Replies

1 posted on 10/22/2018 7:10:50 PM PDT by uscga77

The USCG do a great job. They have been doing good things since long before I watched them at their academy across from the subase in Groton while I was in the service. They sailed a ship to Rota Spain while I was getting to my sub one time. I’m talking mast and canvas sailed a wooden ship. I don’t remember the ships name, but crossing the Atlantic in anything is not for sissies. Drug interdiction and rescues etc are daily duty. Nice Trump put out a good word. MAGA.

2 posted on 10/22/2018 7:30:58 PM PDT by Equine1952 (Get yourself a ticket on a common mans train of thought.)

An oft-neglected branch of our armed services. Deserving of the recognition.

3 posted on 10/22/2018 8:00:01 PM PDT by IronJack

I worked for the USCG as a contractor for several years. Our job was to give them significantly updated electronics for communications and navigation on several of their cutters. I found them to be very different than the navy in their reaction to the upgrades.

The USN is very tech driven. They want more of it, always. For good reason: If the radar is down, they'll sit in dock because their weapon system is crippled without it. When we updated one of their ships, they were excited about it.

On the other hand, the USCG is very operations driven. They will go into a hurricane in a leaky canoe if that's what it takes to go find that lost sailor. If the radar goes down, they'll just send a coastie up on deck with binoculars and keep going. They're heroes and take a lot of pride in their willingness and ability to go into adverse conditions with little support and still do their missions successfully. I admired them immensely and still do. But when it came to getting new stuff the USCG was sort of "meh" at all our upgrades. Sort of like "Okay, sure, that's pretty nice I guess. The old one worked okay though. This better not break down on us". I sometimes felt like if we just left the old stuff behind and put a little polish on it, they'd have been just as happy. They took "can-do" attitude to a whole next level!

I really enjoyed working for those guys though even if they were sort of skeptical of shiny new tech. Just such great people!

4 posted on 10/22/2018 8:02:46 PM PDT by pepsi_junkie (Often wrong, but never in doubt!)

7 posted on 10/22/2018 9:47:34 PM PDT by null and void (Don't argue with the keyboard warriors. They know their delusions better than you.)

12 posted on 10/23/2018 5:59:09 AM PDT by Delta 21 (.....been here this long you actually expect me to read the article....)

If I remember correctly, there were three of those sailing barks taken from the Germans after WWII. The Coast Guard got one, the Portuguese got one, and I think the third went to Norway or Sweden.

I am pretty sure the Coast Guard originated the saying about “We have done so much, for so long, with so little, that now we can do anything with nothing, forever.”

USCG ET3 (E4)
1971-1975
two years outside CONUS,
Italy and Turkey
LORAN stations

14 posted on 10/23/2018 1:59:50 PM PDT by G-Bear ("Wish I could find a good book.....to live in...." Melanie Safka)

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