Coast Guard personnel assigned to the Sector Houston-Galveston flood punt team prepare their trailer to respond to Hurricane relief efforts on Sept. 29, 2022, in Houston, Texas. Coast Guard Punt teams mobilized to areas affected by Hurricane Ian to perform urban search and rescue. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo)
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Coast Guard sends search and rescue crews to Hurricane Ian affected areas
A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer seized 7,200 kilograms of hashish worth an estimated $10 million from a fishing vessel transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman, Sept. 28.
USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) was operating in support of U.S. 5th Fleet, which is headquartered in Manama, Bahrain. The ship began patrolling waters across the Middle East in August.
“This seizure is a testament to the professionalism and determination of the ‘Trailblazer’ team,” said Cmdr. Mark Gallagher, commanding officer of Delbert D. Black. “I’m proud of our commitment to regional security and countering illicit activity on the high seas across the Middle East region.”
Delbert D. Black’s seizure occurred one day after USCGC Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141) seized 2,410 kilograms of heroin worth $85 million from another fishing vessel transiting the Gulf of Oman Sept. 27. The U.S. Coast Guard ship was operating under Combined Maritime Forces, the world’s largest multinational naval partnership.
Forces from CMF’s 34 member-nations have conducted 13 successful drug interdictions in 2022, resulting in seizures of heroin, methamphetamine, amphetamine pills and hashish worth a combined value of nearly $300 million.
Delbert D. Black is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer named for the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. The ship is deployed as part of the USS George H. W. Bush Carrier Strike Group and has a crew of more than 300 Sailors in addition to an embarked aviation detachment from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 48.
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD – The Department of Defense’s largest retailer has transformed the shopping experience for more than 345,000 military shoppers in the Seattle-Tacoma area with the reopening of the Army & Air Force Exchange Service’s $72.6 million Lewis Exchange shopping center.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Garrison Commander Col. Phil Lamb, Exchange Western Region Senior Vice President Ronny Rexrode, Exchange Northwest Area Regional Vice President Carrie Cammel and JBLM Exchange General Manager Matthew Beatty cut the ribbon on the expanded and upgraded Exchange on Sept. 28.
“This modern store demonstrates the Exchange’s dedication to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the people who live and work here, and the retirees and Veterans in the area as well,” Col. Lamb said. “Thank you to the Exchange for being true partners with us and standing with our community to make it better.”
Authorized military shoppers, including active-duty service members, military families, retirees service-connected disabled Veterans as well as DoD and Coast Guard civilians, can explore the 295,800-square-foot shopping center and can shop and dine at the Exchange at military-exclusive prices, always tax free.
The expanded food court includes Slim Chickens, Subway, Arby’s and Charleys. In the PX, shoppers will find American Eagle, Aerie, Old Navy and other national brands. BE FIT, sports nutrition, gaming and furniture concept shops were enhanced as well.
In the mall, the Exchange opened its 100th Starbucks location, the first Petco on a military installation and its first Bath & Body Works shop worldwide as part of the project.
Other improvements to the shopping experience include new flooring and lighting as well as a refreshed mall area with a new Military Clothing store; beauty, barber and optical shops; eyebrow threading service; U.S. Patriot Tactical; GNC; Wireless Advocates; a watch and jewelry repair store; Soleil Nail and Spa; The UPS Store; GameStop; Turkish Carpets and Gifts; Auntie Anne’s; a new Class Six and more.
“It’s beautiful! It’s up to date. It’s somewhere I want to come and shop even though I don’t live on post,” said Army Specialist Carly Goodman, who is assigned to the 62nd Medical Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “The tax-free benefit is one of the biggest incentives. There’s very competitive pricing, especially with inflation, and it’s expensive to live here. I have a newborn so we buy everything from diapers to fishing gear—it’s a one stop shop.”
The Exchange started the project in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic caused delays and limited the ability to gather to properly celebrate the project’s completion. Construction was completed in phases over more than three years. The project was funded by the Exchange, with the garrison supporting with $457,000 for the Military Clothing store, and U.S. Army Medical Command funding the $928,000 satellite pharmacy in the mall.
