Free Republic

Eight years after the U.S. Coast Guard and the NAACP signed a voluntary agreement to work together to boost the number of African-Americans at its 1,000-cadet service academy, the annual enrollment and graduation figures for blacks remain in single digits. ... Under a House bill, sponsored by Oberstar and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the Coast Guard subcommittee chairman, members of Congress would nominate candidates for the academy. ... On a 385-11 vote last month, the House advanced the legislation to the Senate. The Coast Guard Academy historically has taken pride in viewing itself merit-based and choosing its applicants without regard...

A senior Coast Guard official removed earlier this year from his command position in Alaska is facing a long string of charges within the agency, including sodomy, indecent acts and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman. The U.S. Coast Guard filed 31 violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice against Capt. Herbert Hamilton. It did not provide details of the alleged offenses, which also include fraud, adultery, indecent language and soliciting another to commit an offense.

Investigators are trying to determine why a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 airplane and a U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopter collided on Thursday night, likely killing nine crew members. Aircraft and ships are scouring the ocean off San Diego for any signs of survivors of the nighttime collision, but Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the crash likely killed both the plane's seven crew members and the two-person crew of the AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter.Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the crash occurred minutes after control of the C-130 was handed off from FAA controllers to military air controllers.

BreakingNews San Diego media: 9 missing after collision of Coast Guard C-130 and Marine Cobra helicopter off the SD coast. BNO News working to confirm.

MCALLEN - The U.S. Coast Guard patrols the coasts, and a limited stretch of the Rio Grande, but a bill in the works would change that. Congressman Henry Cuellar wants the coast guard to work out a plan that would help secure the 1200 miles of the river. It's aimed at addressing drug and human smuggling along the river. Right now, the river is only patrolled by local law enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The bill is called the Coast Guard Authorization Act.

Here is video of CNN's Jean Meserve explaining how they mistook a Coast Guard Training Exercise on the Potomac River in Washington D.C. today, for a real live-fire incident. Meserve explained they heard audio from the Coast Guard saying "10 rounds have been expended." There were boats on the river that appeared to be trying to evade the Coast Guard as well. Eventually, they got the word from the Coast Guard that it was a training exercise and no rounds had ever been fired. With the exercise coming on September 11, it caused quite a stir for about half an...

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs chastised CNN Friday morning for its reporting on a Coast Guard training exercise on ... ... the Potomac River, which suggested a security incident was in progress in the nation's capital. "Before we report things like this, checking would be good," Gibbs said. Responding directly to a CNN reporter's question about whether the public should have been notified about a training exercise, Gibbs was harshly sarcastic: "If anybody was unnecessarily alarmed based on erroneous reporting that denoted that shots had been fired, I think everybody is apologetic about that." When another journalist noted that...

The United States Coast Guard called this morning's confusion a "routine exercise."

The initial reports were frightening, the Coast Guard fires shots at a rogue boat in the middle of the Potomac River, just before the President drives by, and right near the Pentagon building on the Anniversary of 9/11. The follow-up provoked anger---it was just a training mission:

USA Today: CNN broadcasts what it says is audio of the Coast Guard apparently speaking to a suspicious boat. The Coast Guard speaker is heard saying; "Slow down or you will be fired on."

In an incident that sparked a brief panic on the same day mourners marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Coast Guard was conducting a training exercise in the Potomac River moments before President Obama and his motorcade crossed a nearby bridge.

Today, my daughter, FReeper Anoreth (since 11/29/03) graduates from Coast Guard Basic Training. We're also celebrating "The Boy," son of FReeper AnAmericanMother, who is graduating today from Marine Corps Basic. And "ForgotenKnight," grandson of Monkey Face, recently deployed with a Stryker unit to Afghanistan. Other FReepers with children (grandchildren, nieces and nephews, etc.) in the military, please join us in celebrating all our family members who are serving our country in the military.

