The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser and Caribbean Corridor Strike Force agents offloaded 721pounds (327kgs) of cocaine Wednesday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, following the interdiction of a smuggling vessel in the Mona Passage Sept. 26, 2022. Four men apprehended in this case are facing federal prosecution in Puerto Rico on drug smuggling charges. The interdiction is the result of multi-agency efforts involving the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), the Caribbean Border Interagency Group and the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ricardo Castrodad)
Date Taken:
10.05.2022
Date Posted:
10.06.2022 09:54
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Coast Guard offloads $6.5 million in cocaine, transfers 4 smugglers to federal agents in San Juan, Puerto Rico
A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Bellingham tows a vessel that was sinking near Sucia Island in the San Juan Islands, Washington Oct. 4, 2022. The boatcrew towed the vessel to Hale Passage, where the vessel was transferred to a BoatUS boatcrew and towed to shore. (U.S.Coast Guard courtesy photo)
U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers Brig. Gen. Daniel H. Hibner, assigned to the South Atlantic Division, visits Coast Guard members staged in Matlacha Isles, Florida to assist the people of the Pine Island community, who were stranded due to Hurricane Ian on Oct. 4, 2022. The Coast Guard transferred over 700 people and 60 pets and essential goods to the island. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie Mealor)
Coast Guard personnel from the Gulf, Atlantic, and Pacific Strike teams staged in Matlacha Isles, Florida to assist the people of the Pine Island community, who were stranded due to Hurricane Ian on Oct. 2, 2022. The strike forces transferred over 100 people to Florida’s mainland to seek shelter and resources.(U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie Mealor)
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)
Date Taken:
09.29.2022
Date Posted:
09.30.2022 13:07
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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.