By Susan Schept – Navy Times Staff writer
Thursday Feb 25, 2010 20:04:27 EST
Lawmakers from both parties had choice words for the Obama administration’s fiscal 2011 budget request for the Coast Guard at a House subcommittee hearing Thursday.
Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., called the budget “reckless and unconscionable.”
“To say that I am troubled by what was proposed doesn’t come close to covering it,” he said. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, said that no one on the panel supported the budget.
“I think you will have unanimous support from this committee to restore these cuts,” Cummings said. “We will proceed very methodically, but very effectively and very efficiently.”
The Coast Guard has requested $10.08 billion, down 3.3 percent from the $10.42 billion appropriated for fiscal 2010. The budget reflects a 2.6 percent cut in active-duty end strength, or 1,112 active-duty billets.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles “Skip” Bowen testified at the subcommittee hearing. The hearing also covered the budgets for the Maritime Administration and the Federal Maritime Commission.
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U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen delivered his fourth and final State of the Coast Guard address at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Friday.
In his annual address, Allen discussed the Coast Guard’s response to the earthquake in Haiti, the operational character of the service and the challenges it faces in the future. He also summarized facets of the Coast Guard’s fiscal year 2011 budget proposal and spoke about the need to replace the service’s aging vessels, aircraft and shore facilities to enable its men and women to continue delivering superior services to the Nation into the future while adapting to the maritime challenges of the 21st century.
“So what is the state of the Coast Guard? In two words: ready and resilient,” said Allen. “We are ready and resilient. We demonstrated that in the view of the entire world in the first hours and days following the Haitian earthquake. We were there first because our operational forces and command and control structure are agile and flexible. Authority to move forces is delegated outside our headquarters, so our field commanders can act immediately. Our forces are working hard to sustain current operations, maintaining cutters until our new ones are delivered.”
During his address, Allen set time aside to recognize Coast Guard personnel who participated in the Coast Guard’s recent response efforts in Haiti and their courageous efforts to take swift and decisive actions to reduce the pain and suffering endured by those affected by the earthquake.
To download the full transcript from Friday’s State of the Coast Guard Adress, CLICK HERE
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Tags: · Admiral Thad Allen, USCG
Right on the heals of gCaptain’s very own iPhone app, Amver has entered into the world mobile based technology (or in my opinion convenience based technology) with their very own application. The Amver blog tells us:
Amver, There’s An App For That!
Are you trying to keep track of the rescue news, blog posts, Twitter stream, and other social media products Amver dishes out to you? No need to worry because today we announce the launch of our application on iTunes!
Compatible with the iPhone and soon to be released iPad, the Amver app combines our blog posts and Twitter stream in a single source. Why does an international search and rescue program need an iPhone app? Because the way information is delivered and consumed is evolving. C.C. Chapman, who recently launched his own iPhone application, stated on his blog that he wanted an easy one click way for people to get his content. C.C. is not alone. Chris Brogan also launched an iPhone application of all his content. Read full blog post
The launch of the new iPhone app is just the newest product in Amver’s arsenal that allows them to “engage with their customers”. Best of all you can download the Amver app for free by clicking HERE.
Test it out and let us know what you think in the comments.
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Tags: · AMVER, iphone, USCG
Crews at the Coast Guard Long Range Aids to Navigation stations, including the six Alaska-based stations, turned off their domestic signal across the nation at 11 a.m. Monday.
The shutdown of the signal concludes the broadcast of the U.S. domestic signal. Stations Attu and Shoal Cove, which are bound by bi-lateral agreements with Russia and Canada, will continue to broadcast their international signals until later this year. All the stations will continue to be maintained and manned as the closure of the facilities proceeds over the coming months. Decommissioning dates have yet to be set and plans for the dismantlement of the stations are in development.
Loran-C was originally developed to provide radio-navigation service for U.S. coastal waters and was later expanded to include complete coverage of the continental U.S. as well as most of Alaska. Twenty-four U.S. Loran-C stations work in partnership with Canadian and Russian stations to provide coverage in Canadian waters and the Bering Sea. The system provided better than 0.25 nautical mile absolute accuracy for within the published areas and provided navigation, location, and timing services for both civil and military air, land and marine users. It was approved as an en route supplemental air navigation system for both Instrument Flight Rule and Visual Flight Rule operations.
