday to honor the merchant seamen who lost their lives in World War II.

Duluth Shipping News: Ailing Coast Guard cutters gather in Twin Ports
We have three Coast Guard cutters in Duluth and no ice. It’s a good thing since the three ships are not in the best of shape.

New rule puts U.S. Coast Guard in Canadian waters
Canada and the U.S. signed an agreement Monday designed to increase border security by allowing the RCMP and the U.S. Coast Guard to team up and ride in each others' vessels during border patrols.

BZ to the USS Chafee, Philippine Sailors and U.S. Coast Guard

2009-05-27T09:57:00.004-04:00

h/t to a tweet from the USS Chafee...

Follow the USS Chafee on Twitter here. This tweet is a great example of inter-agency and international cooperation at its best!

Chafee, Philippine Sailors and U.S. Coast Guard Team Up For Maritime Security Training
Release Date: 5/26/2009 4:12:00 PM

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist Brian Brannon, Commander, Task Group 73.5 Public Affairs

CEBU STRAITS, Philippines (NNS) -- A team of Philippine Navy and U.S. Coast Guard personnel participated in a simulated visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) mission May 25 aboard the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) as part of exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training 2009.

"It helped us a lot," said Philippine Navy Ensign Jay T. Roxas. "It increased our capabilities in non-compliant boarding."

With Chafee Sailors posing as potentially hostile individuals aboard a civilian vessel suspected of carrying an improvised explosive device (IED), the Philippine Navy team embarked on a rigid-hull inflatable boat from dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49).

Covering each other with simulated weapons, the VBSS team ascended a ladder and came aboard Chafee before splitting into two groups. One group secured the engine room, while the other secured the bridge before forming a sweep team to search for the suspected bomb makers and find the simulated IED.

"They did really well, especially for only two days of training," said Chief Intelligence Specialist Joshua Busey, Chafee's VBSS boarding officer. "They have very good rules of engagement."

A Coast Guard maritime safety and security team (MSST) spent the first week of CARAT training with the Philippine Navy at the Naval Forces Central base in Cebu, focusing on maritime security and law enforcement.

"Their tactics, techniques and procedures are quite similar to ours, so it was a good exercise for us to both stay proficient," said Lt. Scott Verhage, officer in charge of an MSST embarked aboard Harpers Ferry, who led the evaluation team that accompanied the boarding team.

"I've operated with the Philippine Navy since 1991, when I came in," said Cmdr. Heedong Choi, Chafee's commanding officer. "Like all professional mariners, they are very hard-working and very diligent, and they want to work with us to enhance maritime security."

CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises held annually in Southeast Asia to strengthen relationships and enhance the operational readiness of the participating forces.

For more news from Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, visit www.navy.mil/local/carat/.

BZ to the Guardians onboard USNS COMFORT!

2009-05-26T08:44:00.002-04:00

I recently returned from my visit to the USNS COMFORT (T-AH 60) when it was in Antigua & Barbuda and I am pleased to report that the 4 Guardians onboard are doing an outstanding job! RUMINT has it that one of them has been named an Honorary Seabee. While the USCG may not have quantity onboard COMFORT, it sure does have quality. BZ Shipmates!

In a state of flux...

2009-05-22T22:23:00.003-04:00

Good day loyal readers and thank you for stopping by. As you'll no doubt notice there has been a slight lack of posting on the site, and for good reason. The short answer of it all would be that I, Ryan, informed the CGBlog staff as of last week that I can no longer run the site as it deserves to be run. The short of the long is that I set unrealistic expectations for myself and those who were also contributing to the site; as they were unrealistic, I wasn't able to maintain them... thus, burnout has ensued. I have an open bid out to the CGBlog gang as to who will be picking up the publisher job, so we'll have to wait and see. As for me, I'm taking it easy working on my own site (RyanErickson.com) and though it's roughly the same thing, it's WAY scaled back.

I hope you all enjoyed the site, and don't worry, it's going to continue with the contributing staff, only we don't know who's running it as of yet. Cheers!

Wear it!

2009-05-20T23:04:00.001-04:00

Life Jacketed
Originally uploaded by LollyKnit

Ericka Watson, in her About.com Ericka's Powerboating Blog, writes Go Beyond the Law, Wear a PFD . Indeed.

Ms. Watson says, "Make this boating season the one where you commit to wearing, not just carrying a PFD."

Interview: Adm. Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, on Social Media - Part 2

2009-05-13T00:00:00.001-04:00

A couple of days ago, I posted part 1 of my interview with Adm. Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, regarding social media. Below is part 2.

Q8: There are a number of units that have created Twitter accounts to release official news and connect with the public. Is this something we will be seeing from more units, possibly as an added aspect of the PA rates assigned to the various units around the country?
A8: We don’t require field units to adopt or employ any particular tool. We have provided some overarching policy and guidance that allows them to make their own assessment, based on their mission requirements, of how social media tools might be leveraged to improve their performance.

Q9: What is the best way for members of the Coast Guard interested in contributing to the social media outlets to get involved?
A9: As I stated in my "Way Ahead" message, "Unfortunately, it is impossible to ensure that information passed via the social media is complete and accurate, thus, the reader has to assume responsibility for judging the validity of the information." Simultaneously, the social media environment, and the information within it, is becoming increasingly influential. Thus, we need to be aware of what is being said on Coast Guard related topics and, when appropriate, contribute to the dialogue.

As part of our social media initiative we have released two interim policy ALCOASTS (458/08 & 548/08). These give clear guidance on how members of Team Coast Guard can influence the information environment in both official and unofficial capacities. Consistent with our long-standing public affairs philosophy, "If you do it or are responsible for it, you can talk about it."

One of the benefits and challenges to us with social media is the speed in which it moves. The Coast Guard cannot expect to continue operating strictly in the hierarchical, top-down fashion, but must also adapt to be more horizontal and collaborative or face organizational obsolescence. This is a significant cultural change for us, but I am confident that our outstanding people possess the knowledge and judgment to be able to more efficiently monitor and evaluate the information environment they operate in and effectively and deliberately engage in the dialogue to further Coast Guard strategic objectives and benefit mission execution and support. This has to be done with appropriate consideration of information release guidelines that are designed to protect the Coast Guard and its members from any harms associated with unauthorized release of protected or non-public information, but it has to be done.

Q10: Are there plans to make use of the pervasiveness of social media for disseminating information during emergency situations?
A10: We have begun doing this in an ad hoc fashion. More formally, our Public Affairs program is looking both internally within the service and also working with DHS Office of Public Affairs and sister components to incorporate social media into the official Emergency Support Function (ESF) 15 practices.

Q11: With the Coast Guard's transition to FORCECOM/OPCOM and with respect to these particular commands, is the Coast Guard looking to invoke a permanent presence on the Internet with regards to continual social media updating or monitoring? I know this is currently being done by District/Area External Affiars, however, there seems an advantage of having full time (24/7) monitoring which could be done by the new Command Center structure.
A11: We are looking at including a 24/7 social media/public affairs watch in the future.

Q12: At the headquarters level, or even your direct staff, what kind of an element is monitoring the health of the Coast Guard on the internet?
A12: Just as we have always done press clippings to assess attitudes and opinions being communicated on the Coast Guard and its roles and responsibilities, we do the same assessment when it comes to social media. This is consistent with our goal of a more nimble and adaptable organization that actively senses the environment, recognizes changes and trends, and responds accordingly in the interest of mission execution, mission support and public stewardship.

Q13: As Commandant have you felt push-back from the commands around the country to not be so involved on the Internet?
A13: There has not been push-back, but there has been thoughtful discussion about the risks/benefits of this new information environment.

The fact is, the environment has changed and we have no control over that, so the choice is: either ignore the change, which subjects our organization to all of the risks with none of the benefits; or adapt to the environment, where we can mitigate the risks and leverage the benefits.

We have chosen the latter and we have been pleased with the early results. That being said, adapting to this environment is a significant cultural change and some people are more comfortable with it than others, but the more successes we achieve and share, the more adopters we are going to have and eventually it will be a natural part of how we operate.
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Great insight into the social media movement in the Coast Guard. As I said in part 1, I'm thrilled that the Coast Guard is heading in this direction. On a side note, Adm. Allen has apparently created an official Twitter account for the Commandant. What convenient timing!

Once again, thank you to Adm. Allen for taking the time to provide us with this interview and inside perspective on the Coast Guard's social media initiative. Semper Paratus!

Photograph by Tidewater Muse

Follow the Commandant on Twitter; learn of the FY10 budget

2009-05-12T22:02:00.003-04:00

The military + social media effort continues tomorrow with the live Twittering of the Commandants and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guards talk on the hill. They'll be talking about the FY-2010 budget hearing with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. Their hearing starts at 2 p.m. I think I'll try and follow along... to do the same be sure to follow the Commandant on his official account at iCommandantUSCG.

The Coast Guard Image: The HH-65 is a model aircraft

2009-05-12T10:07:00.000-04:00

Ok, so that was kind of a bad joke for a title, but the fact it that the HH-65 really is a model. Again found while surfing the interwebs I came across the website cybermodeler which has a 1/48 scale model of our Dolphin. According to their site-

The majority of markings are for the HH-65, which is available in 1/48 scale from Trumpeter, while the MH-68 is not available yet in this scale.

Oh, and that's not all; the kit comes with the ability to make all these specific tail numbers and makes-

* MH-68A, 1091, HITRON, Jacksonville, FL, 2004
* MH-68A, 1109, HITRON, Jacksonville, FL, 2005
* MH-68A, 1095, HITRON, Jacksonville, FL, 2006
* HH-65A, 6592, CGAS Detroit, MI, 1989
* HH-65A, 6559, CGAS Miama, FL, 1990
* HH-65A, 6590, CGAS Barbers Point, HI, 2003
* HH-65B, 6514, CGAS New Orleans, LA, 2002
* HH-65A, 6539, CGAS Brooklyn, NY, 1997
* HH-65B, 6519, CGAS Mobile, AL, 2006
* HH-65B, 6567, POPDIV AVDET 162, Mobile, AL, 2005
* HH-65B, 6526, CGAS Detroit, MI, 2005
* HH-65B, 6552, CGAS Corpus Christi, TX, 2006
* HH-65B, 6578, CGAS Humboldt Bay, CA, 2006
* HH-65C, 6552, CGAS San Francisco, CA, 2008
* HH-65C, 6563, CGAS Miami, FL, 2006
* HH-65C, 6566, CGAS Kodiak, AK, 2007
* HH-65C, 6581, CGAS Atlantic City, NJ, 2007
* HH-65C, 6580, CGAS Corpus Christi, TX, 2008
* HH-65C, 6542, CGAS Savanna, GA, 2008
* HH-65C, 6582, CGAS Traverse City MI, 2008
* HH-65C, 6588, CGAS Los Angeles CA, 2006
* MH-65C, 6518, HITRON, Jacksonville, FL, 2008
* MH-65C, 6550, CGAS Port Angeles, WA, 2008

Guess what ought to be on the bookshelves of your local bookstore today

2009-05-12T07:30:00.009-04:00

We posted about this book back in February.

+1 Guardian Onboard USNS COMFORT

2009-05-11T20:35:00.003-04:00

Greetings from St. John's, Antigua! In a few short hours, I will be onboard COMFORT blogging about Continuing Promise '09 for USNI Blog and CGBlog.org Check both sites for updates.

Semper Paratus!

/S/

Jim

The Coast Guard Image: In the Yard; DALLAS and GALLATIN

2009-05-11T11:21:00.003-04:00

Here is an iPhone shot of the two much publicized Cutters in the Yard for some much needed repairs. CGC's DALLAS and GALLATIN sit alongside each other during their drydock periods.

Final decision; 2007 accident ejecting PS3 Gill

2009-05-11T09:05:00.000-04:00

As I posted on the last investigation that was made available on the death of PS3 Ronald Gill I'm not here to get into the facts of what happened or even critique the report or the actions of our people. No, I'm here to let you know that the information is out there. On Sunday the Coast Guard internally released (and it's now public) ALCOAST 280/09: RELEASE OF CHIEF OF STAFFS FINAL DECISION LETTER ON THE 25 MARCH 2007 MSST ANCHORAGE CLASS A EJECTION MISHAP. As noted above this is the same incident that took the life of one of our own. In the message you'll find a link's to these two files:

In the CGMS there is also rundown of changes that have been enacted as a result of the investigation including the controversial Boat Gunner Restraint System.

The Coast Guards social media noise and how to fix it

2009-05-11T07:10:00.004-04:00

The Coast Guard was quick to take a commanding lead in the movement to use social media as an outreach tool to the techno geek and general public alike. We essentially took a top-down approach to following our leaders. Though there were a few sporadic sites out there already, ADM Allen (and staff) took control of the message and began spreading it via the likes of his Facebook page(s) and his blog iCommandant. Soon after his notoriety from around the internet for engaging social media, and with the release of an ALCOAST basically giving permission to begin blogging, a plethora of blogs, twitter accounts, and a few other minor forms of social type media began to spring up. And with them came all the voices of the Coast Guard, wherein lies the problem. Problem? You read right.

Though it's great that we've become a viral (as in viral video) service with our quick to use tools and willingness to let it all hang out, (socially) we've also become too many voices. The Coast Guard is now lacking a central (yes we still have ADM Allen) voice and instead we've run into the problem of internet static, or rather, a decentralized network of blogs and social media accounts. And what would be a problem without a solution?

