Logistics in action: Keeping cargo moving
This year’s ice-breaking season has been a busy one filled with successful missions and a few unexpected challenges. One of the latter was a major electrical failure on board the ice-breaking tug Biscayne Bay, homeported in St. Ignace, Mich. While this would be a lofty challenge to overcome, the centralized depot maintenance – resulting from modernization of the Coast Guard’s Surface Forces Logistics Center – repaired Biscayne Bay in a record 44 days.
Shipmate of the Week – MKCM Jennifer Lowden
As family, friends, coworkers and students gathered on the gun deck of Taylor Hall at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown, many did not know that they’d be witnessing Coast Guard history. While three people were advanced to master chief petty officer that day, the advancement of Jennifer Lowden was particularly notable. Standing on the same grounds where she was a 25-year-old machinery technician student, Lowden became the first female to join the highest ranks in her profession when her husband and her mother impressed the master chief insignia onto her shirt collar.
‘Lucky Eddie’ gets a new lease on life
Dismantling, removing and replacing a cutter’s main diesel engine is a job requiring teamwork, logistical coordination and planning under the best of circumstances. Replacing both engines at once doubles the complexity. Doing an unscheduled dual engine swap is a unique challenge the crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Edisto and engineers from Sector San Diego recently tackled.
Shipmate of the Week – MK1 Joseph Wilmot
Coast Guard Cutter Bainbridge Island was shorthanded and in need of an engineering petty officer. When the call for help was sent out, Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Wilmot answered. A machinery technician by trade, Wilmot was no stranger to rolling up his sleeves and getting dirty. And that is just what he did aboard Bainbridge Island as he became responsible for the maintenance and repair of all machinery aboard the ship.
Shipmate of the Week – MK2 Joshua Coaker
To meet the demands of having Coast Guard boats and planes ready requires highly skilled engineers who are able to maintain the fleet of resources, enabling them to launch at a moment’s notice to help save lives or property. One of the Coast Guard’s many skilled engineers is Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Coaker from Coast Guard Station Oak Island in Oak Island, N.C.
Shipmate of the Week – MK1 Michael Jordan
Maintaining aids to navigation essential to the Pacific Northwest’s major shipping ports, including Coos Bay, Portland and Seattle, are the men and women aboard Coast Guard Cutter Fir. But like all Coast Guard cutters, Fir does more than just the [...]
Steering the way into the future
Written by Cmdr. Andrea Palermo. Throughout its history, the Coast Guard has adopted and fostered a solution-oriented “can do” mindset promoting initiative. Our founding father, Alexander Hamilton, encouraged Revenue Cutter Service captains to develop and share ideas and suggestions about [...]
CGA develops leaders in the STEM field
March is Women’s History Month. In honor of the many contributions women have made to the history of our service, we bring you the stories of the female leaders of the Coast Guard. This week, we are highlighting female cadets [...]