“The updated shopping center is proof of the Exchange’s commitment to taking care of Warfighters and their families,” Beatty said. “The reopening marks a new era of service and support at JBLM.”
When the military community at Joint Base Lewis-McChord shops at the Exchange, they’re making their communities stronger: 100% of Exchange earnings are re-invested in military communities. About 60% of Exchange earnings support Quality-of-Life programs that support service members and their families. The Exchange’s remaining earnings are reinvested in improving the shopping experience, including renovating and expanding the JBLM Exchange.
In addition to shoppers with in-store shopping privileges, nearly 60,000 honorably discharged Veterans in the Seattle-Tacoma area can verify their eligibility to shop the Exchange tax-free online, for life at ShopMyExchange.com/Vets.
The Fort Lewis Exchange shopping center at Bldg. 5280, Pendleton Avenue MS 46, is open 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Sunday. For more information, call 253-964-3161.
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Since 1895, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (Exchange) has gone where Soldiers, Airmen, Guardians and their families go to improve the quality of their lives by providing valued goods and services at exclusive military pricing. The Exchange is the 54th-largest retailer in the United States. 100% of Exchange earnings support military communities. In the last 10 years, your Exchange benefit has provided $3.5 billion in earnings for critical military Quality-of-Life programs. The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense and is directed by a Board of Directors. The Exchange is a 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemorative Partner, planning and conducting events and activities that recognize the service, valor and sacrifice of Vietnam Veterans and their families in conjunction with the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. To find out more about the Exchange history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our website at http://www.shopmyexchange.com or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ExchangePAO.
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Media Notes:
For more information or to schedule an interview with an Exchange representative please contact Keiana Holleman at 214-312-6514 or [email protected].
The aging U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star reached the southernmost navigable waters on the planet on Feb. 17 with a visit to Antarctica’s Bay of Whales.
Polar Star reached a position of 78° 44.022′ south latitude at about 1300 hours local time, keeping a distance of about 500 yards from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf.
This is further south than the current Guinness World Record holder. In 2017, the residential cruise ship The World claimed to have reached 78°43.997′, about 0.025 minutes to the north of Polar Star’s claimed position. Crewmembers aboard the cutter are working with the staff at Guinness World Records to officially certify the icebreaker’s new record.
The new record claim was made possible by the ice shelf’s gradual shrinkage. While underway, Polar Star sailed in waters previously charted as part of the ice shelf that are now navigable waters. Today, portions of the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf are up to 12 nautical miles away from the positions depicted on official charts. Those charts may soon be revised: During Polar Star’s transit to and from the Bay of Whales, the vessel surveyed 396 nautical miles of the ice shelf for potential future navigational use.
In 1997, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, Polar Star’s sister ship, reached 78 degrees, 29 minutes south latitude – far to the north of Polar Star’s position this year.
In 1908, Ernest Shackleton gave the Bay of Whales its name during the Nimrod Expedition, reflecting the numerous whales he and his crew sighted. Three years later, Roald Amundsen established a base camp in the bay, and he used it as the departure point for his successful endeavor to become the first person to reach the South Pole. Years later, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Richard E. Byrd established Little America in the Bay of Whales during his first, second, and third Antarctic Expeditions, exploring more than 60 percent of the Antarctic continent.
“The crew of Polar Star is proud to follow in the footsteps of legendary Antarctic explorers like Shackleton, Amundsen, and Byrd,” said Capt. William Woityra, the icebreaker’s commanding officer.“Even today, more than a century later, we carry on that legacy of exploration, reaching new places, and expanding human understanding of our planet.”
Two former employees of the U.S. Coast Guard who led a scheme to fix scores on licensing exams plead guilty in U.S. federal court and are facing jail time when they are sentenced at the end of April. The scheme went on for at least seven years caused more than 50 mariners to receive false scores used to receive often officer-level licenses from the U.S. Coast Guard.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana indicted 31 individuals in November 2020 in connection with the test score-fixing scheme. According to the indictment, employees at the Coast Guard exam center in Mandeville, Louisiana were taking payments from applicants to enter false test scores. Mariners taking part in the scheme would usually not appear for the examinations and instead, the leader of the scheme, Dorothy Smith, would create Coast Guard records and data entries to make it appear to the Coast Guard that the mariners had appeared and tested. Smith would make up passing scores for each of the examination’s various modules and enter these false scores in a Coast Guard computer system. She then notified the Coast Guard that the mariners had passed the examinations and should receive the desired endorsements.