U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office Official WebsiteSemper Paratus - the US Coast Guard anthem

The keel for the new National Security Cutter Stratton — which will be a sister ship of theCutter Berthoff, seen here on her builder’s trials — was laid Monday at Northrop GrummanShipbuilding in Pascagoula. PASCAGOULA — First lady Michelle Obama will serve as the sponsor of the third National Security Cutter, Stratton. Officials celebrated the ship’s construction Monday as the U.S. Coast Guard and Northrop Grumman laid the ship’s keel at the Pascagoula shipyard. Rear Adm. Ronald J. Rábago announced at the ceremony that Obama will serve as the Stratton’s sponsor and she will attend the christening ceremony at...

PASCAGOULA -- First lady Michelle Obama will sponsor the Coast Guard's third Legend-class national security cutter, which is about 25 percent complete at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Pascagoula yard, officials said Monday. In August 2007, the Coast Guard awarded Northrop Grumman a $285.5 million contract to construct the Stratton. The 418-foot cutter, WMSL 752, is named in honor of Dorothy C. Stratton, the first female commissioned officer in the Coast Guard. Stratton served as director of the SPARS, the Guard's women's reserve, during World War II.

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. Known as the Shiprider program, the new rules intend to improve security and eliminate jurisdictional grey areas in Canada-U.S. waterways. Without the new program, vessels must stop at the border and call upon the other country's officials for help. The Shiprider program has been used as a pilot program over the past few years to catch smugglers and criminals on joint waterways. Public Safety Minister Peter...

The Seychelles Coast Guard says it has arrested nine suspected pirates believed to be behind the attempted hijacking of a luxury cruise liner over the weekend. When the Melody made a distress call, the Seychelles Coast Guard sent out a small plane that spent five hours photographing the pirates' skiff and marking its position. A Spanish navy ship then set off and apprehended the suspects Sunday.

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The U.S. Coast Guard Academy says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will give the keynote speech at the Connecticut school's 128th commencement next month. The graduation ceremony is set for May 20 at the New London campus. --snip-- Napolitano was on CNN's "State of the Union" show Sunday defending an intelligence report by her agency that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan could be susceptible to recruitment by right-wing extremists.

With "JAG," "Navy CIS," "MASH," and other military television shows being quite popular, one might consider with how military service has enhanced the fame of veteran actors in Hollywood or vice versa. During our distinguished history, some Hollywood actors have taken a break from their careers while they defended our country oftentimes to battle in war. These hereos include Charles Bronson, Gary Cooper, Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Clarke Gable, Lee Marvin, Elvis Presley, and Jimmy Stewart. More recent editions of entertainment veterans include "Limp Bizkit" lead singer Fred Durst who did service with the United States Navy. Up until...

Two days before NFL player Marquis Cooper took a doomed fishing trip with three friends in Florida Gulf Coast waters, a friend urged him to buy a life-saving device used to locate boats in distress. Cooper hadn't heard of the gadget, an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB). And he didn't purchase one before his excursion on Saturday, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

The Coast Guard called off its search for three missing football players at sunset Tuesday. The news came after crews combed choppy waters off the Florida Gulf Coast for a third full day since NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith and a third friend William Bleakley disappeared. Their fishing boat capsized in stormy seas Saturday evening. One of the four on the excursion, Nick Schuyler, survived.

PHILADELPHIA- On Jan. 17, 2009, the Coast Guard will establish five temporary security zones for a scheduled railway transit by high-ranking government officials. The security zones will be in effect 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2009, and include the following areas: * Delaware River, shoreline to shoreline beginning at the Walt Whitman Bridge south to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. * Schuylkill River, shoreline to shoreline beginning at the mouth and ending at the Fairmont Park Dam in Philadelphia. * Christina River, shoreline to shoreline beginning at the mouth and ending at the public dock at Ship Yard...