The Loran-C system served the 48 continental states, their coastal areas, parts of Alaska and neighboring countries. Dedicated Coast Guard men and women have done an excellent job running and maintaining the Loran-C signal for 67 years, 8 months and 24 days.
Here on gCaptain.com, there has been an outpouring of opinions with regards to the termination of the Loran-C broadcast since it was announced in November 2009 that the signal is not needed for maritime navigation. You can read some of those opinions at the links below:
Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section.
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Tags: · eloran, USCG
WASHINGTON — U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club in Washington, as part of the press club’s distinguished speakers series, to outline the service’s goals and priorities for 2010 in his fourth and final State of the Coast Guard address on Feb. 12 at 12:30 p.m.
In this annual address, Allen will address the Coast Guard’s fiscal year 2011 anticipated budget impacts. He will also advocate for the need to recapitalize the service’s aging ships, aircraft and shore facilities to continue delivering superior services to the Nation and adapt to the maritime challenges of the 21st century.
Allen will discuss the Coast Guard’s recent response efforts in Haiti and highlight the ability of Coast Guard personnel to leverage interagency partnerships, quickly flow forces to vulnerable areas and take action without having to wait for external orders. A question and answer session will follow his remarks. Advance questions can be submitted to the iCommandant blog. He will then be available to meet with media in attendance for a question and answer session.
The luncheon is open to the public, reservations can be made by calling (202) 662-7501 or by e-mailing reservations@press.org.
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Tags: · USCG, uscg_commandant
This is a reminder that the first ever Coast Guard Video of the Year competition is still open for voting. The final nominee was posted late last week and the voting will continue until the end of this week, January 8th.
I’d like to encourage gCaptain readers to go to the 2009 Coast Guard Video of the Year Nominees playlist on YouTube and vote for your favorite video. You can vote for all the videos, but should reserve their highest rating for the one(s) you like the most.
In order to vote, you must first sign-in to YouTube using your own user account, watch the videos in the playlist, and then cast a vote using the YouTube rating system of one to five stars directly below the video.
Votes will be accepted until January 8th and the USCG expects to announce the winners on the Coast Guard Compass blog early next week. The units with the top three videos will receive a Flip video camera to enhance their ability to capture and share imagery of their operations.
For more information about the contest and to see the compilation of the top 11 videos from 2009, READ HERE.
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Tags: · rescue at sea, USCG, Video
Every year, the Unite States Coast Guard releases a video compilation of the most compelling rescues of the year and today the USCG released its 2009 compilation. The video (shown above) highlights 11 rescues, each representing one the service’s 11 statutory missions.
The top 11 video compilation includes (in no particular order):
- The rescue of a paraglider pilot who crashed on the shoreline of Cape Lookout near Tillamook, Ore., by an aircrew from Air Station Astoria, Ore.
- The capture of suspected pirates from a response to a vessel distress signal from Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment Team 409 while operating under Combined Task Force 151.
- A medical evacuation of a crewmember from a U.S. Navy submarine off the coast of Wash., by an aircrew from Air Station Astoria, Ore.
- The simultaneous pursuit and interdiction off two drug smuggling boats 80 miles of the coast of Guatemala by the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf.
- The rescue of two crewmembers from a fishing vessel on fire 10 miles off the coast of Long Beach, Wash., by the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Active and aircrew from Air Station Astoria, Ore.
- The rescue of two people from a burning boat near Corpus Christi, Texas, from an aircrew from Sector Corpus Christi, Texas.
- The rescue of six people from their capsized vessel two miles from the Columbia River, Wash., by a boatcrew from Cape Disappointment, Wash., and an aircrew from Air Station Astoria, Ore.
- The response to US Airways flight 1549 emergency landing in the Hudson River near Manhattan, N.Y., by boatcrews from Sector New York.
- The rescue of a man whose canoe flipped in heavy surf in the Necanicum River near Gearheart, Ore., by an aircrew from Air Station Astoria, Ore.
- The dewatering of the fishing vessel Blue Diamond 90 miles east of Atlantic City, N.J., from the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sailfish.
- The rescue of three people, their cat and dog during the Red River Valley floods from an aircrew from Air Station Traverse City, Mich. [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · rescue, rescue at sea, USCG, Video
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) took delivery Monday of the first maritime variant of the Predator B unmanned aircraft system (UAS). At a ceremony in Palmdale, California, CBP, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and General Atomics Aeronatuical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) unveiled the prototype maritime variant Predator B, known as Guardian.