Restated, the Coast Guard is beginning to see the effects of allowing field units control their on line personas. Though there does need to be allowances for creative freedom, it seems some sites were created just to be created. Our solution, potentially, was to come to us last week... the Coast Guard Compass. And though it hasn't officially been stated as such I foresee this site as being much like the Army's Army Live blog. Army Live is the Army's blog; it is to be the central voice for all Army blogs and thus far has done an excellent job in doing so. As I already said, I believe this is the place for the Coast Guard Compass.

Do I have a possible fix for the gaggle of voices we are all receiving via our RSS feeds, IM services, or online social sites as of now? Well maybe not the fix, but yes, a fix.

I think there is a need to reshape the individual mission statements of the outlying blogs and the need for some of the differing sites to go away. Would it not make more sense to ask the individuals writing/posting content to these sites to post to the CG Compass instead? Doing this does two things; one, it enables the Compass to have a continued flow of posts/articles/stories from active, reserve, and civilian Guardians in the service. Second, we can close those sites that don't cut the mustard.

And exactly what do I mean by this? We'll use my failing ESO blog as an example. This site gets no traffic. Not unless I send out internal emails saying I've posted something new, and even then I have to promise cookies or something (that's a joke). This is unsat, and it's the wrong use for a blog as I don't really expect to engage with the folks that read it as they do this via email. The solution is simple and in fact makes use of the expected platform the Compass is going to be using, Wordpress (which we're in the process of moving to right now). On said site you could have subject matter experts with specific pages for example, Education (no I am not one of those experts, I'm a collateral duty type). Doing this will encompass both goals above. One, it gives said ESO an official outlet of news and related information in an attempt to engage the public in potential Q&A session on our education efforts; and two, it cuts back on substandard sites as I would close shop and forward traffic to the new site (I'll probably close it anyway).

Furthermore, upon the launch of the Compass there is going to need to be a push from Headquarters on further centralizing their messages into a cohesive voice rather than 18+ service sites and no less than 5-10 Twitter/Facebook/Jaiku/Tumbler site/profiles thought the service. Though there is a place for individual sites (AMVER, PCS, etc.) I don't personally consider these blogs as much as I do CMC Bowen's All Hands or iCommandnt. The later converse with it's users via their blogging platform and thus meet the definition of a blog where the first two tend to me information outlets. However, if you follow AMVER via Twitter you'll see how it is to be used properly by engaging the maritime industry in Coast Guard related conversation.

Doing a search on Twitter yields four different accounts on the first search page having to do with the Coast Guard; uscgd5pao, uscoastguard, an aux account of GloucesterAUX64, and the unofficial account of USCG. Though I admit I thought more would show up, they didn't; as such the Coast Guard may be able to head this one off... If each District were to have their own Twitter account, who is to maintain the QA of them? Furthermore, using Twitter to only push press releases is kind of a buzz kill to many and will result in followers leaving you or simply not paying attention anymore. Case in point; using both the CGBlog and USCG accounts I noticed a great deal of followers leaving a few weeks ago. After reading something (I believe it was on ProBlogger or something) about the 'real' use of micro-blogging sites such as Twitter I realized all the interaction I was missing. I set off to fix the loss problem by using the accounts as they were meant and sure enough users began to return and are still coming back. By engaging my/our followers in conversations, as it's intended with such a service, I was able to ensure that there is indeed someone (in this case an active duty Guardian that is off duty) on the other end willing to answer questions or receive that "thank you" from a grateful nation. In fact last week I answered a question on an EPIRB and discussed a mistake I made in identifying a boat on this site. It was great, and it brought credibility to who I am and what our site/mission is about. This NEEDS to happen if the Coast Guard is serious about moving forward with its plans to fully monitor and engage the public with social media.

I realize this is an extremely long post (and I could make it a lot longer); however, I feel as if I needed to get my point across in an effort to consolidate the much duplicated efforts of the Coast Guard's various unit blogs. There is no shame, as a corporate level, in weeding out the unnecessary sites in an effort to project a single voice. Again, not to say we want to stifle innovation from within, but it may be time to cut some of our losses.

Oh, and could the maintainer of the uscoastguard twitter account get in touch with me when able? Thanks.

Interview: Adm. Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, on Social Media - Part 1

2009-05-11T00:00:00.002-04:00

I did an interview in April with Adm. Thad Allen, the 23rd Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, regarding social media & the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has been spearheading a move into the world of Web 2.0 and interaction with the public through online outlets, and Adm. Allen has been a prominent part of that transition. Here is the text of that interview:

Q1: Can you describe your personal social media journey?
A1: It would take more room than is available on a single blog. The work that really got me interested was a book. "In The Age of the Smart Machine" was written by Harvard Professor Shoshanna Zuboff. It was one of the pivotal points in my life. I was leaving my assignment as Budget Officer at Maintenance and Logistic Command, Atlantic and headed to the Sloan School at MIT. This book deals with the transition of the work environment and the nature of our work from a physical and material world to one where our work is virtual and invisible to the eye. A couple of other books that have influenced me have been Chaos, Linked, and Nexus. Social media is the merging of social networks with information technology. I have followed both for many years so this is pretty natural.

Q2: We are focusing on leadership this month in the Coast Guard. Which USCG leadership competencies relate most directly to social media? In which leadership competencies do the internal and external social media tools hold the most promise?
A2: Depending on how you are using it, social media could relate to just about all of them, but to answer your question I’ll choose one from each category:

Leading self: Self-awareness and learning – Social media is all about transparency and feedback and this makes us more aware as leaders, better able to understand complex issues and respect differing opinions, and more able to sense and adapt to changing conditions.
Leading others: Team building – Social media tools can empower individual team members to more actively provide input to and influence the outcome of a project or decision. This improves collaboration and information exchange among team members and ultimately results in a better final product.
Leading performance and change: Customer focus – The “social” aspect of this new information environment facilitates two-way communications. This allows Coast Guard leaders to better understand the needs, perspectives and opinions of our customers and to help them better understand the reasoning behind a certain decision or course of action we may take that effects them.
Leading the Coast Guard: Partnering – Social media facilitates greater collaboration and provides practical ways to engage the numerous internal and external stakeholders involved in or impacted by our broad world of work.

Q3: Has thought been given to having a deployable team (perhaps as part of the DOG) of social media specialists to respond to major events and incidents? While general social media competency for all members and high level competency for PA should be a goal it seems it would be useful to have a deployable team in the interim and perhaps as an ongoing resource for high profile events.
A3: Keeping in mind that this question relates to the external aspects of social media, I think that our Public Affairs specialist are the right people to orchestrate our social media efforts during a critical incident. Much of what takes place in the social media realm already falls in their world of work and we have seen them interact in that environment with great effect, including during Hurricane Ike, the Miracle on the Hudson, and most recently with the floods in North Dakota. The external component of social media is an extension of our existing public affairs policies and practices and the public affairs program is taking a strategic look at the competencies and tools required for the future in terms of how it trains and equips its people.

Q4: One of the great features of social media is accessibility from almost anywhere at any time. How are we addressing the tension between security and access? This seems to go two ways - access to the public social media tools from inside the CGDN and access to the internal tools for those temporarily, such as being off duty or not on reserve service, or permanently, like most Auxiliarists, outside the CGDN/Portal. Our members engaged in social media activities as part of their duties appear to utilize the public tools through their own resources, largely on their own time. At the same time, for the Portal/Quickr platform to be fully effective it seems problematic for access to be limited to the duty period for active, reserve and civilian members and inaccessible to most of the Auxiliary.
A4: All great points and we have addressed this on numerous occasions on my blog and during different interviews. There will always be a tension between security and access. Our ability to exist on both the .gov and .mil domains brings with it certain security responsibilities that we cannot overlook in order to maintain the integrity of those critical networks. That being said, we recognize the strategic and operational value of social media and have directed our IT staff to find ways for us to do both. The new portal, which we are gradually phasing in, is already enhancing our ability to use social media for internal purposes. We are also working on the off-duty access issues.

Q5: For the Guardian new to social media where would you suggest they start? Internal tools or external? Building competence as privately as an individual or jump right in as part of their duties?
A5: The strength of social media is that it is flexible and adaptable to your specific needs. The first step is to develop awareness of what the different tools are and how they may be used and then consider the potential benefit they may bring to your job or unit. Ultimately, everything we do is assessed on its contribution to mission execution or mission support.

Q6: Along the same lines, what sites/blogs/books would you suggest to build social media competence, the Commandant's Social Media Reading List?
A6: I just published something like that as my 200th blog. It is here: http://www.uscg.mil/comdt/blog/2009/04/200th-blog.asp#links

Q7: Do you have examples of best practices use of social media within the Coast Guard?
A7: First we have to acknowledge that our formal foray into social media is still in its infancy. So far, the most visible activities have related to external communication. This was done deliberately, as this was the low-hanging fruit that we could use to gain some organizational inertia. These specific efforts have significantly enhanced our presence in the blogosphere, helping us to inform the Coast Guard narrative and we have seen very positive results in terms of our customer interaction, particularly with the maritime community through maritime focused blogs.

Some of this was already being done by Coast Guard employees on their own initiative, like JD Cavo from the National Maritime Center (http://www.uscg.mil/comdt/blog/2009/01/coast-guards-james-cavo-gcaptains-top.asp#links) or this example by Jorge Arroyo, correcting some critical misinformation on a sensitive rule-making issue (http://www.navagear.com/2008/12/new-ais-rules-navagear-gets-it-wrong/). Internally we are trying to increasingly use wikis to improve the efficiency and quality of the rule making and policy development processes. We expect these activities to accelerate as the new portal is brought on-line and more employees begin to champion these tools.
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This interview is coming on the heels of a report published by the National Defense University titled "Social Software and National Security: An Intial Net Assessment" which discusses the use of social media in government agencies to share information both internally & with the public. I think this indicates an important shift in the institutional mindset of government in relation to the Internet & interaction with the American people, and I'm proud that the Coast Guard is at the forefront of this shift.

Thanks to Adm. Allen for taking the time to do this interview. I'll be publishing part 2 in a couple of days.

Photograph lifted from Tidewater Muse

Alex Haley, Arnold Palmer & Popeye?

2009-05-10T22:41:00.007-04:00

Being such a small service, the Coast Guard's list of celebrity veterans is short but distinguished. As many know, author Alex Haley served in the Coast Guard. He was notable enough to have a cutter named for him. Golfer Arnold Palmer is another name that comes to mind when considering Semper celebrities. He served as a Yeoman from 1950-1953. That's some good trivia.

On the lighter side, some of our shipmates were cartoons. The other day, I had a young Guardian ask me if Popeye was a BM1 in the Coast Guard. While I couldn't vouch for his rating, he was indeed a Coastie (or is, as cartoon characters live forever). In Popeye Meets Ali Baba and Forty Theives, Popeye is an armed sentry and boat crewman in our very service. For those interested, the video is on Youtube. The above image is a screenshot of the video.

That led me to do some research and interestingly enough, I found out that Donald Duck and Pluto were also Coast Guard Veterans. I was fairly certain about Petty Officer D. Duck's service as several of my unit t-shirts have his image emblazoned on them, but I was surprised to hear about Pluto.

According to the Coast Guard history website, several other notable personalities wore our uniform at one time or another. Humphrey Bogart volunteered his boat and himself for the Temporary Reserve in 1944, after separating from the Navy. Lloyd Bridges was an Auxie and his son, Beau, was a Reservist.

Walter Cronkite is in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, "And that's the way it is". Here's a flickr image of him in an Eagle hat.

Happy Mothers Day

2009-05-10T08:59:00.005-04:00

We here at CGBlog would like to thank all of our mothers and especially our wives (those that are mothers, and I guess those that are not) for all that you do and all that you've done. Without your work we would all be, well, not here. Happy Mothers Day.

Open Discussion for the week of May 10, 2009

2009-05-10T08:00:00.001-04:00

This is the open thread for the week of May 10, 2009. What's on your mind?

#IGetPaid

2009-05-09T14:20:00.000-04:00

Every few weeks I seem to have the same conversation. I’m at a gas station, in line at the supermarket, on the dock or at a PA event in uniform or in PPE and someone asks what I do. I say I’m a Coast Guard Auxiliarist and explain a little about what we do. I often hear, “it must be great to get paid to be out on the water” to which I respond, “We’ll yes and no. We don’t get paid and then again WE DO.”

My wife is finishing a one year Masters in Teaching, It is an intense program, one in which she is lucky to manage five hours of sleep per night. To keep the energy high and the momentum up the people in her program share lots of inspirational material from the web. This week she shared a brilliant stand-up routine by Taylor Mali on “what teachers make”.

"You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional Medal of Honor and I can make an A- seem like a slap in the face. How dare you wast my time with anything less than your very best."

"I make parents tremble in fear when I call home at around dinner time. Hi this is Mr. Mali, I hope I haven't called at a bad time. I just wanted to talk to you about something your son said today. He said 'Leave the kid alone, I still cry sometimes, don't you' and it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen. I make parents see children for who they are and who they can be."

The routine got me thinking about when I get paid. I regularly tell people that I get far more out of being an Auxiliarist than I put in but I’ve never really tried to put the particular rewarding moments, the payday moments, into words. When I started to do so on Friday I was humbled by the list. I know that these true payday moments are not restricted to Auxiliarists. My active duty, reserve and civilian employee shipmates could likely be making more, with better hours and with less family disruption doing something else and yet they choose to become and remain Guardians. There is something far beyond the money that motivates you.

