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National Guard News

18 Dec 2023

The Man Behind the 'Jones Act'

Senator Wesley Livsey Jones (Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, photograph by Harris and Ewing, [LC-DIG-hec-15427])

Senator Wesley Livsey Jones gave his name to the famous “Jones Act” governing U.S. domestic maritime trade. But what do really know about him? It turns out that he was much more than a leading merchant marine policy maker. (i)Jones had a long career in the U.S. House of Representatives before he was a Senator, was an effective legislator, an astute politician, one of the hardest working legislators of his era, and always viewed as honest and forthright. His many maritime legislative successes included the Merchant Marine Act…

13 Apr 2023

25 People Die as Migrant Boat Sinks Off Sfax, Tunisia

©snyde/AdobeStock

Tunisia's coastguard has recovered 15 more bodies of migrants, bringing the death toll from a shipwreck off Tunisia to 25, a security official told Reuters on Thursday.A wooden boat packed with about 110 migrants sank on Wednesday off the coast of the city of Sfax. Seventy-six people were rescued while the rest are still missing.Drowning accidents off Tunisia have dramatically increased in recent weeks, leaving dozens dead and missing, amid a sharp rise in migrant boats heading towards Italy from the Tunisian coast.The coastguard recovered the bodies of 14 migrants…

27 Mar 2023

At Least 29 Migrants Die When Two Boats Sink off Tunisia

Map of Tunisia in red © harvepino/AdobeStock

At least 29 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa died when their two boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the Tunisian coast guard said on Sunday. Separately, in the last four days, five migrant boats have sunk off the coast of the southern city of Sfax, leaving 67 missing and nine dead, after a significant increase in boats heading towards Italy.Tunisia has taken over from Libya as a main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe.Houssem Jebabli…

28 Feb 2023

Salvors Recover Sunken Tug in Alaska

(Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

Salvage workers have recovered a partially submerged tugboat at the National Guard Dock in Gastineau Channel, near Juneau, Alaska.the 107-foot tugboat Tagish was secured on the beach nearby on February 19, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Melino’s Marine Services, the contracted salvage company, successfully removed the vessel with its barge and crane system.Contractors dewatered and defueled the vessel prior to dismantling it and placing the sections on a barge for final disposal out-of-state.“The cooperative efforts from federal…

28 Feb 2023

USCG Research and Development Center Turns 50

Admiral Linda L. Fagan, Commandant of the Coast Guard, addresses attendees at the RDC's 50th anniversary event. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) on Monday celebrated its 50th anniversary during an open house event at the center’s campus next to Fort Trumbull in New London, Conn.The event, designed to showcase RDC history and ongoing work, and provide an opportunity to speak with its researchers, focused on several key themes, such as the impact past and current researchers have had on the service as well as appreciation for Southeastern Connecticut, including the City of New London, for its support to the Coast Guard and its resident RDC.On Sept.

10 Feb 2023

Salvors to Remove Partially Sunk Tug in Alaska

Tug vessel Tagish is partially submerged at the National Guard Dock in the vicinity of the Alaska Marine Lines yard in the Gastineau Channel, Juneau, Alaska, December 29, 2022. Coast Guard Sector Juneau crew members and contractors are responding the incident. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Sector Juneau)

Removal operations for a tug partially submerged at the National Guard Dock in Gastineau Channel, near Juneau, Alaska, are scheduled, weather pending, to be conducted this week and into the weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard said.Melino’s Marine Services, the contracted salvage company, plans to remove the vessel utilizing a barge and crane system that are currently enroute from Bellingham, Wash.The operation is expected to take multiple days pending weather conditions. Once the vessel is removed…

23 Dec 2022

Texas Beefs Up Security with New RHIBs

(Photo: Ocean Craft Marine)

The state of Texas is putting into service a fleet of new, highly capable patrol boats as it works to detect, disrupt and deter criminal activity along the Rio Grande."Now, more than ever, it is imperative that our law enforcement officers and Texas National Guard soldiers adopt innovative solutions," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said during a recent visit tour the state’s enhanced assets along the U.S.-Mexico border. According to Abbott’s official website, the Governor has secured $4 billion in funding for Texas' border security efforts.