To support future mission requirements, CBP in partnership with the Coast Guard in a joint program office, is exploring this maritime variant of its Predator B UAS to increase reconnaissance, surveillance, and targeting acquisition capabilities in maritime operating environments. For this purpose, GA-ASI, the manufacturer of the Predator B UAS, modified a CBP Predator B aircraft to become the Guardian.
The Guardian has been modified from a standard Predator B with structural, avionics, and communications enhancements, as well as the addition of a Raytheon SeaVue Marine Search Radar and an Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR) Sensor that is optimized for maritime operations.
The Guardian is expected to be ready for Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) in early 2010. This OT&E will be conducted jointly by CBP and USCG from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. After the Guardian completes operational testing this spring, it will be deployed to the drug source and transit zones to support joint counter-narcotics operations.
In 2008, CBP and the USCG formed a UAS Joint Program Office to identify and address common maritime UAS requirements, including sensors, command and control, data exploitation, logistics and training, and basing.
Built by General Atomics Aeronautical Aviation, CBP Air & Marine’s new MQ-9 Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System will support air and marine crews and Border Patrol agents charged with securing the border.
For more information, visit http://www.uscg.mil/
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Tags: · unmanned_surface_vessels, USCG
The U.S. Coast Guard, as a public service to holiday gift shoppers, announced Friday its recommended gift ideas for 12 nautical days of Christmas.
The singularly most important gift for mariners this year is a marine GPS navigation system. With the intended termination of Loran-C signals set for as early as Jan. 4, 2010, marine GPS units will be a necessity to any boater who currently relies on the Loran-C system for navigation.
“Nothing says ‘I love you’ to a mariner like the gift of a marine GPS navigation, a Coast Guard approved life jacket, boating safety course or 406 MHz electronic position indicating radio beacon,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O’Neil, the Coast Guard’s chief of media relations. “Regardless of the occasion or holiday, the gifts we recommend this year can save a loved one’s life, making them the perfect gift this season, or throughout the year. Diamonds are pretty, and big-screen, high-definition televisions are great for watching the big game, but they won’t help you prevent a boating accident, or survive after you’ve been in one.”
Among the Coast Guard’s recommended nautical gifts are:
- A Marine GPS navigation system
- A 406 MHz EPIRB (make sure you register it after purchase, or rescuers may be delayed in reaching you!)
- A Coast Guard-approved life jacket (because they float, you don’t…)
- A handheld VHF-FM radio
- A Boating Safety Course (boater education saves lives — it’s a fact)
- Vessel Safety Check (VSC) from the Coast Guard Auxiliary (it’s free!)
- A Coast Guard approved fire extinguisher
- A first aid kit in a watertight container
- A seamanship book
- Nautical charts for the areas your favorite mariner frequents
- A signaling kit
- A life raft with a survival kit
Some of the most valuable gifts don’t cost anything but time, such as scheduling a free vessel safety check with your local Coast Guard Auxiliary. For more information on scheduling a free vessel safety check visit www.safetyseal.net. To find a boating safety course in your area visit http://www.aboutboatingsafely.com/.
From the Coast Guard family to yours, Happy Holidays!
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Tags: · gift ideas, USCG
Newsday.com has the story on why this photograph is making headlines.
The Montauk docks were abuzz with disbelief and disappointment Saturday over the removal of their top Coast Guard officer, stripped of his duties after he and a subordinate took a pair of rescue boats on training exercises for which they were not certified.
And one photographer who created dramatic shots of those exercises in heavy surf after Hurricane Bill passed Long Island in August says he’s despondent to think he might have made it look more dangerous than it was.
Chief Petty Officer James Weber, a well-liked, 21-year Coast Guard veteran, has been reassigned from the Montauk Station to the Guard’s New Haven office. He will lose his command permanently unless he prevails in an appeal. A Guard spokeswoman said Saturday Weber has not decided whether to appeal. He could not be reached for comment. Senior Coast Guard officials said Friday he had violated procedures vital to crew safety. Read More at Newsday.com
The photographer Thomas Colla took the photos on the morning of August 23rd and posted them to his website – tcolla.com. Following news of the officers loss of command, Colla wrote on his facebook “Really sorry if my photos had anything to do with this . . . Not feeling good at all about this:” [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · heavy seas, huge_wave, USCG, uscg_photo
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