Dorothy Smith was a civilian employee working as a credentialing specialist at the Coast Guard exam center. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. In pleading guilty, Smith admitted that she accepted bribes to fix exam scores. Occasionally she would interact directly with the applicants, soliciting bribes when they came to the exam center, but primarily she relied on intermediaries who solicited the mariners and paid Smith to enter the false scores.
Another employee at the exam center, Beverly McCrary worked with Smith and was one of the intermediaries. The scheme is known to date back at least to April 2012, and after her retirement in 2015, McCrary continued to participate in soliciting mariners. McCrary also pleaded guilty last week admitting her role in the elaborate scheme.
According to court papers, in addition to taking cash bribes, McCrary accepted other forms of remuneration, including in at least one case accepting coolers of fresh-caught shrimp. McCrary counseled the participants on how to act advising them not to work on vessels on testing days, not contacting the testing center, and using code words when communicating with her. She started soliciting participants while working at the center and also developed her own network of intermediaries that sought out other mariners taking bribes to fix the exams.
The maximum penalties that Smith and McCrary each face includes five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Sentencing for each defendant is scheduled for April 14, 2022.
Separate intermediaries in the scheme continue to also plead guilty. Three of the intermediaries admitted to having McCrary arrange false scores for 31 mariners, including themselves. In some cases, mariners obtained false scores on multiple occasions and according to prosecutors almost all of the licenses were officer-level, including master, chief mate, and chief engineer.
In January 2022, two of McCrary’s intermediaries who had previously pleaded guilty were sentenced. Michael Wooten was sentenced to 54 months imprisonment while Alexis Bell was sentenced to 42 months imprisonment. Both were also each sentenced to one year of supervised release to follow their prison terms. Two of the mariners who received fraudulent licenses through scores entered by Smith received sentences ranging between six months and a year imprisonment plus either supervised release or community service. Seven of the eight defendants charged in a separate indictment also pleaded guilty in January and February 2022. The maximum penalties for each of those defendants include five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. The case is being investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
Behind the scenes of the Coast Guard’s Clearwater station
Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater is the largest in the country, covering everything from the Gulf of Mexico to the Bahamas and down to Turks and Caicos.
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Hidden off of Roosevelt Boulevard and the Fairchild Drive area of Pinellas County lies a diamond in the rough. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater operates out of the northern part of the St. Pete Clearwater International Airport and is the largest and busiest Air Station in the Coast Guard.
It hosted USCG Admiral Karl Schultz for his State of the Coast Guard address giving an up-close look at the operation.
“We’re similar to firefighters,” stated Lt. Drew Sonetirot. “You know, if an alarm goes off, we’ve got to be airborne in 30 minutes. That way, we can take care of whoever’s offshore who needs our help.”
The station covers the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean basin, and the Bahamas. The Air Station’s C-130 aircraft cover all the way to the Turks and Caicos Islands. That’s more than 800 miles one way.
These members of the Coast Guard say the job is extremely rewarding.
READUS Coast Guard offloads $236 million worth of cocaine, marijuana in South Florida
“Every day we do something to help someone and hearing about that on a day-to-day basis is definitely rewarding,” commented Lt. Commander George Menze.
The crew works 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
“Our primary missions are search and rescue and law enforcement,” said Lt. Caitlyn Gever. “And that can incorporate both aspects searching for folks in their vessels, rescuing them, and drug and migrant interdiction.”
READCoast Guard rescues 4 after fishing boat sinks in Gulf of Mexico
Air Station Clearwater can launch at least four aircraft within 30 minutes to respond to search and rescue and law enforcement throughout Florida and surrounding waters in the Caribbean.
“The draw for me in the Coast Guard was that ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot, and on the side of that, I also wanted to be a doctor, you know, to help people,” shared Lt. Sonetirot. “In the Coast Guard, I can do both. I can help people and also fly as well.”
But being a pilot isn’t the only job at Air Station Clearwater.
