Richard Etheridge will be homeported in Miami and will primarily perform missions to save lives, enforce U.S. and international maritime law and ensure security in the Coast Guard’s 7th District off the Southeastern coast of the U.S. and in the Caribbean Sea. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s second 154-foot fast response cutter, the Richard Etheridge, was launched at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, La., yesterday. This marks a significant milestone in the Coast Guard’s acquisition of the Sentinel-class patrol boats, which will replace the service’s legacy 110-foot patrol boats. You can see the launch play out in the photos below.

While in the water, the vessel will undergo a series of tests and evaluations prior to its planned delivery early next year. The launch is one of many steps in the construction process, leading to sea trials and crew training later this year and, eventually, the commissioning of the vessel and commencement of its Coast Guard operations.

To see photos of the first fast response cutter, Bernard C. Webber, which was launched in April 2011, click here. To learn more about the first 14 heroes the Sentinel-class fast response cutters have been named for, click here, or you can keep up on the latest news on fast response cutters here.

by: LT Stephanie Young
US Coast Guard

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp poses for a photo with the newly sworn-in Coast Guard Investigative Service agents after they completed the Special Agent Basic Training Program in Glynco Sept. 28, 2010. Photo by PA3 Michael Hulme

Thanks to hit television shows like NCIS, military investigative services have gained fame and public recognition in recent years. But, investigations aren’t new for the Coast Guard.

Originating in 1915 under the Chief Intelligence Officer, Coast Guard Investigations remained relatively unknown to the general public until the enactment of prohibition. From then on it grew in personnel and responsibility becoming Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) in 1996.

Under the authority of Title 14 of the United States Code, CGIS is a federal investigative and protective program established to carry out the Coast Guard’s internal and external criminal investigations; to assist in providing personal security services; to protect the welfare of Coast Guard people; to aid in preserving the internal integrity of the Coast Guard; and to support Coast Guard missions worldwide.

Yesterday (September 28, 2010), 18 of the Coast Guard’s newest CGIS special agents graduated from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia. This graduating class is the largest and one of the last comprised of all Coast Guard agents. Typically, FLETC classes are made up of trainees from the Coast Guard and other agencies, but this one was entirely CGIS.

Depending on their previous level of experience and training, CGIS agents attend a three month basic criminal investigations course before they attend two months of Coast Guard specific training. After receiving their Coast Guard Special Agent Credentials at the ceremony today, the group of about half active duty and half civilian will depart FLETC and report to various duty stations all over the nation.

Today, CGIS has a total of about 90 active duty military and civilian special agents and 150 reserve special agents. Military agents come from any of Coast Guard specialties and ratings and must apply based on an annual solicitation. Civilian agents typically apply to join CGIS from other federal, state or local law enforcement agencies. CGIS reserve agents serve in the Coast Guard Reserve Investigator rating.

“The U.S. Coast Guard’s demand for outstanding investigative services, coupled with the world-class training our new agents received at FLETC and the tremendous diversity of experience and capabilities they bring, will continue to raise the importance and visibility of CGIS within the Coast Guard as they go to their assignments around the country,” said Mr. Bill Tarry, Deputy to the Assistant Commandant for Intelligence and Criminal Investigations.

Congratulations to the newest agents of CGIS!

If you are interested in applying for CGIS or finding out more information, click here.

United States Coast Guard
Written by: LT Connie Braesch

Coast Guard photo

Multiple Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters are responding to an explosion and fire aboard a mobile offshore drilling unit approximately 52 miles Southeast of Venice.

Watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard District Eight command center here received a report at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday of an explosion and fire aboard the MODU Deepwater Horizon.

Updated reports are that the estimated 126 people on board have gotten off the rig. Seven critical injuries were reported. Three were met by ambulance at Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans; two were medevaced to West Jefferson hospital in New Orleans, La., by air ambulance and two were flown to Mobile Trauma Center in Mobile, Ala.

There are approximately 11-12 people who remain missing.

Coast Guard units responding:

Air Station New Orleans:

Two HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopters and crews
Aviation Training Center, Mobile, Ala.:

One HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and crew

One HH-60 rescue helicopter and crew

One HC-144 Ocean Sentry rescue plane and crew

In addition, the Coast Guard cutters Pompano and Zephyr are on scene and cutters Razorbill, Pelican and Cobia are en route to assist.