So with apologies to Taylor Mali here is my list of when I get paid. I’m going to Twitter these and others as they occur with the tag #IGetPaid. I invite you to do the same if you are on Twitter or post your payday moments in the comments. We’ll collect them all and repost with authorship from time to time and this link will show you all the Tweets with an #IGetPaid tag.

#IGetPaid every time I fit a kid for a life jacket

#IGetPaid every time we pull someone from the water

#IGetPaid every time we find an overdue boat

#IGetPaid every time we tow a family back to the dock in the evening

#IGetPaid every time a class graduates from one of our PE classes

#IGetPaid every time one of my people gets a new qualification

#IGetPaid every time a potential member comes to one of our meetings and leaves ready to join

#IGetPaidE day I’m on the water

#IGetPaid every time I do an awards presentation for one of my people

#IGetPaid every time I have reason to write an award

#IGetPaidE day when I check the blog traffic and see our readers

#IGetPaid every time the Chief starts calling one of my people one of his people.

#IGetPaid every time I capture a great photo of a shipmate in action

#IGetPaid every time I sit down in the galley with my shipmates

#IGetPaid every time I stand in rank with my fellows as we salute a shipmate who has crossed the bar

#IGetPaid every time every time the Captain says Bravo Zulu

#IGetPaid every time I see the smile of a fellow guardian

#IGetPaid every time I put on my uniform and check the gig line

#IGetPaid every time I write an after action report calling out exceptional performance

#IGetPaid every time I get to mentor a shipmate

#IGetPaid every time ALL my people return safe from a mission

Now Mandatory: USCG PHYSICAL FITNESS CLOTHING

2009-05-08T17:44:00.003-04:00

Wow, I didn't see this one coming but I'm glad it did. On the public side the Coast Guard has released a new ALCOAST titled REQUIREMENT OF MAINTAINING BASIC PHYSICAL FITNESS CLOTHING. And it lives up to its name; from the message-

THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WILL BE KNOWN AS THE BASIC PHYSICAL FITNESS (BPF) UNIFORM AND ARE ADDED TO THE REQUIRED SEA BAG LIST FOR ALL PERSONNEL: USCG GYM SHIRT (4) AND USCG GYM SHORTS (4).

Hmm... I have a feeling this is the beginning of a new era in the realm of the Coast Guards defunct Physical Fitness Program. Are we going the way of minatory unit PT? And how can you implement a mandatory PT program without first mandating a specific uniform for such?

Oh, and just so you know, you'll be buying these for yourself.

THE BPF UNIFORM IS NOT ORGANIZATIONAL CLOTHING AND IS NOT TO BE PURCHASED WITH UNIT FUNDS.

And to further my belief that change is on its way-

THE USE OF THE BPF UNIFORM IS ENCOURAGED FOR UNIT PHYSICAL FITNESS FUNCTIONS, SUCH AS ALL HANDS FITNESS PROGRAMS, MORNING RUNS, LAW ENFORCEMENT/BOAT CREW FITNESS QUALIFICATIONS, ETC.

The Coast Guard Image: A Twenty-Five in Grand Isle, 'er I mean a 33'

2009-05-08T12:25:00.001-04:00

This photo was sent to us by Twitter follower/user Susan Davis (a.k.a. konahead). She's told us that this "is Grand Isle, been hit hard since Katrina, Gustav & Ike." It also sounds like Mrs. Davis has a family of Guardians in her life with her husband and Son-in-law in the Guard. Thank you ma'am for you service as a spouse, and for the great shot.

If you have a photo of something Coast Guard you'd like to share send us an email or via Twitter.

1970: The new year of the Coast Guard?

2009-05-08T11:15:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Yamil Hernandez for commenting on the last post and pointing this out. It seems a simple mistake was made in noting the founding year of the Coast Guard. The graphic was taken from the DHS' Budget-in-Brief (PDF). According to this we are a VERY young service with a long history. Oh well, win some, loose some; either way it make for a great Friday Funny.

DHS FY10 Budget Request is out; USCG's getting thinner

2009-05-08T07:03:00.000-04:00

On an oft read blog of mine, Homeland Security Watch, I was informed that the DHS' Budget-in-Brief (PDF) is now available and within it is the 2010 budget request for all the DHS agencies, to include the Coast Guard. And by the looks of it we may be getting a little thinner the next go around. But let's not get excited here folks. First, it's gotta get approved; second, it's not that much less than our last one. If you download the file you'll find the Coast Guard's info starting on page 81. There are quite a few good statistics available therein to easily justify our budget using the 2008 data. With the use of over 41,000 active duty members, 8,100 reservists, nearly 8,100 civilian employees, and approximately 30,000 volunteer auxiliarists we were able to accomplish:

Responded to over 24,000 Search and Rescue cases and saved over 4,000 lives.
Broke last year’s record by removing nearly 370,000 pounds of cocaine bound toward the U.S. via the Transit Zone. Disrupted 20 cocaine events and intercepted two Self-Propelled Semi Submersible vessels in the fourth quarter alone;
Deployed six patrol boats and 400 personnel to protect Iraqi critical maritime oil infrastructure, train Iraqi naval forces, and enforce U.N. sanctions in the Arabian Gulf; and
Interdicted nearly 5,000 undocumented migrants attempting to illegally enter the U.S.

And there are about another two and a half pages of fact to go right along with these ones.

So on to the money. Last year we were approved for $9,975,779,000 in funding. Not too bad as it was up from the 2008 funding. However, this go around we're starting to fall backwards. The newly requested funding is looking like $9,955,663,000; a shortfall of more than $20,000,000 from our '09 approved. Now depending on where you look in the budget brief it may look as though we are getting an overall increased budget; however, according to page 88, after factoring in all the surplus monies and a slight injection from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into our current budget we will, unless changed, be falling backwards for FY10. This figure also includes the anticipated DoD supplemental money of $241 million for Operating Expenses Appropriation in support of Overseas Contingency Operations. Now if I'm reading this wrong will someone please let me know; I'm not a budget guy, but I am a Coast Guard guy so this kind of stuff does interest me somewhat.

There are some further breakdown statistics in the pages following the numbers which include the likes of Deepwater funds, Rescue 21, and Aids to Navigation projects. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Found: A Coast Guard Yeoman Coin

2009-05-07T21:12:00.004-04:00

As I was continuing my nightly routine of checking the day's news I came across the Coast Guard Yeoman Coin, a first I must say. Nice coin though.

The Coast Guard Image: CGC FINBACK

2009-05-07T12:53:00.000-04:00

This shot is of the CGC FINBACK while she was moored int Cape May, NJ and again brought to us by user Casher Haggerty.

The future of USCG's Public Affairs: The average High Schooler

2009-05-07T07:16:00.004-04:00

If you've been keeping up with the buzz of the other services and their use of social media you'll no doubt have heard that they're not only using it as means to talk/write about things that are going on in the service but the plethora of social media mediums are also a stepping stone to their recruitment programs. That's right, you can now think of Facebook as another military recruiting tool. And to be honest I glad we've moved this way, it shows that the old and rusty institution of this nation are willing to take a chance. However, this isn't the point of this post (maybe later). No, the point of this post is to let you all know that I believe it's working for the Coast Guard as well.

I get daily reports on key words that have been discussed all over the interwebs, one such service is dedicated to scouring Twitter on a 24 hour basis, and filtering that to my in box in a single report. As I was looking though the Tweets for the last day I notices a few folks discussing their plans to join the Coast Guard.

Now I'm not trying to say that the CG is doing covert recruiting here, but maybe unintentional subliminal messages are making there way to the Guardians of tomorrow. What my unfounded research has shown is that the Coast Guard is beginning to attract a breed of people who are already versed in the meaning and potentially practical uses of the tools available to them via their phones, computers, and yet to be invented devices/services.

This can only help the Coast Guard so long as there is a plan to harness it. By this I mean taking advantage of what is a normal daily routine for these people (much like what I do every day...) and exploit (wrong word?) it and let them do what they know. I potentially see a gap in the our Public Affairs corps in the near future with regards to the use of social media in the daily work place and I believe we may be able to overcome it by taking in kids/young adults who use these tools to communicated daily and, again, exploit it for our services use. Now, with that being said, I would like to clarify that I don't believe our senior Public Affairs people are incapable of leveraging the power of social media, I just think some of them either don't get it, or simply don't care. No fault of theirs, it just wasn't a tool of use when they were coming up the ranks (note: this is a huge generalization and is not a reflection upon the entire senior PA corps).

Social media, or whatever it's to be called this time next year, is no doubt to be a part of our lives for the foreseeable future. We either run with it, harness it, and make it ours. Or, we get off now and watch ourselves roll back to using mono-chrome screened computers of 1997. :{

Dealing with Piracy... the Coast Guard's on it

2009-05-06T16:07:00.005-04:00

The question has come up several times in the last few months as to what is the U.S. Coast Guard doing to fight the war on piracy on the worldwide scale. You'll already know, but this is has been going on for years. What really struck a cord with the U.S. was the hijacking of the MAERSK ALABAMA. Yesterday RADM Salerno, the Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security, and Stewardship spoke in front of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security and this very subject. C-SPAN was covering it, but I was giving the SWE... and yes, I do watch C-SPAN at times.

His written statement, titled Piracy on the High Seas: Protecting our Ships, Crews, and Passengers, is actually an informative 8 pages. There are also some generalized fact therein that explain to the common person both why piracy is a universal crime and why shippers choose to go though the area off the Horn of Africa as opposed to another, maybe safer, route.

Piracy is a crime:

Maritime piracy is a universal crime under international law because it places the lives of seafarers in jeopardy and affects the shared economic interests of all nations.
...
Under international law, an act of piracy is defined as a criminal act of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship in or over international waters against another ship or persons and property on board.

Why go though the Horn of Africa?:

According to Lloyd’s List, ships that elect to transit around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid piracy in the Horn of Africa will incur an additional $250,000 in fuel costs per trip and an additional seven to ten days of transit time. While these expenses are high, they may become sufficiently attractive to shipping companies to justify as the cost of doing business.

Makes sense to me. But what is the Coast Guards part in combating piracy off of Africa or any other part of the world? And furthermore, how? According to RADM Salerno we're using a two pronged approach with use of our statutory authorities. The first is by way of using the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 and the Coast Guards authority therein requiring vessels to have an approved Vessel Security Plan.

Under this authority, the Coast Guard developed regulations that require U.S. ship owners and operators to assess and plan for a wide range of security threats, including threats of piracy.

Secondly we rely on the understanding of international law. Our own law, Title 18 Section 1651 of the U.S. Code, is one that is consistent with that of international law. Such states any vessel engaged in piracy may be subject to the jurisdiction of the United States regardless of whether the vessel is foreign flagged. This is what is being used in the case of the current case of the detained MAERSK ALABAMA pirate in U.S. custody.

However, we're not the only nation follow the international understanding. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has its place in allowing

every nation [to have] legal authority to establish jurisdiction and punish the offenders, regardless of nationality of the perpetrator or the victims, or of the vessels involved.

For the Coast Guard, our own authority to conduct boardings is on the forefront of this enforcement. RADM Salerno notes.

The Coast Guard understands the domestic and international legal frameworks and the associated boarding and enforcement requirements necessary to ensure the successful negotiation and implementation of agreements to facilitate counter-piracy operations on the water and the delivery of legal consequences to the pirates ashore. The Coast Guard’s international training teams and deployable law enforcement detachments offer tailored maritime law enforcement training that can be easily integrated in regional capacity building initiatives, and which is tied directly to at-sea operations. Domestically the Coast Guard works with and regulates the U.S. merchant fleet to reduce its vulnerability to acts of piracy.

The powers that be have even gone so far as working with those nations and organizations closest to the action. Our service has been working to support and develop a legal framework with the likes of Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, and of course the International Maritime Organization assist in facilitating the prosecution of suspected pirates.

And the work with these nations has already produced results. RADM Salerno reported that under a newly agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding with Kenya that the local (Kenya) government agreed to prosecute seven pirates for their actions in an alleged attack on the M/V POLARIS.

We are also neck deep using our resources by way of Coast Guard patrol boats and embarked boarding teams operating under CENTCOM in the Horn of Africa. Their mission under CENTCOM is to “Deter, disrupt, and suppress piracy in order to support UN Security Council resolutions, protect global maritime commerce, prevent future attacks, enhance maritime security, and secure freedom of navigation for the benefit of all nations.” We're also operating with the Navy in the area by providing boarding team's to work with the Navy's Visit Board Search and Seizure folks.

Lastly, MTSA gives the DHS the authorization to develop/deploy the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) positions, and other external and internally collected data feeds, to correlate and best detect, classify and identify vessels at sea. As a boarding officer and now a Command Center geek these are great tools when working and used. The use of these would greatly enhance our view of where all vessels are, even as they transit those "not so nice" areas of the world.

I feel that the Coast Guard is deep into the U.S.'s mission to help in combating the pirates of the world. And with new missions come new opportunities for our folks and our service, another chance to show what the smallest service in the U.S. arsenal can do.

Cross posted on USNI Blog.

The Coast Guard Image: CGC Elm

2009-05-06T10:46:00.003-04:00

Flickr ROCKS! This is from user Casher Haggerty, and though it has no given caption this is obvioulsy the CGC Elm. Very nice shot.

