The official blog of the U.S. Coast Guard
To keep the system moving safely and smoothly, Coast Guard members in Alaska have the unique opportunity of maintaining navigational aids to ensure the consistent flow of goods throughout Alaska’s marine highway. Despite limiting factors, Aids to Navigation Team Kodiak crew members work diligently to ensure the navigational aids are maintained, re-built and serviced.
The Coast Guard recently recognized an Air Station Kodiak aircrew with the Capt. Frank Erickson Award. The award is presented to a rotary-wing aircrew that has demonstrated exceptional performance while engaged in search and rescue operations. Earlier this year, the crew flew through excessive winds to medevac a patient off a Navy vessel and made a daring landing upon the Coast Guard Cutter John Midgett (WHEC-726) at over 230 mph ground speed and 16- to 18-foot waves. They were able to transfer the patient to awaiting emergency medical services personnel with their never-ending resolve to save a life.
Although we may live in communities for just a few years, Coast Guard families find ways to make it home, and that often means finding ways to give back. This year, four holiday events from locations spanning nearly 13,000 miles join service members and their communities in unique ways as the celebrate the season.
What is your definition of heroism? While to some the first definition that comes to mind might be a one-time heroic action, we would like to provide you with a different type of example. Not just a single act in the heat-of-the-moment, but a consistent display of extraordinary heroism. A consistency and perseverance demonstrated in decision-making and problem-solving where an individual, on more than one occasion, moves beyond their training and everyday duties, and applies those skills in the service of others.
What does a big wave do to a big ship? Watch to find out! We’re kicking off the Top 10 video competition with a rescue at sea 200 miles south of Kodiak, Alaska from the 587-foot cargo vessel Copacabana.
The last MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew forward deployed to Cordova, Alaska, for the summer season returned to its home base of Kodiak closing out a season of lifesaving. Throughout the deployment, which started May 1, 2013, aircrews out of forward operating location Cordova flew on 26 cases, saved 11 and assisted 18.
Although a walrus medevac is an unusual case for the Coast Guard, environmental stewardship and protection has long been a mission of the Coast Guard, especially in Alaska. It was the Revenue Cutter Service that examined exploited seal rookeries, which led to the Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 and ultimately the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Chief Petty Officer Robert Fielder, an aviation maintenance technician with Air Station Kodiak, uses a dremel tool to cut the skin of an HC-130 Hercules airplane. Fielder and members of the air station’s C-130 metal shop conducted a repair to the skin of a C-130 that had damage in a pressurized area of the plane.
The TerriGail had five crewmen who were safely hoisted by a Kodiak-based HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew before the vessel grounded. U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Marine Safety Detachment Unalaska. What’s it like to be part of a Coast Guard aircrew? In short, it is a privilege. Few people will ever get the opportunity to
With an increasing number of eyes on the Arctic, Coast Guardsmen spent 2011 testing capabilities, building partnerships and rapport with Native Alaskans and keeping a vigilant watch above the Arctic Circle in some of the most challenging marine operation environments on the planet.