<p>President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close it. The international community has condemned it.</p> <p>On Christmas Eve, however, when it came time for him to wish some American service members a Merry Christmas for his last time in office, President George W. Bush rang up a North Carolina man who's assigned to the military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.</p>

A Britten-Norman Trislander, the kind of small aircraft that disappeared off the Dominican Republic Monday with 12 on board. A small Caribbean airplane that vanished into thin air Monday was allegedly stolen by a fired Dominican Navy cadet who may have been trying to carry illegal immigrants to America, the plane’s owner told FOXNews.com. Luis Perez, the Puerto Rico-based owner of the aircraft charter company, said his twin-engine plane was stolen by an unlicensed pilot named Adrian Jimenez. Authorities told him Jimenez was a student of the Dominican Republic Armed Forces and a former Navy cadet. “They took his pilot’s...

Members of a high-level meeting on Thursday, which was taken by Chief Minister Narendra Modi at his residence on the terror attack in Mumbai, decided to act fast on plugging existing gaps in security along the 1,600-km-long (approx. 1,000-mile) state coastline. In the meeting, it was decided to act swiftly to implement a three-layer ring to make the coast secure. Of this, if Indian naval forces operating in the international sea off 12 nautical miles from the coast were to guard the outer ring, the coastal guards and the state coastal police could take care of two other rings to...

WHEREAS, on November 11 Alaskans join in honoring and remembering those who have served in the armed forces of the United States and Canada for their unselfish contributions toward making our world a better place to live. WHEREAS, America was founded on the principles of liberty, opportunity, and justice for all, and on Veterans Day we recognize our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who have valiantly defended these values throughout our country’s history. These remarkable individuals have helped to make us secure and have inspired our nation with their courage, compassion, and dedication. WHEREAS, on Veterans and Remembrance...

UK. Brixham Coastguard rescues intoxicated teenagers by helicopter Thursday, 07 August 2008   At quarter to one this morning Brixham Coastguard received several 999 calls from an 18 year old teenager reporting that he was in some form of distress on a cliff. The boy told the Coastguard in the operations room that he was epileptic and had suffered a fit. He and a friend that was with him could not tell the Coastguard where they were and communications with the two boys was difficult as it became apparent that they were under the influence of alcohol. Teignmouth and...

The Coast Guard just rolled out the most sophisticated ship it’s ever commissioned, packed with new technology to help in the hunt for drug smugglers and terrorists.The cutter Bertholf — 418 feet from stem to stern — is set to patrol the Pacific from California to Ecuador — a patch of ocean as large as the United States.“The bubble that’s around this ship that we can see and hear and respond to is much larger than any cutter we've ever built,” said Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, referring to the range of the guns, fast boats,...

For your lunchtime reading and viewing: Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief James Meigs was kind enough to send an advance copy of the magazine’s July 2008 issue. I can’t put it down. The cover story is about an amazing Coast Guard rescue effort in March, when the Alaska Ranger ship sank.Read all about it and watch video here.As an aside, the Coast Guard cutter Munro is named after Coast Guard signalman and Medal of Honor recipient Douglas Munro, whose bravery I wrote about while working at the Seattle Times and recounted here. Amazing stories of heroism, then and now.Go Coast Guard!

Satellite-based navigation has become a ubiquitous tool for business, military and personal use. The downside is that any disruption in the Global Positioning System could wreak havoc down on Earth. This year, the Department of Homeland Security decided that a 30-year-old navigation system used by mariners will be upgraded to back up GPS. The decision preserves the Long-Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) network, which has been teetering on the verge of forced retirement since the 1980s, according to the Coast Guard’s Navigation Center. The backbone of LORAN is a network of transmission stations, many located in remote regions, staffed with...

A family owned commercial fishing business in Virginia and two of its owners paid $6.8 million in fines and forfeitures after pleading guilty to hiring 126 illegal aliens to work on their boats. The charge is a misdemeanor and federal prosecutors had recommended home confinement in addition to the monetary penalties, but U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson sentenced Yvonne Michelle Peabody, the company’s vice president, to three months in prison. At the sentencing hearing last month, the judge said he was making an example out of Peabody, who had served on the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Council’s law enforcement subcommittee at...