Slowing down?

2009-05-06T09:09:00.002-04:00

You'll notice that posting around here has slowed down a little. Not to worry, we're not going away... Just to give you an update on what's been happening: Work and play are competing. At work we're standing up the pre-cursor to OPCOM and as my last post indicated SWE's are ongoing and taking some of my time. We are also in the middle of a planned upgrade to CGBlog. We are going to be moving the site over to Wordpress sometime this month and adding a few features. But that too is taking some time to port the current site and adding the new site design. But once it all pans out we'll be back on a regular basis.

One day down, one to go... Service Wide Exams are Fun

2009-05-05T16:17:00.005-04:00

Today was day one of two for giving the Coast Guard Service Wide Exam. As the LANT ESO I am fortunate enough to administer the exam; a job that I'm glad to do. Today was the day for our Third-Class Petty Officers and First-Class Petty Officers to compete for advancement to the next higher grade. And though I gave that SWE's last year I really didn't make the same observations then as I did today.

Though there were many to be made, the most readily apparent was how serious our folks are when it comes to trying to become a Chief Petty Officer. I was very impressed with the amount of dedication that was being displayed. The folks taking their test today were reading, re-reading, and sometimes re-re-reading. Trippe checking answers, and the generic information on the "fill-in-the-bubble" areas. And though the Third-Classes did their fair share of testing today, I'm going to have to say that as a group there wasn't the same amount of "I want to be a..." as those going for Chief. Again, just my observations.

For those who took it today: What are your thoughts on this years May SWE?

Best of luck to those taking it on Thursday... I'll be there too.

VBS.TV on Narcosubs

2009-05-05T15:08:00.001-04:00

VBS.TV has an excellent show on the history, current use and technology of semi-submersibles to transport drugs. The first part is embedded here:

Click to play

SEE THE REST OF THE SERIES ON VBS.TV http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=21814420001 Like a Latin American Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, except with millions of dollars and people's lives hanging in the balance, narco-traffickers and the DEA have been locked in an ongoing chase scene carried out in a parade of increasingly ludicrous homemade drug-smuggling vehicles.

Parts 2-5 can be found here.

The Coast Guard Image: Aux members glow in the dark

2009-05-05T10:39:00.002-04:00

Not the best photo we've seen from Bast Productions but by this photo alone we learn a very important lesson: The Coast Guards Auxiliary members can glow in the dark.

SACRAMENTO, CA (Dec 6, 2008) - US Coast Guard Auxiliary Vessel "This Side Up" (200127), with Cox'n Steve Allen, leads the Parade of Lights on the Sacramento River, sponsored by the Capital City Yacht Club.

VIRIN: 081206-G-1286H-515
USCG Photo by Eric J. Hebert, USCGAUX
Photo Corps, Public Affairs Department
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
Department of Homeland Security

Our Aux at work...

2009-05-04T13:32:00.000-04:00

I received these photo's from Vincent Pica, Division Commander, Division 18 (1SR), USCGAux. Thank you CAPT Pica for the photos.

The Coast Guard Image: The 41 and Lady Liberty

2009-05-04T10:33:00.001-04:00

Posted on the Flickr pages of kevinh_photos. There is no given caption for this shot, but does there really need to be one? I think not. Enjoy your week.

Coast Guard Auxiliary and Navy Hospital Ships

2009-05-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

As noted by Ryan here and U.S. Southern Command here, there are 4 Guardians onboard the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship COMFORT as it deploys in support of Continuing Promise '09.

Ryan's post and the news story got me wondering:

Is there a role for members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary onboard Navy hospital ships?

What is the relationship between the U.S. Southern Command and the USCG Auxiliary?

To answer my own questions, just as COMFORT has Seabees onboard to build and repair clinics and schools, CG Auxiliary members could be onboard COMFORT to teach boating safety. CG Auxiliary members could join NGO's like Project Hope, Operation Smile, etc and volunteer on different legs of the journey instead of the entire 4-month deployment.

Regarding my second question, I dont know but I think SOUTHCOM and the USCG Auxiliary would make a great team!

Hopefully, there will be CG Auxiliary members involved in Continuing Promise '10. What do you think, loyal reader?

Remember when... ADM Allen didn't have a blog?

2009-05-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was looking around the site for something unrelated, when I came across this post from Peter writing in December 2007. As the picture shows, it's a post on ADM Allen not having his own blog, but instead someone created a MySpace (so yesterday) page on his behalf. Looking back ADM Allen was even referred to as "the rock-star Commandant of the Coast Guard." I had forgotten this as it was sometime ago. And my how things have changed. Though I may have eluded to the Coast Guard falling to a trend to becoming second tiered in the social world of military- for now were still on top. And we'll always be able to say we were first.

Monday Morning FYI: Where did ADM Collins go?

2009-05-04T05:26:00.001-04:00

So I got a wild hair up there and began to wonder where retired Admiral Thomas Collins went after his 2002-2006 tenure as our Commandant. There isn't a whole lot online but I did come across a bio for him on the website SPACDAC.com. The mission statement of the company tells us they are

leading the fusion of spatial intelligence and predictive analytics. Our technology and services provide government and commercial enterprises with actionable intelligence to minimize risk, maximize opportunity, and ensure enterprise resiliency.

ADM Collins is noted as holding a position on their Board of Directors as a Director. Just a little Monday morning FYI.

The Coast Guard Image: Life rings of the sea

2009-05-03T13:21:00.004-04:00

From Flickr user Chris Seufert this photo is a great depiction of what you'll see at nearly any given Station. I also look at this as a reminder that we, as Guardians, are the life ring of the sea. Kinda cheesy? Yep.

Open Discussion for the week of May 3, 2009

2009-05-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

This is the open thread for the week of May 3, 2009. What's on your mind?

Hazards of real time information in an OPSEC world

2009-05-02T14:36:00.003-04:00

You'll notice that this site tends not to dive to far into items that teeter on the edge OPSEC or general intelligence or security matters as they pertain a mission at hand. And for good reason, we are/were members of the Coast Guard at one time and understand the importance of maintaining good operational security. What bring me to this little rant? Our good friends (read: fellow bloggers) at Information Dissemination remind us via a post from yesterday the hazards of mixing social media and OPSEC when used in a real time (or near) basis. InfoDis has the info from Politico, and in short-

A photograph posted by the White House to the photo sharing website Flickr includes an image of a document with the letters CIA printed beneath what appears to be the word "secret."

The photograph by White House photographer Pete Souza is one of 301 pictures currently in the White House's Flickr pool, and depicts President Obama and six of his top advisors in the Red Room before Wednesday's prime time news conference. In the picture, foreign policy advisor Denis McDonough holds a binder, a legal pad, and some loose paper, with the top sheet bearing the acronym for the Central Intelligence Agency, which is clearly visible in an enlarged, 3500-pixel wide image available on Flickr.

Well, I hope Souza doesn't loose his job over this, his imagery is great. And this isn't the first time "secret" data has been published. Another story on the UK website Telegraph.co.uk also has a story of Britain's senior terror-chief plainly showing (not on purpose) a secret document. Go ahead, check it out, the photos have been doctored for viewing but the story is what should be paid attention to anyway.

So with that, I think I'll stick to my continued path of CG non-OPSEC stuff. It'll keep you and I out of hams way.

Is the Coast Guard to loose its Social Media crown?

2009-05-01T19:20:00.001-04:00

There is obviously a big thing going on here. I've come across quite a few (try here, here, here, or even here) sites covering the fact that the military, citing the Coast Guard in some specific cases, is using social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and general blogging to get their individual messages out. We're not the only ones out there harnessing the power of the social world though. However, I'd venture to say the ADM Allen is the first to fully embrace the power of popular services such as Facebook when comparing to others of his military stature.

Nick wrote me (and others) today noting that the DoD is seemingly playing catchup in the social area when comparing to the USCG. I would have to agree with him to a point. Yes our service is open to the thought of using social media as a way to connect to one another and get our message out. However, I would like to also point out that though our service is leading the way of using the social trend on a regular basis, it's on an ad-hock pace. This isn't to say we're not doing a good job, but it isn't completely integrated into the daily workings of our Public Affairs specialty. Now to be fair the comparison I'm to make here isn't exactly fair based only on size.

The Army, which recently launched their own official blog, is ready to jump in front of the Coast Guard and is about to take the proverbial reigns from us. If reading their about page you'll see that the site isn't only kept up to day by an office of 2-4 people; no, you're told that it's maintained by the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, Online and Social Media Division. That's right, a DIVISION. And though a division usually runs less than 100 people I'm sure they are running their social media division with no less than 20-40 (guessing here) people. But again, they have size on their side.

I'm not putting down our efforts here, I truly believe that we have come leaps and bounds since I got into this game in an unofficial capacity. And the CG has gone even faster in it's official roll. Once the fear had subsided the CG was shot into the limelight as THE leader. And though I understand it's not to be a contest (you and I both know that it really is) we need to keep the lead. But can we possibly maintain the social lead? I think so, so long as we push for it.

Oh, and I'm in if anyone wants help. ;)

Where in the world is ADM Allen

2009-04-30T21:21:00.004-04:00

It makes more sense if you sing it to the Carmine San Diego theme song... As many of you know, or maybe you didn't, ADM Allen is on a world tour visiting various units around the globe. On his own blog, iCommandant, ADM Allen has posted several blurbs on his encounters with our Guardian's over seas. Yesterday he posted on the All hands at sea in the Northern Arabian Gulf aboard, maybe, the ADAK. I also came upon a site that posted their experience having ADM Allen visit them, a Howth Coast Guard station. You read that right, Howth, as in Ireland (photo from their site)

He was given a tour of the station and got to meet and talk to some of the volunteers from Howth Coast Guard. The Admiral’s entourage included Senior U.S. and Irish Coast Guard officials and his personal security team. He was particularly impressed by the volunteer nature of the Coast Guard Rescue Service in Ireland.

I wonder where he'll show up next?

Coast Guard Mandated Self-Validation is upon us!

2009-04-30T20:51:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago we were here to inform you that the Coast Guard was setting out to ensure all it's data on each and everyone of us was up to date. Well as of tomorrow, 1 May 2009, the magic month of self-validation is here. In the ALCOAST message, MANDATORY TASK - INSTRUCTIONS TO ACCESS/COMPLETE THE SELF-VALIDATION FORM, we're official put on notice that this is indeed mandatory and will take all of 10 minutes of your time.

THE COAST GUARD IS LAUNCHING A MANDATORY INITIATIVE TO VALIDATE CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA AND ENSURE ACCURACY WITHIN OUR DIRECT ACCESS SYSTEM. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE INSTRUCTIONS LISTED BELOW TO VALIDATE YOUR DATA NO LATER THAN 31 MAY 2009. THE ESTIMATED SELF-VALIDATION COMPLETION TIME IS 10 MINUTES.

It took me longer than that to write this post than the validation will take you...

And for those of you out there who will no doubt refuse to actually read the message, here are the steps (don't mind that it's 17 steps, most of 'em are single click steps!):

GO TO DIRECT ACCESS - HTTPS://HR.DIRECT-ACCESS.US/

YOU WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY DIRECTED TO THE DIRECT ACCESS LOGIN
SCREEN. LOGIN USING YOUR DIRECT ACCESS USER ID AND PASSWORD. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A DIRECT ACCESS PASSWORD, FOLLOW THE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TITLED - PASSWORD RESET SETUP GUIDE FOUND AT - HTTP://WWW.USCG.MIL/PPC/PSWDRESET. IF THE PROCEDURE IN THE GUIDE DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, CONTACT YOUR SERVICE PERSONNEL OFFICE (SPO) TO CORRECT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR PERSONAL DATA SO YOU MAY USE THE FORGOTTEN PASSWORD FUNCTION OR YOU MAY SUBMIT AN ON-LINE INQUIRY TO PPC AT THE FOLLOWING LINK: HTTP://WWW.USCG.MIL/PPC/CCB/.

ONCE YOU ARE IN THE PEOPLESOFT HOME PAGE, SELECT THE --SELF SERVICE-- LINK. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE SELF SERVICE LINK WITHIN DIRECT ACCESS, SUBMIT AN ON-LINE INQUIRY TO PPC AT THE FOLLOWING LINK: HTTP://WWW.USCG.MIL/PPC/CCB/

ON THE SELF SERVICE PAGE, SELECT THE --EMPLOYEE-- LINK.

ON THE EMPLOYEE PAGE, SELECT THE --TASKS-- LINK.

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND SELECT THE --SELF-VALIDATION-- LINK.
THE SELF-VALIDATION FORM SHOULD APPEAR ON THE SCREEN.

PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THE TEXT BOX AT THE TOP OF THE FORM.

FOR A DESCRIPTION OF EACH DATA ELEMENT, SELECT THE -- VALIDATION INSTRUCTIONS-- LINK IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE SELF-VALIDATION FORM.

VALIDATE ALL OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES DATA ELEMENTS WITH EITHER A --TRUE-- OR --FALSE-- RESPONSE.

CHECK TRUE FOR ALL VALUES THAT ARE CORRECT. CHECK FALSE FOR ALL VALUES THAT ARE INCORRECT OR UNKNOWN AND CONTINUE TO THE NEXT DATA ELEMENT. CONTACT YOUR SPO IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND A DATA ELEMENT OR NEED ASSISTANCE.

