Fixing the Coast Guard with math
Each year the Coast Guard presents capstone problems to Coast Guard Academy cadets to help solve centric problems from operation units like aircraft inventory costs, training assignments, cutter operations, etc. During the 2018 Service Academy Student Mathematics Conference held at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, 30 cadets and midshipmen presented their senior research projects to an audience of peers. These projects allowed students to gain real world experience during their final semester and an opportunity to provide solutions that would have a substantial effect on the service.
Designing the Coast Guard’s role in the Arctic
The Coast Guard’s missions in the Arctic are evolving with the changing landscape. Six teams of Coast Guard Academy cadets have been working on their capstone projects exploring and designing icebreakers capable of operating in both the Arctic and Great Lakes, as well as applying conceptual understanding of the Arctic domain to build foundational relationships between Arctic nations.
Operation Deep Freeze: An aging ship
The Polar Star’s engineering department ensures the ship’s mechanical and electrical equipment is working properly, but the harsh conditions of Antarctica provide many challenges for the aging ship, which has been around longer than many of its crew members.
The Coast Guard, 14 degrees south of the equator
The crew of Marine Safety Detachment American Samoa consists of two officers, a first class petty officer, and a GS-12 civilian who conduct about 50 vessel exams consisting mostly of commercial fishing vessels and 25 to 30 investigations varying from pollution to marine causalities annually. While tours are short, around one year, on the island, the crews work to build strong relationships with the communities through boating and safety education as well as participating in community events.
The right whale to save
The Coast Guard’s legacy of environmental protection dates back to the late 1800s with the signing of the Fur Seal Act of 1897, charging the Coast Guard with the vital role of enforcing natural resource laws. Coast Guard Academy First Class Cadets Ainsley Fruhwirth and Zoe Bolling, both marine science majors, have spent the last two years working on saving the right whales as part of their capstone research project.
Honor, Respect, Devotion to Duty: MST3 Jennifer Crocker
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jennifer Crocker, a marine science technician at the International Ice Patrol unit in New London, Connecticut, serves as a role model to her peers through dedication, leadership and professionalism. Crocker was recently named the IIP’s Enlisted Person of the Year for her outstanding representation of the service to local schools as well as coordinating memorials for several historically significant events.
Operation Deep Freeze: Arrival to McMurdo
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star’s commanding officer gives insight on what made the Operation Deep Freeze 2018 mission a success. Through dedication and devotion to duty, the crew once again accomplished their mission breaking ice and creating a navigable channel through the Antarctic to National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station.
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Spotlight: Detection, Mitigation of Oil within the Water Column
As part of the Coast Guard’s marine environmental protection mission, the Research and Development Center recently completed a project to identify and prototype technologies capable of detecting and mitigating the impacts of oil in the water column that show promise for future commercialization and implementation.
Operation Deep Freeze: Beneath the surface
Deploying to the most remote continent on Earth requires a ship to be self-sufficient. If an underwater issue arises, it’s necessary to have skilled divers who can inspect the problem and make a report to the command. It’s for this reason the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star embarks a Coast Guard Dive Team for its annual deployment to Antarctica.
Operation Deep Freeze: Ice pilots
The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is only one of two cutters in the service with qualified ice pilots aboard. Ice pilots are responsible for navigating the ship through different types of ice. On their way to Antarctica, ice pilots will first negotiate pack ice—large pieces of floating ice—before reaching the fast ice, which extends out from the shore and is attached to it.