Our president was busy today with public events. President Bush signed H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, President Bush Signs H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 President Bush marked this the Day of Solidarity with the Cuban people. President Bush Discusses Cuba, Marks Day of Solidarity He met with the Maronite Patriarch of Lebanon Nasrallah Sfeir in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, President Bush met with Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander George Lisicki in the Oval Office. Vice President Dick Cheney delivered the main address during U.S. Coast...

After Action Report Coast Guard Academy Graduation support rally, May 21, 2008 Hi folks, it was good to be back in the saddle again. Today, the following Eagles took part in what is most likely our annual Coast Guard Academy Graduation support rally: Jim Bancroft Larry Baily Carolyn VanZorge Fernando Martinez Bill Wilkins Eva Bauman Kathy Upton Pamela Hall Dave Russo Dan Maloney "NEW" Eagle Ted Bakacs Paul Leblanc The New York/New Jersey Eagles showed up earlier than most due to dedication on their part and computer failure on my part which would have had me only 10 minutes late...

The Gathering of Eagles, a patriotic organization dedicated to honoring our men and women in uniform and those who are honorable veterans, announces our latest event in honoring the graduates of the Coast Guard Academy by welcoming their families and supporters to their graduation ceremony on May 21, 2008. We will be in front of the entrance on Mohegan Ave, at the intersection of Williams and Mohegan from 7 AM to 1 PM that day, waving flags, carrying patriotic signs and singing patriotic songs in an effort to welcome the families to what is a most honored event; the graduation...

Eight ships that were supposed to be the government's latest, best weapon for stopping terrorists, illegal immigrants and smugglers now float unused in a U.S. Coast Guard shipyard in Baltimore, the symbol of a nearly $100 million taxpayer debacle. Instead of patrolling, the ships were deemed unfit for the high seas after just a couple of months of use and eventually will be dismantled without ever fulfilling their promise. The Coast Guard hopes to finally put the problems with its much maligned "Deepwater" program behind it, taking ownership this month of a brand new 418-foot national security cutter that was...

Folks, I want to invite all Freepers and Lurkers in good standing to attend the rally to welcome the families of the graduating cadets of the Coast Guard Academy on May 21, 2008. Vice President Dick Cheney will be the honored speaker.

WASHINGTON - The House has overwhelmingly passed an $8.4 billion Coast Guard bill despite a threatened veto from President Bush. The bill would make the Coast Guard enforce security zones around eight liquefied natural gas terminals. The White House objects to the bill saying Coast Guard assets would be diverted from other high-priority missions. The measure was approved Thursday 395-7, a veto-proof margin. The bill also sets stricter crime reporting requirements for cruise ships and mandates double hulls on large cargo ships to prevent oil spills. It also requires oceangoing ships to install ballast water treatment equipment to protect the...

6th Annual Rally for the Troops will be held on Sunday April 20, 2008 at 11:00 PM in downtown Cleveland’s Public Square. Free Parking at Tower City Parking lots. Last year an estimated 5000 motorcyclist attended the Rally. Bikes will stage at 8:30 AM from Cleveland Harley Davidson Sales Company (W145 and Lorain), Lake Erie Harley Davidson (Avon Ohio); South East Harley Davidson (Bedford Hts. Ohio) and Western Reserve Harley Davidson (Mentor Ohio). Bikes will depart for downtown Cleveland at 9:30 AM. Jim Mantel of WGAR will MC the Rally and Monica Robins of WKYC will sing the National Anthem....

By Ann Shibler Published: 2008-04-07 New "anti-terrorism" rules ordered up by DHS for those who fish the Great Lakes are causing a wave of dissent. While still leaving our southern border wide open, the northern border will be protected by stricter security rules heavily enforced by the DHS, particularly for those tall-tale-telling anglers. Follow this link to the original source: "Going fishing? Pack your passport" COMMENTARY: Starting with the 2008 charter fishing season on the Great Lakes, and particularly impacting Lake Erie because of its geography and popularity among anglers, fishermen will now have to have their passports or two...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Four crew members died Sunday and another was missing after a Seattle-based fishing boat began sinking in high seas off Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard said. The dead were among 47 crew members who abandoned ship after the 184-foot Alaska Ranger developed problems. Forty-two crew members were recovered safely, but a search was continuing for the missing person, said Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane. The vessel started taking on water shortly before 3 a.m. after losing control of its rudder 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, which is on Unalaska Island.