THE FORM CANNOT BE SAVED UNLESS ALL DATA ELEMENTS HAVE A CHECKED RESPONSE OF TRUE, FALSE OR UNLESS INTENTIONALLY GRAYED-OUT INDICATING THAT THE DATA ELEMENT IS NOT APPLICABLE FOR YOUR COMPONENT.

ONCE ALL APPLICABLE FIELDS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, SELECT THE -- SAVE-- BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

A DISCLAIMER MESSAGE WILL APPEAR ASKING THAT YOU CONFIRM YOUR SELECTIONS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. SELECT --OK-- TO CONFIRM YOUR RESPONSES.

ONCE YOU SELECT --OK,-- YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR RESPONSES. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CONFIRM YOUR SELECTIONS AT THAT TIME, SELECT THE --CANCEL-- BUTTON AND MAKE THE NECESSARY UPDATES. YOUR INFORMATION WILL NOT BE SAVED UNTIL YOU SELECT --OK.--

ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FORM, HIT THE SIGN OUT LINK IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER.

IF YOU HAVE SELECTED --FALSE-- FOR ANY DATA ELEMENT CONTACT YOUR SPO IMMEDIATELY FOR FURTHER ACTION.

And that's it- easy peasy! Don't make the "evil" YN's come hunt you down... Them "evil" ones are the worst. ;)

Oh, and if you happen to have any other Q's on the validation thing check out the Validation FAQ's.

Official USCG Post 9/11 GI Bill Benefits Message is out

2009-04-30T20:20:00.000-04:00

It's finely here... the Coast Guards guidance on the Post 9/11 GI Bill. There's been a lot of anticipation of this message as my work inbox would tell you, and I'll say I'm impressed with the amount of detail HQ has given in this instructional piece of work. The message, ALCOAST 250/09: POST-9/11 VETERANS EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2008, gives us the scoop on how to apply for both the general bill funds and the transferring of you funds to a dependent. There's no use in me trying to further explain what is already written... so here is the entire message.

ALCOAST 250/09
COMDTNOTE 1500
SUBJ: POST-9/11 VETERANS EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT OF 2008
A. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 162125Z JAN 09. ALCOAST 044/09
B. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 181351Z SEP 08. ALCOAST 447/08
C. CHAPTER 33 OF TITLE 38, U.S. CODE
1. THIS IS THE THIRD ALCOAST PROVIDING AN UPDATE TO THE POST-9/11 G.I. BILL WHICH GOES INTO EFFECT ON 1 AUGUST 2009. MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REVIEW REFERENCES A AND B FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
2. THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS QUESTIONS REGARDING THE POST-9/11 G.I. BILL. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS IS A DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA) PROGRAM, AND THE BEST SOURCE FOR CURRENT INFORMATION IS THE VA WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.GIBILL.VA.GOV.
3. ELIGIBILITY: THE POST-9/11 GI BILL, AUTHORIZED UNDER REFERENCE C, IS AN AUTOMATIC ENTITLEMENT GENERALLY AVAILABLE TO SERVICEMEMBERS WITH AT LEAST 90 DAYS OF ACTIVE DUTY SERVICE FOLLOWING 11 SEPTEMBER 2001. NO ACTION IS REQUIRED BY MEMBERS UNTIL THEY EITHER 1) APPLY TO RECEIVE BENEFITS, 2) SEEK TO TRANSFER BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY TO DEPENDENTS, OR 3) ARE CURRENTLY ELIGIBLE FOR ANOTHER EDUCATION BENEFIT (MGIB, MGIB-SR, REAP) AND WHO SEEK ELIGIBILITY UNDER THE POST-9/11 GI BILL.
4. APPLICATION AND/OR CONVERSION:
A. STARTING 1 MAY 2009, THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS WILL BEGIN ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE POST-9/11 GI BILL FOR MEMBERS WHO APPLY TO RECEIVE BENEFITS. THE APPLICATION FORM WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE. VA WILL PROCESS APPLICATIONS FOR POST-9/11 GI BILL BENEFITS AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A LETTER EXPLAINING VA'S DECISION REGARDING YOUR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE PROGRAM. PAYOUTS FOR THE POST-9/11 GI BILL ARE NOT ANTICIPATED TO BE PROCESSED UNTIL 15 AUGUST 2009. THIS FORM IS NOT DESIGNED TO ELECT TRANSFER OF BENEFITS. TRANSFER OF BENEFITS WILL BE HANDLED AS GENERALLY
OUTLINED IN PARAGRAPH 5.
B. INDIVIDUALS ELIGIBLE UNDER ANOTHER EDUCATION BENEFIT (MGIB, MGIB-SR, REAP),WHO SEEK ELIGIBILITY UNDER THE POST-9/11 GI BILL ARE ALSO DIRECTED TO THE APPLICATION FORM ON THE VA WEBSITE. THE APPLICATION FORM REQUIRES THAT INDIVIDUALS MAKE AN IRREVOCABLE ELECTION TO CONVERT FROM THEIR EXISTING PROGRAM TO THE POST-9/11 GI BILL.
5. TRANSFER OF BENEFITS TO DEPENDENTS:
A. THE VA IS CURRENTLY SCHEDULED TO BEGIN ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR TRANSFER OF BENEFITS ON OR ABOUT 15 JUNE 2009, VIA A WEB-BASED PORTAL.THROUGH THE WEB-BASED PORTAL, A TRANSFERABILITY APPLICATION IS REQUIRED TO BE APPROVED BY COAST GUARD OFFICIALS TO ENSURE THE SERVICEMEMBER HAS OBLIGATED ANY REQUIRED ADDITIONAL SERVICE. WITH COAST GUARD APPROVAL, THE APPLICATION WILL THEN BE AUTOMATICALLY FORWARDED TO VA FOR REVIEW AND COMPLETION. CG-122, PSC, AND PPC ARE CURRENTLY ESTABLISHING AN AUGMENTATION TEAM TO SUPPORT THIS FUNCTION TO ENSURE ALL SERVICEMEMBERS SEEKING TO TRANSFER BENEFITS ARE ABLE TO DO SO.
B. THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (OSD) HAS NOT YET RELEASED THE FINAL POLICY ON TRANSFERABILITY, SPECIFICALLY AS IT RELATES TO REQUIRED ADDITIONAL OBLIGATED SERVICE. THERE WERE SEVERAL FEATURES AND ELEMENTS TO THIS POLICY THAT, WHILE DELAYING ITS RELEASE, ARE NEEDED TO ADDRESS MEMBERS WHO ARE RETIREMENT ELIGIBLE BETWEEN 2009 AND 2012. WE UNDERSTAND THAT MANY SERVICEMEMBERS ARE CONCERNED WITH THE IMPLICATIONS THIS POLICY MAY HAVE ON CAREER DECISIONS AND FAMILY EDUCATION BENEFITS. AS SOON AS THE TRANSFERABILITY POLICY IS PUBLISHED, WE WILL ENSURE THAT ALL
SERVICEMEMBERS ARE AWARE AND THAT COAST GUARD POLICY IS PROMULGATED EXPEDITIOUSLY. WE ARE ACTIVELY COORDINATING WITH OSD AND THE DOD SERVICES TO PROMULGATE APPROPRIATE POLICY, AND WE ENVISION PARITY IN TRANSFERABILITY POLICIES ACROSS ALL SERVICES.
6. CAPT A. R. GENTILELLA, ACTING DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT, SENDS.
7. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.

So what's the big deal? Well, as it stands now we all just got a way to help pay for our dependents college. I have the Montgomery from my days in the Army... what to do, what to do?

The Coast Guard Image: The Sunken

2009-04-30T08:15:00.000-04:00

This came from the Sector LA/LB Blog and shows what's left of a 65' Schooner off the bow of a responding 47' MLB.

Coast Guard responders worked late through the night to assist a sailing vessel that was taking on water off shore Morro Bay, California. The above image captures the sailing vessel sinking after its passengers were taken safety to shore by Coast Guard rescuers.

The Coast Guard received the initial report of the distress at about 4 p.m. and immediately sent two 47-foot motor life boats from Station Morro Bay and an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Los Angeles. The crew of the rescue boats used dewatering pumps in an attempt to remove the water from the vessel. The helicopter delivered an additional pump to the crews.

The pumps could not keep up with the amount of water entering the boat, and the crew requested to be taken to land by one of the 47-foot motor life boats from Station Morro Bay.

Spotlight on Leadership: Open Thread

2009-04-30T08:00:00.004-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

April is drawing to a close; hopefully, you've had a chance to think about leadership. What have you learned? What struck you this month as the Coast Guard put the spotlight on leadership?

Comments below, please. We'd love to hear from you.

The Coast Guard Image: An H-60 Transmission Change

2009-04-29T08:09:00.001-04:00

Well this isn't something you see everyday. This also came from the D17 Blog with the following caption-

Coast Guard Helicopter 6005 underwent a main transmission change after corrosion was found during an inspection. The 4,000 pound transmission (approximately $500,000 worth of aircraft parts), along with the main rotor head is pictured after being lifted from the helicopter. Pictures are courtesy of AMT3 Jacolby Cross, Air

Spotlight on Leadership: A question

2009-04-29T08:00:00.003-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

Something to think about: Who has helped you in your career?

Who have you helped?

What can you do to "pay it forward" in terms of leadership?

Coast Guard aboard USNS Comfort

2009-04-29T04:15:00.000-04:00

The Navy has relased a press peice for there hospital ship the USNSComfort with a Coastie (yes, Coastie) twist. Did you know that we have folks from the Coast Guard aboard? Well, maybe you did Jim, but the rest of us I'm sure we're unaware. They are embarked for the vessels Continuing Pormise 2009 mission; and why are they there?

Coast Guard personnel provide medical support for the crew both ashore and afloat. Their job has been divided between working in Comfort's sickbay taking care of the crew's medical needs and going ashore with the Seabees to take care of any medical concerns while they are working at the various sites on shore.

That's got to be quite an experiance for our four Guardians doing cross-service work. But it does beg the question why are our Guardians "taking care of the crew's medical needs" on a naval hospital ship? I don't make enough money to think of such answers.

Wanted: $180k back for false search and being an idiot

2009-04-29T04:01:00.000-04:00

Mr. Lary Tate, the man who cost tax payers $180,000 is now behind bars for a warrant by Arkansas authorities on sexual assault and incest charges. However disgusting that is, it's not the point of this post. The noted $180k is the amount the Coast Guard says it spent in looking for him on September 22, 2008. In an October 22, 2008 story in the Caller Times it's stated that the U.S. Coast Guard out of Corpus Christi and the Port Aransas fire departments spend two days looking for Tate after he reportedly drowned while swimming in the gulf. Well, as it turns out, a newer story from the Caller dated two days ago tells us that Tate is now behind bars.

And guess what? The Coast Guard wants it money back! The CG flew 14 hours over two days using both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft as well as two surface vessels. And all this only cost $180k? Well that as it may be, the fun part for us is now to begin. But judging by his lifestyle and choice of relationship partners it's my opinion (yes, I too can be judgmental) that the CG's not going to get its money back. Let 'em rot in prison for defrauding the Coast Guard. That is all.

The Coast Guard Image: CG1703 Parade Spray

2009-04-28T09:01:00.003-04:00

This photo was found on the D17 Blog yesterday. The photo's caption reads

Coast Guard C-130 receives a fresh water wash down upon return to Air Station Kodiak. The Pilot in Command, CDR Bartnik, is returning from his last flight prior to his retirement. CDR Bartnik served the Coast Guard for over 20 years.

Looking at this photo, I hope that water on the flight deck didn't create a problem... though as I recall the tarmac was heated.

The Swine Flu's effect on the Coast Guard Mission

2009-04-28T08:10:00.001-04:00

It's the hottest topic in the United States as of now. All you need to do is look at any newscast, web-news sites, Twitter, Facebook, or any of the plethora of site I visited (via RSS feeds) today. H1N1, more commonly refereed to as Swine Flu, is the topic of conversation not only here, but around the world. I had one of our regular readers come across chat yesterday (as I write this) wondering what the impact of the Flu would/will/could be on the Coast Guard mission? First thought would be that if someone got sick they should stay home... just like any other time they get sick; right? Well, I was Swine Flu inept so I started doing some digging to see what I was missing. And in doing so, I find that though the U.S. cases are far fewer in number than other countries to our direct south (i.e. Mexico), we've had a few cases so far.

Over on the Army's official blog (yes, they too have one) LTG Eric B. Schoomaker, U.S. Army Surgeon General reminds us first and foremost that-

It’s important for you all to understand that there is no cause for panic or alarm; antiviral drugs are available in the event you become ill; and there are preventive measures you can take to stay healthy.

Well that's good to know. And for those of you that don't know what Swine Flu is, the CDC tells us-

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that causes regular outbreaks in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Swine flu viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person, but in the past, this transmission was limited and not sustained beyond three people.

But as we know, it has crossed that swine to human bridge... The CDC's website also tells us that

it is contagious;
symptoms are similar to the regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue; and
it spreads from person to person by way of coughing, sneezing, touching...

So I'm reading that we should all stay away from each other if not feeling well.

As of 1300hrs on 27 April the CDC has reported 40 cases in the U.S.; most of which are in New York. Other states include California, Texas, Kansas, and Ohio. Of these five, I, as a Coast Guard member, worry more about the top three than the bottom two. And though I'm not worried to the point that I wouldn't go outside, I would be worried for the safety of my people if they were the ones conducting boarding out of the southern ports of Cali, Texas or anywhere in NY.

