Vice President Biden addresses the Class of 2013
Today, Vice President Joe Biden welcomed the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Class of 2013 as the Coast Guard’s newest officers, saluting their service and emphasizing the important role they play in meeting the nation’s many maritime needs.
A battle to the soccer field
Marik Tucker and his family transferred from Louisiana to the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn., when his family learned that he had a rare bone cancer known as osteosarcoma. Ten months later, cadets from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy men’s soccer team in New London, Conn., “adopted” Marik after contacting Kelli through Team Impact, a program that matches sick kids with college athletic teams to provide a diversion from their medical realities and cultivate relationships.
There is no short cut
The start of the spring semester began this week at the United States Coast Guard Academy, and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp traveled to the New London, Conn.-based institution to continue the tradition of delivering a leadership address to the corps of cadets.
Raising walls for the greater good
On any given Saturday you can walk by 9 Jefferson Avenue in New London, Conn., and hear the pounding of hammers, the buzzing of saws and the cheery banter of U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets. This is the site of the first Habitat for Humanity home that is being fully funded and built by Coast Guard hands. Current Coast Guard Academy cadets, along with the Alumni Association, the CGA Parents Association and the Institute for Leadership, have teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to raise this first project of its kind.
Shipmate of the Week – Lt. j.g. Doritha Douglas
On this day in 1942, legislation approved the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve to help fill jobs and free men to serve during the war effort. Women from all over the country took the oath, attended training, wore the uniform and served in shoreside positions throughout the nation. They were known as the SPARs – Semper Paratus, Always Ready! On Nov. 9, former SPAR and Coast Guard veteran Lt. j.g. Doritha Douglas was interviewed about her decision to join the SPARs and the experiences she had. Douglas is one of the oldest surviving members of the SPARs.
Week in the life of the Coast Guard: Tuesday
From July 30 to August 5, Coast Guard men and women captured a week in the life of the Coast Guard to highlight the missions we perform on a daily basis. From a port security unit on a morning patrol off the coast of Kuwait to flight operations off the coast of Seattle, you’ll get a glimpse of just how much the Coast Guard does as we feature a day-by-day snapshot. Check out everything that happened on Tuesday!
The Coast Guard’s Olympic ties
While opening night ceremonies of the 30th Olympiad stir the imagination, inspire and invoke a sense of community, the United States Coast Guard has its own ties to the games. Edmond Morris, a civilian port security specialist at Sector St. Petersburg, was a cadet on Coast Guard Cutter Eagle which sailed to the 1972 Olympics. Ironically, it was the ship’s first trans-Atlantic voyage since World War II. Morris was entering his third year at the Coast Guard Academy and recalls sailing with all 240 of his classmates and the permanent enlisted crew.
Four generations of Eagle
As Coast Guard Cutter Eagle pulled into port July 7, the crew was anxious with excitement. Not only were they pulling into their hometown, but they were sailing alongside four generations of Eagle’s commanding officers – past, present and future. With Capt. Eric Jones, the 26th commanding officer, at the helm, the ship led the parade of sail toward Fort Trumbull. The mood was bittersweet, however; it was the last time he would moor the 295-foot barque before his change of command.
A time-honored tradition
With summer in full swing, Coast Guard cutters, sectors, air stations and support units are not only seeing new weather, but new faces. During the summer months, what is often known as transfer season, members across the service take on new roles and assignments. For many officers and senior enlisted their new units will mark the first time they will have the opportunity to command a Coast Guard unit. That responsibility begins with their participation in the time-honored tradition of the change of command.
Swabs on deck: R-Day 2012
On the morning of June 25, hundreds of people from all over the country are at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., checking event schedules and looking over base maps. It’s reporting-in day and the lives of 252 young men and women are about to change – dramatically.