“The one thing that stood out to me when I was looking at what branch to join was, every day I’m doing my job,” recalled Aviation Survival Technician Jethro Hauser. “I’m not training for a job that I’m might do once or twice, it’s pretty much go, go, go, which is pretty much the best part about it.”
Hauser has been a part of some really important lifesaving missions coming and going from Caribbean disaster areas following hurricanes.
RELATED: 10 Cuban migrants rescued from sinking boat off Florida
“Often we’re helping them on their worst days,” stated Lt. Gevers. “We get to be the ones to go help them.”
That sentiment is shared by others there at the Air Station.
AST3 Hauser echoed her words, “We train for the people’s worst days of their lives, and if I can be the difference between them getting home or not, it really sits well with me.”
LINK: Learn more about Air Station Clearwater here.
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a pilot on Saturday who was forced to make an emergency landing in the Savannah River near the Back River Bridge.WJCL 22 News was told the pilot of the small, private Piper Cherokee brought the plane down in the river near downtown Savannah.Images Tweeted by the U.S. Coast Guard show the plane in the water with its wings and tail barely visible.Chatham County Marine Patrol has two units out on the river looking for the aircraft, which is now believed to be fully submerged.Boaters are being asked to stay away from the area so Marine Patrol can use sonar to find the aircraft.According to the Coast Guard, Savannah air traffic control was notified of the downed aircraft at 11 a.m.The Coast Guard already had a chopper in flight and diverted the crew to the scene.They made it there within ten minutes and were able to hoist the pilot to safety.He was transported back to the Savannah Airport where he declined any medical attention.The pilot, whose name has not yet been released, posed for a picture with the Coast Guard crew who helped save him.Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo said the plane made an emergency landing west of the Back River Bridge and that the pilot, who was in training, experienced engine failure.In a mayday call posted by the Coast Guard, the pilot reported total engine failure.The Federal Aviation Administration sent WJCL 22 News this statement on the incident:”A single-engine Piper PA28 made an emergency landing in the Savannah River in Savannah, Ga., at 10:45 a.m. local time today. Only the pilot was on board. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.”As of 2 p.m. the aircraft has not been recovered, but officials know the general area for where it is located.CCPD tells us that a salvage company will be brought in to complete the recovery.
SAVANNAH, Ga. —
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a pilot on Saturday who was forced to make an emergency landing in the Savannah River near the Back River Bridge.
WJCL 22 News was told the pilot of the small, private Piper Cherokee brought the plane down in the river near downtown Savannah.
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Images Tweeted by the U.S. Coast Guard show the plane in the water with its wings and tail barely visible.
Chatham County Marine Patrol has two units out on the river looking for the aircraft, which is now believed to be fully submerged.
Boaters are being asked to stay away from the area so Marine Patrol can use sonar to find the aircraft.
According to the Coast Guard, Savannah air traffic control was notified of the downed aircraft at 11 a.m.
The Coast Guard already had a chopper in flight and diverted the crew to the scene.
They made it there within ten minutes and were able to hoist the pilot to safety.
He was transported back to the Savannah Airport where he declined any medical attention.
The pilot, whose name has not yet been released, posed for a picture with the Coast Guard crew who helped save him.
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Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo said the plane made an emergency landing west of the Back River Bridge and that the pilot, who was in training, experienced engine failure.
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In a mayday call posted by the Coast Guard, the pilot reported total engine failure.
The Federal Aviation Administration sent WJCL 22 News this statement on the incident:
“A single-engine Piper PA28 made an emergency landing in the Savannah River in Savannah, Ga., at 10:45 a.m. local time today. Only the pilot was on board. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide additional updates.”
As of 2 p.m. the aircraft has not been recovered, but officials know the general area for where it is located.
CCPD tells us that a salvage company will be brought in to complete the recovery.
Edward Gibbons was announced today as the Coast Guard’s Director of Contracting and Procurement Transformation serving within the office of the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support (DCMS).
Gibbons’ role is to provide executive level leadership and management of the USCG Contracting and Procurement (C&P) Transformation efforts to identify and implement improvements across the C&P enterprise.