To answer the question to what the impact this potential pandemic could have on the Coast Guard mission- I would have to say it could severely impact how we do business if we weren't to take the proper precautions as both individuals and a service. Precautions as a service include, but are not limited to quarantining of vessels if an outbreak is suspected on said vessels, ensuring we're not unnecessarily putting our people in harms way (which I don't see doing as we are a people service), and ensuring that if we do have to put people in the wrong place at the wrong time that we are ensuring they are given proper protective equipment. So far as the individual side goes we must ensure we are taking care of ourselves and family members as to not catch, or spread the Swine Flu.

It could impact us... but it won't (opinion only of course).

Spotlight on Leadership: LDC discusses organizational improvement through Commandant's Performance Excellence Criteria

2009-04-28T08:00:00.004-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

The following is reprinted from The Leadership News, a quarterly newsletter on leadership issues in the Coast Guard, Winter 2008, Issue 37.

By LCDR Jacqueline Leverich
USCG Leadership Development Center

On Aug. 20, 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed the “Malcolm Baldrige Na-tional Quality Improvement Act of 1987,” establishing a program that many credit with making quality a priority and helping to revitalize the U.S. economy during the 1990s.

The Baldrige Criteria are used every day by thousands of organizations around the world to evaluate their progress toward becoming high-performance organizations.

In recent years, the criteria and award program were restructured to include education, health care, and nonproﬁt organizations. The Coast Guard adopted the Baldrige Criteria in the early 1990s as the organization’s ofﬁ cial management framework. We call it the Commandant’s Performance Excellence Criteria (CPEC).

The criteria support a systems per-spective that consists of seven integrated categories: 1 - Leadership, 2 - Strategic Planning, 3 - Customer and Market Focus, 4 - Measurement, Analysis, and Knowl-edge Managemnt, 5 - Workforce Focus, 6 - Process Management, and 7 - Results.

All excellent, high-performing organizations pay close attention to these seven key areas in order to consistently produce desired results. The CPEC is noted for being non-prescriptive and adaptable to any type of organization. The criteria are a set of expectations and requirements that outline essential factors that contribute to and drive organizational success. The CPEC gives direction about what to do. The organization decides how to best do it. Excellence depends on you!

So how does the Coast Guard recognize and promote commands and staffs that best integrate the CPEC into their world of work? Last year, the Commandant’s Quality Award program practiced the CPEC Core Principle of Continuous Improvement and took a year off to embark on an internal review of the award process. The CPEC award program is back this year in pilot form and the proposed process was streamlined; most notably, participants submit only a brief application. Units participating in the pilot were nominated by their local Organizational Performance Consultants (OPCs) and each selected unit will receive a week-long site visit from a trained assessment team. The pilot participants are high-performing units that are working to incorpo-rate CPEC into their daily operations. They are AIRSTA San Francisco, ISC St. Louis, and Sector Jacksonville.

The Coast Guard is committed to continuous improvement of organiza-tional performance in all mission areas. CPEC can help your command or staff to the next higher performance level and towards the goal of true excellence.

To learn more, contact your local OPC or consider attending the two-day CPEC Orientation Course. The Leadership Development Center conducts this interactive course each Fall in every district and at HQ. For details, ﬁnd us on the TQC website: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/tqc/index.shtm.

The Coast Guard Image: Waiting and Ready

2009-04-27T10:05:00.000-04:00

Posted on Flickr by planephotoman. The caption for this photo was: They usually park FA-18's in this spot!

Spotlight on Leadership: Stepping forward

2009-04-27T08:00:00.006-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

Take a look at the forces you identified yesterday. Pick out three or four of the positive things, those forces driving you to do better, and figure out how you can make those even bigger. How can you increase the power of those forces.

Then, flip over to the other list. Pick out three or four of those other things, those forces that are keeping you from doing well in that competency, and figure out what you can do to reduce those forces, to make it so they don't have as much power in your life.

That's right, you've just used the Forcefield Analysis Tool and segued into action planning.

And the internal dialogue goes something like this:

"Eagads, you mean there's value in some of these tools?"

"Not so fast, hoss, you with your high brow words and highfalutin ideas. You could sprouse-it-up in a heartbeat."

"Don't look at me. I'm not the one adding thayer's of complexity."

Earl Markham

2009-04-27T00:44:00.001-04:00

I stood for my dockside and on-the-water qualification exams for coxswain today. There a moments in a life where things come together, where one finds oneself lucky that we have the opportunity to serve in the company of such shipmates. My Qualification Examiners today were COMO Jack Bradbury past D13 Vice Commodore, and due to a quirk in last minute scheduling changes, my very good friend COMO Earl Markham past Vice Commodore D11SR. Both these men are giants in our service.

My story is about Earl and it is one that requires a little background. Earl has been an active Guardian since June 1952 (when my parents were not yet in school). Earl’s done just about everything one can do as an Auxiliarist and seen all but thirteen years of our 70 year history as component of the Coast Guard. There is no doubt that Earl has saved many lives that without his personal direct contributions on the water, and indirect contributions as an educator would have been lost.

This evening we finished the QE session, debriefed the mission, did the sign offs, and dismissed the crew candidates. In a quiet moment, as I prepared the facility to RTB, I had the chance to ask Earl privately if he had anything to add to our debrief. We stood on the deck as the sun began to fall behind the hills and Earl, being Earl, took my hand in his hands and congratulated me. I responded that I could not have qualified in prouder company, and Earl embraced me and said he hoped to see what was yet to come for me.

I helped Earl to the Station pier and asked one of our newly minted crew members to assist him with his gear. As we got underway I had tears in my eyes.

There are days when we are lucky enough to walk in the footsteps of giants. For me, today was one of those days. Very, very large footsteps to aspire to follow.

The Coast Guard Image: Guardian's of the gray

2009-04-26T09:56:00.005-04:00

Posted by Flickr user Casher Haggerty.

Spotlight on Leadership: Your greatest competency for improvement

2009-04-26T08:00:00.008-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

There are two schools of thought in terms of improving. We can look at what we already do well and figure out how to do it even better, or we can look to see where we have the greatest deficiency and shore it up. Yesterday, we did the former; today, we're taking the latter approach.

Having said that, look back over the competencies; study the one that you've identified as your Achilles heal, the one where you have the greatest difference between how you would want to be and how you think you are.

Like yesterday's task, read through the competency definition and pick out those words that have the most meaning for you.

Now brainstorm to lists. In the first list, identify all the things, or forces, that are moving you to succeed at this particular competency. What's driving you toward the goal of perfection at this competency? What's pushing you to succeed?

The second list is similar, and, yet, note it's not just opposites. Rather, what are all the things keeping you from doing well with this competency? What's bringing you down or holding you back.

Hold on to these lists for tomorrow's exercise.

Open Discussion for the week of April 26, 2009

2009-04-26T08:00:00.007-04:00

This is the open thread for the week of April 26, 2009. What's on your mind?

Finding EPIRB's got easier for the USCG and better for You

2009-04-25T18:46:00.006-04:00

I quickly mentioned this little bit in my post related to the April issue of Delivering the Goods, but thought it was something to further cover as it applies to all mariners who own and hope never to use their 406mhz EPIRB. The Coast Guards Acquisition folks put out on their website a nice piece of information pertaining to the new direction finding equipment as mentioned in the Goods. Said equipment is the Rockwell Collins DF-430-F Multi-mission Direction Finding (DF) system. Yep, it's a long name, but well worth it, and we didn't even have to reinvent the wheel on this one.

The DF-430 is a proven, off-the-shelf, multi-purpose direction finding system that can home on both the 406 MHz signal as well as the legacy 121.5 MHz signal; these two signals emanate from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) when activated in an emergency situation.

So what's the big deal? Well for those of you who were/are Airedale types you may remember the great DF-301 direction finding system. At the time I was using it (2000-2003/5) it was what we used on the HC-130H's to find 121.5mhz signals. And as I was flying around Alaska, I got to tell you this wasn't always an easy feat. However, I only recall one time we never found one we were looking for, though some took upwards of 3 days to find as the 121.5mhz signal had a tendency to "bounce" in the areas of Alaska.

Well this new little toy should help take care of that... the DF-430 is able to lock on to a 406mhz signal, at altitude, upwards of 160 miles away. This is pretty impressive when comparing it to the previous versions tracking 121.5mhz at a mere 5 miles.

"Wow! This is great... but does it work?" I'm glad you asked Mr. Mariner...

The DF-430 has demonstrated its capabilities numerous times in the field. On the night of April 11, 2007, the first HC-130H to carry the DF-430 system locked on to an EPIRB signal being sent from an overturned catamaran, the Paradox. Previous attempts to locate the vessel, made by an HU-25 Falcon jet not equipped with the DF-430, had failed. The HC-130H arrived on scene and vectored an HH-60J “Jayhawk” helicopter to complete the rescue, saving the lives of two crewmembers.

On February 1, 2009, Coast Guard Air Station Savannah received an EPIRB signal from the F/V Gladiator, which had become disabled approximately 72 miles northeast of Charleston, S.C. A MH-65C “Dolphin” helicopter was launched from Charleston and, using the DF-430 to track the signal, vectored directly to the scene. Upon arrival, the aircrew provided the Gladiator with a hand-held radio because no other means of communication were available. The ship’s crew stated that the Gladiator’s propeller shaft had sheered and none of its radios were functioning. The only means they had to alert the Coast Guard to their situation was the 406 MHz EPIRB on board. Using the radio provided by the aircrew, the Gladiator was able to contact another vessel for assistance.

Hmm... that second one seems to ring a bell.

Though not ALL of our fleet has the new toy installed here is a breakdown provided by CG-9:

As of this post there are 89 Coast Guard fixed-wing and helicopter aircraft that are fitted with the DF-430:

31 MH-65C “Dolphin” Multi-mission Cutter Helicopters
20 HU-25 “Falcon” Medium Range Surveillance Aircraft
26 HC-130H “Hercules” Long Range Surveillance Aircraft
Seven HC-144A “Ocean Sentry” Maritime Patrol Aircraft
Three HC-130J “Super Hercules” Long Range Surveillance Aircraft
Two MH-60T “Jayhawk” Medium Range Recovery Helicopters

All Coast Guard aircraft are expected to be equipped with the DF-430 by 2012.

So it looks like the next time you decide to trigger those 406mhz EPIRB's or PLB's (a new post on those two soon) rest easy as your odds just increased of the U.S. Coast Guard finding you.

Spotlight on Leadership: Your strongest competency

2009-04-25T08:00:00.003-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

Yesterday, I asked you to check out the Coast Guard's 28 leadership competencies and to identify the one you did the best in and the one you needed the most to work on.

Today, let's focus on your strongest competency.

Read through the competency's definition and pick out the key 5 to 7 words. Note, these are the words that mean the most for you, not necessarilly the most important words in the definition.

Now, write (sorry, yes, you need to do more than think) a short story about a time when you have used this competency. Work to incorporate those key words (or, if not the actual words, the gist of those words) in your narrative.

Thank You Peter Stinson

2009-04-25T07:31:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, marked the one year anniversary of my entry into the blogosphere! I just wanted to take this opportunity to publicly thank Peter Stinson for giving me my start into blogging. I hope I have not caused you loyal readers too much heartburn with my posts.

What a year it has been! Two cameras later and trips to San Diego, Alameda, and Miami with more trips to come I have really enjoyed blogging. I would also like to thank Mary Ripley over at USNI blog (my vacation home blog) for tolerating my blogging as well. Thanks again for reading CGBlog and stay tuned for another year of posts from me!

Guardians revive possible heart-attack victim... they rock

2009-04-25T00:46:00.002-04:00

Send via eMail this press release is out of D17

Two off-duty Coast Guard members with Station Juneau revived a man who reportedly suffered a heart attack in his car around 7:15 a.m. today.

Chief Petty Officer Ryan O'Meara, the officer in charge at Coast Guard Station Juneau, and Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Canepa, the executive officer at Coast Guard Station Juneau, were driving to work when they noticed a vehicle stopped on Mendenhall Loop Road. They quickly went to identify the problem when a woman told them that her husband had suffered a heart attack in the front seat of the vehicle.

O'Meara and Canepa immediately carried the man to the curb, commenced chest compressions and rescue breaths, and revived him. "Canepa checked and found no pulse but the airway was clear," said O'Meara. "We were quickly able to resuscitate the victim."

The victim would relapse and was revived approximately four times before Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene to continue treatment and transport the man to Bartlett Hospital.

Though the condition of the victim was unknown when the release was sent out, I do believe they made a great choice to stop. Thank you Chief and to you XPO for showing the nation we're Semper Paratus.

USCGC Point Welcome, WPB 82329

2009-04-24T23:06:00.009-04:00

The Coast Guard played an integral role in the War in Vietnam through the use of its 82-foot Patrol Boats. These Point Class Cutters were loaded onto freighters and taken overseas in support of Operation Market Time. Their White paint was covered in haze gray to reduce their prominence on the water and they were fitted with .50 caliber machine guns with piggyback 85mm mortars.

It was only recently that I learned of the loss of LTjg David Brostrom and EN2 Jerry Phillips during a friendly fire attack by our own Air Force. I am somewhat ashamed of myself for not knowing this piece of Coast Guard history but I imagine I’m not alone. While I'm not going to re-write what is already documented, I encourage anyone who hasn’t heard the story to click here, here, and here.