Video can be found here: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=46

A next of kin hotline has been set up and the phone number is (832) 587-8554.

The fire is still burning and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

DVIDS

The United States Coast Guard is the smallest of the military services and the least resourced. In the last decade, it has been called upon repeatedly to do more with less and the budget submitted for Congressional approval for 2011 is no exception.

Here’s what the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, told us at a recent Bloggers’ Roundtable:

So it’s really a matter of portfolio management and resource allocation. And again, that gets back to our operational model. I think the reason we’re so valuable to the country is we have a set of resources, and whether I’ve got more or fewer than I had last year, the operational genius of the Coast Guard is how we allocate them.

That said, if you give me more resources, I could do more for the country, and I’ll still do that the same way, balancing risk, but I can cover more areas for the country if I have more resources. And of course everybody always needs more.

The 2011 budget cuts 773 FTE positions. At the same time, Admiral Allen told us that the Coast Guard can meet 1/3 to 1/2 of the requests for assistance it receives from the Navy and other services. He told us that a second icebreaker will be finished being refitted in 12-18 months, but he has no idea how the ship will be crewed.

Ice breaking and reinforced ships are vital in both Alaskan waters and those of the Great Lakes and northern harbors. The United States has one large ice breaking cutter in operation, and the consensus is that we need three. With the increased activity along Alaska’s northern coast, tourist cruises and oil exploration, the need is there.

The Great Lakes and northern harbors are another area of concern. The 140 ft. tugs are reaching the end of their operational life and there is no funding to replace them. These are the cutters that keep our ports open an additional twelve weeks a year.

The Navy should get its act together and ask Congress for funds to build the ships it needs for its missions. That would allow the Coast Guard to have more assets available for its missions.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter transports an injured American to U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Jan.13, 2010. The injured is one of four Americans from the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, brought to the Naval Station to receive medical care for traumatic injuries sustained in the earthquake that struck the region. The victims were stabilized by hospital personnel before they were medically evacuated to the U.S. for further treatment. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Bill Mesta

In addition, it seems foolish in a time of war to be reducing the number of sailors in an active military service. Those 700 plus Coast Guardsmen won’t be there for port security, drug interdiction or to respond to disasters such as Haiti or New Orleans.

In this photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, two airboat crews deployed from Coast Guard District 9 await the next search and rescue mission during the 2009 midwest flood response, Wednesday, March 25, 2009. The airboats are used in shallow water throughout residential areas. Numerous Oxbow residents were evacuated to dry ground. (U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Renee C. Aiello). Military photo – public Domain. Please credit photographer.

Lastly, the neglect of our icebreakers by Congress is criminal. When a cruise ship sinks off northern Alaska and the Coast Guard response is from Kodiak Island, over 900 miles away by air and well over a thousand by sea, Congress will demand answers. The answer will be that Congress failed to fund the programs necessary.

The Coast Guard’s 2011 budget request is for $8.47 billion. With those funds, it will replace ships and aircraft, and do some other work that is long past due. Still, they will be robbing Peter to pay Paul. They should not have to.

Coast Guard Cutter Forward, now on station at Port-au-Prince to provide assistance after the Haitian earthquake

Coast Guard Compass

Haiti Relief

Around 5 p.m. EST yesterday, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake centered 10 nautical miles south of Port Au Prince, Haiti. CGC Forward arrived off Port Au Prince this morning, equipped with a helicopter flight deck, satellite communications equipment, and the ability to provide coordination to military aircraft in the area. The CGC Mohawk, is scheduled to arrive this afternoon. Two Coast Guard C-130 airplanes from Air Station Clearwater are flying the coast of Western Haiti this morning providing damage assessments and searching for people in need of assistance. Two Coast Guard helicopters are also forward deployed in the area to provide rescue or other assistance as needed.

Two more cutters, CGC Tahoma and CGC Valiant, are standing by for tasking as directed.

The President designated the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Dr. Raj Shah, to be the Unified Disaster Coordinator. United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) has activated a crisis action team to assess the situation and Department of State has implemented the Disaster Response Plan to support efforts in Haiti. Other Department of Homeland Security and U.S. assets are also responding.

Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk, scheduled to arrive off Haiti on January 13 to render assistance after the earthquake