This limited term Senior Executive Service position serves as an agency expert in change management, program management, acquisition, and resource management, as well as policy oversight designed to increase effectiveness and uniformity in the management and administration of contracting and procurement. In this capacity, Gibbons provides executive leadership, management, and direct oversight of all change initiatives associated with the Coast Guard C&P Transformation effort.
Gibbons possesses over 30 years of Coast Guard leadership, strategic, and tactical experience including military aviation and incident response experience in aeronautical engineering, maritime operations, and logistics. Over the course of his career, Gibbons has led Coast Guard organizations through significant transformation demonstrating exceptional change management expertise, including his efforts during Coast Guard Modernization. Gibbons led the metamorphosis of Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center into the modernized Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center (ALC). He created a Business Operations Division designed to infuse industry best practices and strategies. This division became a fusion point for the application of innovative ideas in maintenance, repair, operations, and supply change management, in turn propelling ALC as the design template for other Coast Guard service and logistics centers.
Prior to his appointment, Gibbons served as the USCG Executive Director of ALC which provides depot level maintenance, engineering, supply, procurement, information services, and acquisition project management while adhering to the pillars of aeronautical engineering of assuring airworthiness and reliability, optimizing logistics, and ensuring stewardship of excellence. As the ALC Executive Director, Gibbons had oversight of ALC’s cutover to the new financial system and actively led the creation of the Financial Management and Procurement Data Repository (FMPDR). The FMPDR will contain all legacy Coast Guard financial, contracting and procurement information, and will be the key program to support future contracting and procurement data analytics resulting in the ability to better inform C&P transformation efforts. Due to his vast experience, Gibbons will enable the Coast Guard to successfully identify and execute improvements to the Coast Guard’s contracting and procurement enterprise.
Officials from Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport joined the Coast Guard this week to commission one of the cuttters the company delivered ahead of schedule despite obstacles created by Hurricane Ida.
The John Scheuerman is the fifth of six Bollinger-built cutters destined for operations in Manama, Bahrain, to support U.S. interests in southwest Asia and the Middle East.
“While every commissioning is special, this particular vessel – especially when and how it was delivered – means a great deal to our team,” Bollinger President and CEO Ben Bordelon said during the ceremony Wednesday in Tampa, Florida.
“This past August Hurricane Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon, Louisiana, with winds just short of a Category 5 hurricane, clocking in at 150 mph. Despite the odds stacked against us, our team persevered and the USCGC John Scheuerman was delivered on Oct. 21, a full week ahead of schedule,” he said.
“This vessel and this commissioning represent a major win that our team needed and deserved,” Bordelon said. “It reflects the resilience, commitment and tenacity of the 650 skilled men and women that built it. With the exception of my family, I’ve never been more proud of anything that I’ve ever been a part of.”
More:Lockport-based Bollinger Shipyards to supply another component to help build Navy subs
Category 4 Ida, which made landfall Aug. 29, damaged Bollinger’s facilities at the south Lafourche port, along with its yards in Lockport, Larose and Houma.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz lauded the job Bordelon and Bollinger’s employees did despite the storm.
“We know what your men and women did and we know how you inspire them to come to work, to have something to rally around, and this product behind us is a testament to the Cajun toughness of Bollinger Shipyards and its employees,” Schultz said during the ceremony. “I could not sleep better at night knowing our men and women of the Navy
and the Coast Guard in that challenging region of the world are aboard highly-capable, Bollinger-built ships.”
The Coast Guard took delivery of the 154-foot cutter in October in Key West, Florida.
It’s the 169th vessel the company has delivered to the Coast Guard over a 35-year period and the 46th Fast Response Cutter completed under the current program, which started in 2008.
Each cutter costs about $65 million, and the entire program will cost the Coast Guard more than $3.7 billion, federal records show. The cutters replace the 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boats built by Bollinger 30 years ago.
The final in the six-ship series, the Clarence Sutphin, was delivered to the Coast Guard in January.
Last year, Bollinger submitted a proposal to build the Coast Guard’s new Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters. If chosen, Bollinger would build 11 of the ships over the next decade, helping to sustain the company’s workforce through 2031.
The Coast Guard plans to build 25 of the offshore cutters, with an average cost of $411 million apiece, federal records show.
— Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @CourierEditor.
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