Army National Guard News

United States Coast Guard service is a family legacy for Dan Keane, who today serves as the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center in New London, CT."My dad was in the Coast Guard (for nearly 37 years), so this is a way of life for me,” said Keane in explaining that a Coast Guard career “was just something I always knew I wanted to do … it’s a family tradition for me.”The Coast Guard R&D center in New London is “relatively small with just over 80 people here at the RDC” said Keane…

Detroit Coast Guard members are participating in a Southeast Michigan Area Maritime Security Committee multi-agency table-top exercise Wednesday at the Detroit Fire Department Regional Training Center. The purpose of this exercise is to test plans and policies of federal, provincial, state and local area agencies in response to a transportation security incident. In accordance with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, a table-top exercise is a discussion based exercise. There will not be any resources deployed directly as a result of this exercise. More than 150 participants from 50 agencies are expected to participate in the exercise.

The call came in two days ago: an aircraft with 40 passengers aboard had gone down in a remote area somewhere along the Alaskan-Canadian border. The Federal Aviation Administration, which had been monitoring the flight, received the distress call before losing contact with the aircraft. Just as if it had been a real-life situation, the FAA contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson. The notional scenario set the stage for more than 100 U.S.

With a stifling heat wave affecting most of the country last week, it’s hard to picture U.S. Coast Guard units focusing on our nation’s Arctic interests. But for a dedicated group of Coast Guard men and women, the Arctic is all that is on their mind. As the nation’s lead federal agency for ensuring maritime safety and security in the Arctic, the Coast Guard will perform its statutory missions to ensure the Arctic remains a safe, secure and environmentally protected region. After a successful Arctic Shield 2012 operation on the North Slope and Barrow…

Tom Crowley, Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Crowley Maritime Corporation, was presented with the prestigious National Transportation Award from the National Defense Transportation Association, at the group's annual logistics forum and exposition in Nashville, Ten. NDTA Chairman Ray Ebeling made the presentation to Crowley at the Chairman's Awards Dinner, the highlight of the multi-day event. Richard Haynes, executive director, Military Sealift Command (MSC), was also honored as the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award recipient, and Col.

More than 4,500 personnel from 20 countries began a 12-day exercise in Panama City on Sept. 11 to train in a joint, multinational effort to ensure the security of the Panama Canal. U.S. and Panamanian officials held a formal opening ceremony Friday for Fuerzas Aliadas (Allied Forces) Panamax 2009, co-sponsored by U.S. Southern Command and the Government of Panama, in Panama City, Panama. Representatives of the 20 participating nations joined Jose Raul Mulino, Panama's Minister of Government and Justice, and U.S. Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Gerald W. Ketchum, Director of Stability for U.S. Southern Command, at the ceremony. FA Panamax 2009 is one of the largest multinational training exercises in the world, and is taking place in the waters off the coasts of Panama from Sept.

Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN, Commander, U.S. Southern Command, will deliver the keynote address at commencement exercises on June 16 for the 213 members of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s class of 2008. Admiral Stavridis assumed command of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in October 2006. SOUTHCOM is responsible for contingency planning, operations and security cooperation for Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the . SOUTHCOM is also responsible for ensuring the defense of the and the canal area. Located in , SOUTHCOM is comprised of more than 1,200 military and civilian personnel representing the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and several federal agencies.

Horizon Lines of Puerto Rico, a subsidiary of Horizon Lines, Inc. hosted a series of exercises conducted by The Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team (WMD-CST) at the company's port facility in Puerto Nuevo, Puerto Rico on December 4th. The team consists of members of military, law enforcement, and civilian agencies and entities including The Army National Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and members of Horizon Lines'safety and security management team. There are currently 32 such Civil Support Teams established nationwide. aboard a containership. The vessel Horizon Producer was utilized for the drill and members of the crew and terminal personnel also participated.

On Tuesday, September 11, New Yorkers — and the world — were jolted into a day of terror and tragedy as two commercial jetliners plowed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, leaving more than 6,000 missing persons. Seamen's Church Institute (SCI), a perennial source of strength and support for the International maritime community, went into action immediately, setting up a 24-hour relief effort that, over the course of the days following, has served as a safe haven for rescue workers, New York City police officers, firefighters and members of the Army National Guard. With its 175-year tradition of responding to mariners in need…

The members of U.S. Coast Guard Port Security Unit 308 (PSU 308), based in Gulfport, Miss., are scheduled to return home on Thursday to Gulfport’s Army National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center. The men and women of PSU 308 have completed a seven-month deployment, protecting the Port of Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait. At the request of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Commander U.S. Central Command, PSU 308 deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom Aug. 14. Their mission was to ensure the safe flow of equipment and supplies through the Port of Ash Shuaiba to coalition forces participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The fourth ship in the Navy's history named in honor of Rear Adm. William T. Sampson, USS Sampson (DDG 102), was commissioned Nov. 3 at Massport's Black Falcon Cruise Ship Terminal with more than a thousand spectators in attendance braving the wind and rain. The new Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine, was the first ship in five years commissioned in Boston. Sampson's last assignment in the Navy was commander of the Boston Navy Yard, and all four destroyers named in his honor have been commissioned in this historic harbor. Sampson's commissioning officially began with the traditional 19-gun salute by the oldest field artillery regiment in the nation, 1-101st Field Artillery Battalion, Massachusetts Army National Guard.

Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron (NCWS) 4 completed a six-week deployment to Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala, on March 4. The mission focused on providing landward and seaward security for three high value assets (HVA) and more than 1,300 Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen participating in Humanitarian Support Over the Shore 2007 (HSOTS-2007). Exercise HSOTS 2007 simulated a disaster relief assistance response to Puerto Quetzal that involved off-loading and transporting equipment to Joint Task Force (JTF) Belize and JTF Guatemala. More than 400 pieces of humanitarian assistance equipment were brought ashore and trucked to various locations throughout the region. The equipment will be used in the rural areas of Belize and Guatemala where schools and clinics will be built.

The Coast Guard suspended its search at 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday for missing boater Jason Henderson. The search for Henderson, 30, lasted seven days and covered more than 220,000 square miles (an area larger than the state of California). The search began August 14 when Henderson failed to return from a daylong fishing trip. He was reported missing by his father-in-law, Ronald Noah, to the Hawaii Fire Department at 10 p.m. A local fisherman spotted Henderson in his 12-foot Zodiac at 6 p.m. August 14 a half-mile from shore. The Coast Guard conducted searches using C-130 Hercules airplanes and HH-65 Dolphin helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point. The Navy also searched using P-3 Orions from Patrol Squadron 9 (VP-9) stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.