From The Coast Guard History Website:

She was attacked in the pre-dawn hours of 11 August 1966 by U.S. Air Force aircraft while on patrol in the waters near the mouth of the Cua Viet River, about three-quarters of a mile south of the Demilitarized Zone (the 17th Parallel). Her commanding officer, LTJG David Brostrom, along with one crewmen [sic], EN2 Jerry Phillips, were killed in this "friendly fire" incident. The Point Welcome's executive officer, LTJG Ross Bell, two other crewmen, GM2 Mark D. McKenney and FA Houston J. Davidson, a Vietnamese liaison officer, LTJG Do Viet Vien, and a freelance journalist, Mr. Timothy J. Page, were wounded.
With the inception of the E-PME a few years back, we began improving our awareness of our history. I know we’re doing better than we were, but it’s on all of us (Active, Reserve, and Auxiliary), to learn and share as much as we can about our history. There are many lessons to be learned from the Guardians who went before us, and the missions that they carried out.

SAR tools, CGMOES, and to find EPIRB? Delivering the Goods

2009-04-24T16:12:00.003-04:00

The April issue of Delivering the Goods is now available for download, and to date I got to say these little newsletters are the best way to stay abreast of what's going on... Thank you CG-9! In this issue we learn, among other things, about some new SAR model tools coming down the pike. As a SAR controller this is of great interest to me, and to be honest, I had no idea our R&D center was working on it. There is also a good overview of what and how the CG's R&D Center does its job. Here are two of the aforementioned goodies their working on-

The first now toy is the Multi-Sensor Performance Prediction (MSPP) tool. Based off of what's written it will allow the Coast Guard to estimate the performance of sensor systems prior to acquisition. It is used to generate performance parameters for a particular sensor based on weather conditions, location and time of day, and given various search contacts, such as a person in the water, life raft or boat.

The other new tool coming our way is the Sensor Performance Optimization Tool (SPOT). This should not be confused with the SPOT EPIRB-like device. The SPOT is a PC-based visualization and analysis program used to assess, optimize and visualize the impact of various sensor settings and tactics on search effectiveness. SPOT uses MSPP data to determine whether there are any holes in a search pattern so the Coast Guard can modify its search efforts accordingly.

I'll be looking forward to seeing more on these.

Also new on the horizon is a simulation tool known as Coast Guard Maritime Operational Effectiveness Simulation (CGMOES). In CG-9's words it's supposed to uses mathematical algorithms to represent the Coast Guard’s mission requirements, asset capabilities and operational environments, CGMOES is the most comprehensive, up-to-date modeling and simulation system in the Coast Guard’s inventory... umm. I have know idea what I just copied and pasted. Can someone with some knowledge on CGMOES shed some light into layman terms?

For those who joined the EPIRB discussion a few weeks ago here is a little explanation as to how the Coast Guard is moving forward with installing the DF-430-F direction finder for locating 406mhz EPIRB's and ELT's. It's on page 5.

And last, but not least, is a little blurb on the Mission Effectiveness Project (MEP) and it current successes as well as a small piece on the HC-144A Ocean Sentry medium-range maritime patrol aircraft; however, I believe we covered that one on the last issue.

Spotlight on Leadership: A trip through the competencies

2009-04-24T08:00:00.004-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

Often when I think of leadership, I think either of examples (people) or traits (competencies). This idea of competencies can be very helpful in looking at leadership. The Coast Guard, like many organizations, has defined leadership through a series of competencies.

If you haven't had a chance to thumb through them, do so today. You'll find the Coast Guard's twenty-eight competencies highlighted here.

Take a moment now and read through them; identify the trait you think you exhibit and practice the best. What's the trait where you have the greatest delta between how you'd want to be and how you actually are?

We'll follow up on those tomorrow.

Petty Officer Nathan B. Bruckenthal, Damage Controlman Third Class, USCG

2009-04-24T00:01:00.005-04:00

It was five years ago today that DC3 Nathan Bruckenthal lost his life in Iraq, rendering service to the Coast Guard and his country. Along with Petty Officer Bruckenthal, 2 members of the US Navy were also killed: Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Pernaselli and Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Watts. Petty Officer Bruckenthal died after a terrorist dhow exploded while attempting to attack an oil platform he and his unit were guarding in the waters surrounding Iraq's Khwar Al Amaya Terminal (KAAOT).

This was the first combat loss of life to a Coast Guardsman since the Vietnam War. Petty Officer Bruckenthal was serving aboard the USS Firebolt on his second tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. For his actions, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal in April 2004.

As a way to honor DC3's memory, the fine Guardians at USCG CAMSLANT in Chesapeake, VA host an annual motorcycle ride in his honor. This year marks the Third Annual Bruckenthal Memorial Ride and will take place on May 29th, 2009.

Each year members of the U.S. Coast Guard and the community get together to honor the memory of a fallen shipmate, Petty Officer Nathan Bruckenthal.
The group also hosts the ride to raise funds for the daughter of Petty Officer Bruckenthal.
In the past, the Motorcycle ride has started at the Coast Guard's Communications Area Master Station Atlantic in Chesapeake, Va., and at the Pungo, VA location. Both rides featured a scenic route that took several hours culminating with a spectacular lunch over looking the water.
This years event will consist of a Poker Run, Cruisers Loop, vendors, light morning snacks, a BBQ lunch, and music.

All riders, volunteers, and sponsors are welcome to participate. If you are interested in attending you can download the event flyer here, or visit the website here for more information.

No Cost-of-Living Raise for Three Years?

2009-04-23T15:14:00.003-04:00

If you are retired or have family or friends who are retired, this might tend to upset you. Especially if your parents are struggling to get by on Social Security.

In his blog today, Douglas W. Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, announced that he does not anticipate that retirees, specifically those receiving Social Security benefits, will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in January. Since by law, military retirees receive the same COLAs as Social Security beneficiaries, their won't be any COLA for them in January either.

Looking forward, Mr. Elmendorf believes that inflationary pressures will be very low over the next few years and that the next cost-of-living adjustment will come in January of 2013, and is projected to be 0.8 percent.

even though CBO is projecting price increases in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, those annual price increases would not be large enough to offset the price declines that have already taken place in recent months.

Beneficiaries in other federal programs, including civil service and military retirement, and those drawing veterans’ compensation and pensions, also will not receive COLAs in 2010, 2011, or 2012, by CBO’s projections, because their COLAs are tied to Social Security’s under current law.

As a side note: does anyone know if the same numbers are used to calculate active duty/civil service COLA's?

H/T to R.Etheridge at the Pay and Personnel Center blog.

Spotlight on Leadership: Yes, that was all leadership

2009-04-23T08:00:00.005-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

I know that some of you are reading this and thinking over the past three weeks and you're muttering under your breath, "What is Stinson talking about? That hasn't been leadership. Leadership is self-awareness and learning, mentoring, creativity and innovation, and partnering. This, er, stuff, has been something else."

Something else indeed. Generally, when we talk about leadership in the Coast Guard, we are talking about personal traits and behaviors. And, yes, that's leadership, or at least one view of it. There's another view, and that's the view of organizational leadership, something slightly different.

No it or not, the Coast Guard has a framework for organizational leadership and organizational management. It's called the Criteria for Performance Excellence. The series of questions you suffered through all come from the Performance Excellence Criteria. Hopefully, these questions have led you to greater self awareness and, with luck, greater ability in your own leadership.

I strongly encouarge you to get a copy of the Criteria for Performance Excellence. You can download a pdf version here or you can request a paper copy by emailing nqp@nist.gov or calling 301-975-2036.

This is the Coast Guard's organizational leadership and management framework. Know it; use it.

New blog, 9/11 GI Bill Sign Up's, & ADM Allen on the Hill

2009-04-22T21:18:00.003-04:00

It never fails, you work for 13+ hours in a closed environment and you walk out trying to catch up to the world. Which in my case is how many/what kind of crafts my daughters did and of course the day's Coast Guard happenings. Today was a very eventful day around government.

This first item actually came to fruition yesterday but I seemed to have missed it, a clear testimonial as to how dedicated I was to my school paper (and still continuing tonight). On ADM Allen's iCommandant there was an announcement of a new official blog: USCG National Strike Force (added to the link list). The blog is actually coming up on it's first anniversary here in September, so their not so new. I'll admit I'm fairly impressed with their mission set and training programs. Through their blog their able to get the message out on not only said missions, but how much training actually goes into skill sets. In the correspondence posted on iCommandant CAPT Walker, Commander of the National Strike Force sums it up best-

Semper NSF!
Semper DOG!!
Semper Paratus!!!

Next is the news we've all (well, many of us) been waiting for in the world of continuing our education. The VA announced today that starting May 1, 2009 they, the Department of Veterans Affairs, will begin accepting applications for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The application form is available here. As an ESO I've gotten many questions on this, and now I have my answer. Funny though, I get to post it on our unofficial site before me official one. And though the applications will be accepted on May 1 you need to understand that payments for the Post-9/11 GI Bill will not be processed until August 1, 2009. But hey, we're getting somewhere now aren't we? Check out this dedicated portion of the VA's site for more info.

And last in the the arena of playing catch-up is the news that ADM Allen, the USCG's Commandant, was on the Capital Hill today. He was testifying in front of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security. This time around he was covering our modernization efforts on the lines of acquisitions. In his written statement you'll find some very interesting if not scary information. Here are some of the quotes I'd like to share... After speaking of the recent dry docking of both the GALLATIN and DALLAS along with the fire aboard the BOUTWELL, ADM Allen states-

Parts shortages have caused aircraft availability to dip below our 71 percent target. We are experts at getting the most out of our aging fleet, but to maintain readiness we will have to make difficult financial decisions and manage resources to buy down risk in the most critical areas.

Also discussed it our future, an example-

The most pointed example of the success of our reformed acquisition processes is Fast Response Cutter Sentinel-class patrol boat. With a total potential contract value of more than $1 billion, it was a highly competitive process, and our selection survived two post-award protests, demonstrating that our robust acquisition process was beyond reproach.

We posted a little blurb about the Sentinel-class back in January.

Also discussed were the planned personnel improvements-

We have also developed a new Human Capital Strategic Plan that outlines several goals aimed at improving the skills of our workforce. An overarching objective is to raise the profile of Coast Guard acquisition as a profession with well-defined career paths for both uniformed and civilian employees. That strategy sets goals for training and educational opportunities, using internal resources as well as reaching out to third parties, such as the Defense Acquisition University and the Naval Postgraduate School, to provide additional support.

Also available in the linked statement is the progress thus far in our acquisitions adventure. It's a quick read.

Now Somalia wants its own Coast Guard... no, really

2009-04-22T21:02:00.003-04:00

And if you're waiting for the punchline... well, there isn't one. This actually has nothing to do with the local pirates union thinking they are a coast guard (note no capitalization there) but in fact this is the local government in Somalia is wanting to set one up. Found here you'll read-

Somalia's foreign minister urged the international community Wednesday to help its fledgling government set up a coast guard to fight the rampant piracy that has disrupted shipping in one of the world's busiest waterways.

I'll let you read the rest, as it seems a little weird to me, if only for the fact of this statement-

So far the government has not dared go after the pirate strongholds, since pirate leaders have more power than the beleaguered Somali government.

Now I know that we, the USCG, project that image of maturity and self confidence, but I'm sorry to tell you that if you can't stand up to said pirates without a coast guard, it may be a little too late.

The Coast Guard Image: Earth Day...

2009-04-22T08:31:00.003-04:00

Simple enough, here we have some Guardian's doing their part to partake in cleaning up. This was found on the Coast Guard Imagery Flickr stream- and captioned as-

LIHUE, Hi (Apr. 18, 2009) Coast Guard Petty Officer Second Class Zachary Rafoth, a Damage Controlman, sweeps garbage up as Seaman Adrian Lopez-Smith picks up trash from between rocks at Nawiliwili Harbor, Hi, on April 18, 2009. The two were part of a group from Station Kauai that volunteered along with members of the Coast Guard auxiliary, the Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Sierra Club, the Surf Rider Foundation and the Nawiliwili Yacht Club to do their part for Earth Day. USCG photo by BM3 Darcey Crop

Happy Earth Day!

Spotlight on Leadership: Leadership outcomes

2009-04-22T08:00:00.003-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

What are your leadership results? Summarize your organization’s key governance and senior leadership results, including evidence of strategic plan accomplishments, fiscal accountability, legal compliance, ethical behavior, societal responsibility, and support of key communities. Segment your results by organizational units, as appropriate. Include appropriate comparative data.

Statement by ADM Allen on piracy

2009-04-21T21:05:00.003-04:00

Copy and pasted in it's entirety... the statement is well worth the read. Comments defiantly welcome!

Piracy has been rightfully called an insult to civilization. The recent pirate attacks on the motor vessels Maersk Alabama and Liberty Sun focused the attention of the American public on what has been an increasingly significant international issue. It is important that the American public and the international community know that the U.S. Government is working hard to find an enduring international solution to this international problem.

Maritime piracy is a symptom of instability in Somalia. The only long-term solution must address piracy’s root causes in Somalia itself: political instability and lack of economic opportunity. The U.S. supports a reconstituted Somalia with lawful control over its entire territory. The new unity Transitional Federal Government offers the hope that Somalia can return to the rule of law and legitimate economic activity. Until this happens, the U.S. and the international community must treat the symptoms and secure the maritime domain and protect its seafarers by improving response options, reducing vulnerabilities, and establishing effective legal mechanisms to deliver consequences against pirates.