A few months ago, a day before one of the occasional marches the Capital sees demanding an end to the Iraq War, I began the descent into the Metro stop near my office, looked up, and saw a number of representatives of Code Pink standing at the railing overlooking the escalator. Or rather, I heard them first. They were screaming at the parade of commuters, at the top of their lungs and in a tone somewhere between simple frustration and righteous anger, "End the war!!!" Well, I thought, that ought to take care of things. Good work, hippies! I kid...

SAN FRANCISCO, Actor Sean Penn and Peace Activist Cindy Sheehan will headline "Iraq: 5 Years Too Many", an event marking the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. Also featured will be Reverend Gregory Stewart, Senior Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church; Matt Gonzalez, former President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; and Justin Raimondo, Editorial Director of Antiwar.com. The program will begin at 5pm on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin Street (near Geary) in San Francisco. After the speakers finish, attendees will march to the War Memorial Auditorium on Van Ness...

FOLCROFT, Pa. - A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued two PECO workers who became trapped Wednesday more than 100 feet in the air after their ground equipment malfunctioned. The men were not injured. They couldn't get down after the bucket truck they were in malfunctioned and was no longer stable, authorities said. The men had strapped themselves to the 140-foot pole to await the rescue that occurred approximately two hours later. The incident took place on the 1500 block of Chester Pike near railroad tracks. The unidentified PECO workers became stranded at 10:15 a.m. The aerial platform seemed to be...

Some columns write themselves. Some are a struggle and leave me confused, conflicted and a little angry. This is one of those. It started out as a tongue-in-cheek look at the recent action by the city council in Berkeley, Calif., to oust the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office and brand the Marines “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” I planned to compare the situation in that strange city with our fairly-liberal-but-not-ridiculously-so approach here in Corvallis. Then I started doing research. I learned that an anti-military organization has access to our high school students equal to that of the U.S. Armed Forces. The...

A U.S. Coast Guard officer and devout Catholic has filed suit to prevent being forced to receive a vaccination derived from the lung of an aborted child after a higher ranking officer disputed his understanding of Church theology. The Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Healy, charging the government with using its own arbitrary judgment of what constitutes Catholic theology while permitting religious exemptions to others, effectively discriminating against Healy's sincerely held religious beliefs. Healy's request for religious exemption cited a 2005...

Coastguard who saved girl twice quits over health and safety row     Steve Bird A coastguard who risked his life to save a teenage girl stranded on a cliff ledge has resigned after he was criticised for breaching health and safety rules during the rescue. Paul Waugh, 44, was so concerned for the 13-year-old girl that he clambered down to her in gale-force winds without waiting to fit safety harnesses. The father of three, who was hailed as a hero and received an award for stopping the girl from falling 300ft as she waited for an RAF rescue...

Recording an entry in the Coast Guard log is usually a staid affair. But once a year, on New Year's Eve, some writers show their poetic flair. This year, the tradition of applying verse to the midnight log - normally a matter-of-fact accounting of the day's events - fell at the Curtis Bay Coast Guard station to Petty Officer Stephen Park...

The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have expressed interest in the 30-ft.-long Protector, which comes mounted with a machine gun and could be retrofitted for commercial use. Robots versus pirates -- it's not as stupid, or unlikely, as it sounds. Piracy has exploded in the waters near Somalia, where this past week United States warships have fired on two pirate skiffs, and are currently in pursuit of a hijacked Japanese-owned vessel. At least four other ships in the region remain under pirate control, and the problem appears to be going global: The International Maritime Bureau is tracking a 14-percent increase...

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter is searching part of Prince William Sound this morning for a LifeGuard helicopter that went missing last night en route to Providence Alaska Medical Center with a patient aboard, the Coast Guard said. The U.S. Air Force is expected to launch a C-130 and a helicopter this morning to assist in the search...