In December 2008, the National Security Council published the “Strategy for Countering Piracy off the Horn of Africa: Partnership and Action Plan.” The plan is founded on the principles of the National Strategy for Maritime Security and “recognizes that nations have common interest in achieving two complementary objectives: to facilitate the vibrant maritime commerce that underpins economic security, and to protect against ocean-related terrorist, hostile, criminal and dangerous acts, including piracy.” This requires a whole-of-government approach, integrating military, law enforcement, judicial, diplomatic, and commercial interests.

There are positive effects of the international military response, including the U.S. Fifth Fleet’s Combined Task Force 151, a European Union Naval Force, as well as a number of ships from other nations operating independently but cooperatively with these task forces. Essentially, this is the Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Sea Power in action. Examples of its success include the interdiction of 16 pirates in February by U.S. Navy and Coast Guard forces working from the USS Vella Gulf; the French capture of three pirates in mid-April, bringing the total facing French prosecution to 15; and most recently the rescue of Richard Phillips, heroic Captain of the Maersk Alabama. The Cooperative Strategy was promulgated by the three maritime U.S. military service chiefs in October 2007.

On the vulnerability front, working through the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and via the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, the U.S. has engaged with the shipping industry to develop self-awareness and self-protection measures that reduce their vulnerability to attack. These most recent attacks against U.S. ships have added to the already heightened sense of urgency, and have raised the possibility of armed security teams as a specific measure to be employed by merchant vessels to reduce their vulnerability to pirates. The Coast Guard, working closely with the maritime industry, will issue a new Maritime Security Directive to address additional security measures authorized and required by vessels operating in waters threatened by piracy. It is important to recognize that armed security is but one of many protection measures, including the application of non-lethal tactics. There are numerous examples of these measures succeeding in thwarting pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa region.

Regionally coordinated operations and information sharing, an approach that has been highly successful in reducing piracy in the Strait of Malacca, are critical to the sustainable disruption of piracy. In January, the Djibouti Code of Conduct was adopted, providing a legal framework for the interdiction and prosecution of pirates. The Code also contains practical law enforcement measures, including a shiprider program to share scarce patrol resources and information sharing and operational coordination mechanisms. This agreement has so far been signed by nine regional nations.

The passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1851 in December 2008 further assisted in establishing an effective legal framework for prosecuting pirates. This resolution encourages nations to employ the operative provisions of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA) Convention. SUA provides a robust mechanism for effective consequence delivery applicable to 78% of the World’s nations. Complementing this, in January the U.S. signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Kenya for the transfer and prosecution of suspected pirates. Seven of the pirates captured by the USS Vella Gulf were transferred to the Government of Kenya under the terms of this MOU.

One thing is abundantly clear. The U.S. and its international partners are adapting and becoming more effective. Although cooperation between governments will be critical to addressing piracy, cooperation and coordination within our government comes first. In the Maersk Alabama response, the Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) protocol, a novel concept to orchestrate intra-governmental efforts in maritime incidents, played a positive and significant role. This protocol facilitates interagency unity of effort, efficient information flow and decision-making.

Piracy is a complex problem that is not going to be solved overnight. Establishment of rule of law and economic opportunity in Somalia are essential for a long-term end to this threat. In the meantime, there must be continuous strategic and operational engagement alongside our international partners. Such a coherent on-shore and off-shore strategy will enhance the security of the global commercial shipping lanes and halt the rise of piracy.

Napolitano to speak at CGA class of 2009 graduation

2009-04-21T20:54:00.003-04:00

Overheard on NavyTimes the word is out that DHS Secretary Secretary Janet Napolitano (that would be our bosses boss) will give the keynote speech for the graduating class of 2009 on May 20th. This will be the Coast Guard Academy's 128th commencement ceremony. Also noted in the very short blurb is mention of recent past speakers of both former President Bush and his VP Dick Chaney. And as their discussion's were both on the fight against terrorism, it stands to chance that in the Democratic house there may be another direction taken for her speech... say, piracy maybe.

Congrats to the Class of 2009!

The Coast Guard Academy: Keep it or Dump it?

2009-04-21T09:09:00.003-04:00

Short answer: Keep it. As Dave Matthews would say "It's a typical situation in theses typical times..." Where I'm in reference to the advisement of saving the government money by ridding our nation of it's service academy's.

I first saw this on Information Dissemination and was also pointed to it by Brad Soule (a.k.a. RandonLT) in our Open Discussion posts of a piece written by Mr. Tom Ricks of The Washington Post. The article in question: Why We Should Get Rid of West Point. The abbreviated version would tell you that in order to save money Uncle Sam should close down it's Service Academy's. And though the Coast Guard Academy isn't specifically mentions (that whole "non-military" stigma I guess) you and I both know it would be looked at first in the game of dropping said schools.

In his writing he states that schools such as West Point cost around $300,000 for the four year education. And though I too thought this was a little high I found, according the CGA website, that we charge foreign students $71,349 a year to attend the CGA; putting this into the four year scale come out to be $285,396 for the complete bachelors program. Not too far off from Mr. Ricks numbers, but how does this compare to a good, maybe not Ivy League, but good school? The University of Washington states their annual freshman tuition is $35,555 (out of state) plus $2,500 for room and board equaling $38,055 for the year... nearly half that of a foreign student (and presumably the domestic cost if revealed) receiving tuition to the CGA. Now, I'll tell you I came into writing this post with the opinion that the schools should stay, based only on funding. However, and again, only based off of funding... I think we may be spending too much money on our service schools.

Now I can't speak for those who have gone to these schools, but I have had discussions with many folks who have. As I understand it the education is good, the discipline taught and retained is of the utmost importance in, and the overall program is of a great value to the Coast Guard. However, I've also been told that the degree one gets from the CGA isn't squat on the outside; that is, outside the Coast Guard. A thought process that I can't quite comprehend as any education you get is good education and if it's targeted to your job... who cares- your here to do your job. But the question still stands- should the government get rid of our Service Academy's in an effort to save money? Hmm... I look at it like this, we'll get out of this slump sooner or later and on the flip side we'll be all trying to figure out why we were thinking so rash. If we're still here in about 5+ years from now, well, maybe we should look at this as a viable way to save. But until then, why don't we look at cutting costs in say the bailout arena.

Your thoughts?

Five things to do in our Coast Guard to save money and earth

2009-04-21T08:10:00.002-04:00

Continuing on my Earth Day rant, which is tomorrow by the way, I have come up with my 5 things we could all be doing at work to help save money and create less waste. Here we go...

Print to PDF and not paper. This is a great way to save on paper in the office, and it's a very practical solution to a real problem. In my everyday job I have found this to be a very easy way to not print when not needed. Some examples;
- I see people all the time print out an email they want to keep a record of so they don't fill up their inbox and get the dreaded "your over you mailbox size limit..." My solution to you folks is to print it into PDF and put it in your My Documents folder or do what I do and if I need to keep it for some reason or anther just email to you gMail/Yahoo! or what ever account, file it, and now you have it forever (however, please keep OPSEC in mind when doing this!). The electronic footprint is very small, and it would take A LOT of these to put you over your space limit.
- Another one I personally use is the email instead fax option. As a SAR controller I routinely send out AMVER SURPIC's to requesting countries. Though the option to send it via email is not always available, I'd say 9 out of 10 times the email option is there. Doing so serves two purposes; one, there's no paper involved, and two, they'll be able to read it as they don't have to decipher my handwriting.
And if you do print, be sure to use both sides of the paper or recycled paper.

Recycle. By using the single word this could apply to SO MANY things. Make the effort to recycle soda bottles/cans. Take the initiative and start a unit recycling program, take the money and throw a party. Not only will you be the "cool" guy/gal for doing so, your marks may reflect this initiative in helping the environment. Also be sure to follow though with the recycling of paper. I say follow though because I don't of any Coast Guard unit that doesn't already have a paper recycling program, it just a matter of using it. Your office can also reuse the paper in the office for taking notes, posting reminders, spit-wads, or paper airplane projects...

Carpool. Living in Seattle was great for carpooling. The state highly advocates carpooling, taking the train, bus, walking, or telecommuting. But here in the Hampton Roads area it not really that simple. Yes they have buses, but none run on my schedule or near my house. I would have to advocate the whole carpool action. And if I lived near someone who was working the same Command Center schedule I was it would be great- but there is no such person. However, I know for a fact that other offices, units, and cutters all work the same hours and live near each other. As such I challenge you to start carpooling... besides, it amazing the scuttlebutt one gets from doing so. ;)

Use half the lights. This is a very simple way to cut the cost the Coast Guard is paying for electricity. Since we're not allowed to shut off our computers at night the next best thing would be to shut off half the light during the day. You may recall the Earth Hour which is held during the end of March were you are encouraged to kill the light for one hour to make a statement, which in fact is all it does. Doing this little gesture has also been discussed as being counter productive as the emission to turn all those light on again counteracts the energy saved- I don't have proof, but it's a simple concept... and I saw it on CNN (I know, I know...). However, with that said it stands to be true that by not using half the lights in your office space for the entire 6-14 hours your at work (depending on if your a Prevention or Response type, respectively) you'll be saving at least a few dollars for the day, all of which could add up.

Be smart in what you do. That's it, just be smart.

I hope this little list get you thinking; do you have any other ideas?

Spotlight on Leadership: Process effectiveness outcomes

2009-04-21T08:00:00.002-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

What are your process effectiveness results? Summarize your organization’s key operational performance results that contribute to the improvement of organizational effectiveness, including your organization’s readiness for emergencies. Segment your results by product offerings, by customer groups and market segments, and by processes and locations, as appropriate. Include appropriate comparative data.

It COSTS to know how much you make in the Coast Guard

2009-04-20T09:00:00.006-04:00

Earth Day is coming up here on Wednesday, 22 April. The day to reflect on your actions and potential changes; it was also recognized as a day for SHOWING OUR STEWARDSHIP OF THE MARITIME ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE PERFORM OUR MISSIONS... so states ALCOAST 181/09. And as I planning on doing a post for said day today (I'll be on watch on Wednesday) I was slightly beat to the punch by our own Jim Dolbow where he had the simple question in our Open Discussion post for this week of "Why is my LES mailed to me? Won't it save money and trees if I could just access it electronically?" And this got me thinking...

Did you know that as a Coastie/Guardian you are to get a monthly copy of you Leave and Earning Statement, your YN's also get a copy, and it available on Direct Access for you to view and/or print. And the copy your YN gets is already printed out for them and mailed to your unit. So for a unit like mine, LANT/D5, this stack of paper is about 1.5 - 2 inches thick. I know because it was accidentally addressed to me once as the ESO. So considering this, that's about a ream of paper weighing in at 5 pounds. We as individuals also get our monthly LES' and as the paper is a little thicker, and smaller than the average I'm going to say that if you were to press it into the 20 pound bond we use everyday it would come out about equal to the above 5 pound ream of 500 sheets. So, now we have our YN's getting 5 lbs of paper a month at LANT, and then all the people in the building getting two sheets (in the form of their LES) each month. So now we're looking at around 15 ponds of paper per month sent to LANT/D5 (guesstimating). So where does this leave us? Well according to the website Conservatree each ream of paper, estimated, uses 6% of a tree (and those add up quickly!). Now taking those numbers and applying it to the rough estimate of 40,000 people in the Coast Guard we're looking at using about 240 ream of paper per month on the two copies of LES'. Put into the tree equation of 6% multiplied by 240 reams we're using 14.4 trees per month just to tell you and your local YN's how much you make. And according to U.S. Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab the average ream (500 sheets) of paper costs $2.50; again doing the math we spend $600.00 per month to tell you how much you make. (I think I did that math right) Wow!

I present you with this problem as it has one of he easiest solutions out there... and as our commenting public are never short of quick input, RandomLT gave the same answer I would have "I agree with Jim. We can see everything in DA, but it'd be nice to have the "turn off paper" option like with banks?" Oh, this would save the Coast Guard so much money, and they could help in the DHS initiative to stop waste by eliminating the need for redundant paper copies. I'll admit, I rarely look at my LES' anymore. Most of them are piled up in a file system (a.k.a. shoe box) not doing me any good. If I have a question, I go to Direct Access.

Now to admit I'm not a tree huger, though I do like natural foods, but as Earth Day approaches it's a good way for all of us to look at ways to conserve what we have now, and maybe even rebuild where we can.

So do you have any idea on how the Coast Guard can same either/both our planet or money? We'd like to hear what you think... Oh, and have a good week.

Spotlight on Leadership: Workforce-focused outcomes

2009-04-20T08:00:00.004-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

What are your workforce-focused performance results? Summarize your organization’s key workforce-focused results for workforce engagement and for your workforce environment. Degment your results to address the diversity of your workforce and to address your workforce groups and segments, as appropriate. Include appropriate comparative data.

Spotlight on Leadership: Financial outcomes

2009-04-19T08:00:00.005-04:00

Spotlight on Leadership
Originally uploaded by Tidewater Muse

What are your financial and marketplace performance results? Summarize your organization’s key financial and marketplace perofmrance results by market segments or customer groups, as appropriate. Include appropriate comparative data.

Open Discussion for the week of April 19, 2009

2009-04-19T08:00:00.004-04:00

This is the open thread for the week of April 19, 2009. What's on your mind?