21 Nov 2022

Marine Forces Reserve Eyes a New Small Craft Mission

Vendors presented and showcased four small craft on the water for Marine Forces Reserve, the Defense Innovation Unit and Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory at a small-boat evaluation and demonstration event on Nov. 2, 2022, at the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion headquarters in Tampa, Fla. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Photo By Cpl. James Stanfield, illustration by Cpl. Trystan Taft)

Aligned with its Campaign Plan 2030 strategic themes, “relevant, ready and responsive,” Marine Forces Reserve (MFR) is pursuing the rapid acquisition of small expeditionary watercraft to provide capacity and platforms in support of Service-level Force Design 2030 experimentation efforts.By partnering with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and leveraging their Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) solicitation process, which is an iterative and competitive phased approach that includes vendor presentations and extensive review of materials…

31 Oct 2022

Interview: Dan Keane, Commanding Officer, USCG RDC

Photo: Greg Trauthwein

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…

23 Sep 2020

A Killing at Sea Implicates the Armed Forces in Lawless Venezuela

Around midnight on February 23, Eulalio Bravo, a marine electrician, was dozing in his rack aboard the San Ramon, an oil tanker anchored off the coast of Venezuela.Suddenly, he heard footsteps pounding along the passageway outside. His captain, Jaime Herrera, cried for help."Be still!" an unfamiliar voice ordered.A gun fired.By the time Bravo and eight other shipmates emerged to see what had happened, the captain lay dead, a gunshot in the back of his head. Herrera's stateroom had been pillaged, drawers flung open, his bunk overturned. The killers were gone, as were thousands of dollars the captain kept under lock and key, according to crew members interviewed by Reuters.The murder…

29 Aug 2020

Video: Pararescue Jumpers Aid Injured Crewman 1,300 Miles off California

(Courtesy U.S. Air National Guard)

The U.S. Coast Guard and Air National Guard completed a four-day, long-range, joint rescue mission to medevac a critically injured 39-year-old man aboard a cargo ship located approximately 1,300 miles west of San Francisco, Friday.The Hong-Kong-flagged bulk carrier Ocean Applaud contacted 11th Coast Guard District command center watchstanders Monday regarding a crewmember who reportedly fell 30 feet while working on the vessel.Due to the limited offshore range of Coast Guard aircraft…

30 Aug 2019

Florida Braces for a Hit as Dorian Strengthens

The NOAA National Hurricane Center Storm Cone situation at 1100 hours local on 30 August 2019.

Florida's governor on Friday urged residents in the state to stock up on at least a week's worth of food, water and medicine and to prepare to lose power and cellphone service for days after Hurricane Dorian makes landfall early next week.The slow march and rising intensity of the storm, which is moving in a northwestern direction to the Bahamas, has alarmed forecasters who worry parts of Florida will be walloped by strong winds, a storm surge and heavy rain for an extended period."I think there’s a pretty high degree of certainty that this is going to be a major hurricane…

11 Jul 2019

New Orleans Braces for TS Barry

File Image: A containership transits the Port of New Orleans on a better day. Image CREDIT: Port NOLA

Some residents and visitors prepared to flee New Orleans on Thursday as Tropical Storm Barry closed in and city officials warned of severe flooding if it makes landfall by early Saturday as the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2019 season.The storm had maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (64 kph) as of 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.Forecasters issued a storm-surge warning for a stretch of Louisiana coastline south of already-sodden New Orleans stretching from the mouth of the Atchafalaya River to Shell Beach.

05 Mar 2019

HII: 157 Apprentice School Graduates

Jill Biden, the former Second Lady of the United States, delivers commencement address at The Apprentice School graduation. Photo by Ashley Cowan/HII

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) hosted commencement exercises on Saturday, March 2, 2019, for 157 graduates of The Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding. The apprenticeship is a rigorous four- to eight-year program designed to develop the next generation of shipyard leaders. The Apprentice School, which first opened in 1919 with 126 apprentices, is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year. Over the last 100 years, the school has produced more than 10,800 graduates.“To casually say that you build ships falls woefully short of how you serve the United States of America…

31 Jan 2019

Venezuela Government Threatens to Board Tanker to Have Fuel Discharged

Venezuela's intelligence police and the National Guard threatened on Thursday to board a tanker docked at state-run PDVSA's Cardon port to pressure the vessel's crew to discharge diesel sold by U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum, according to four sources.Venezuela's fuel inventories have drained this week since the United States imposed new sanctions on PDVSA, making it difficult for customers to pay for Venezuelan crude exports and to get paid to deliver imports needed for the country's domestic market.Reporting by Mircely Guanipa and Marianna Parraga

26 Dec 2018

Soldier-run PDVSA and AWOL Oil Output

© natanaelginting/Adobe Stock

Last July 6, Major General Manuel Quevedo joined his wife, a Catholic priest and a gathering of oil workers in prayer in a conference room at the headquarters of Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA.The career military officer, who for the past year has been boss at the troubled state-owned oil company, was at no ordinary mass. The gathering, rather, was a ceremony at which he and other senior oil ministry officials asked God to boost oil output."This place of peace and spirituality…

11 Oct 2018

Hurricane Michael Races Northeast, Leaving Devastation in Florida

The latest storm track for Michael. (CREDIT NHC)

Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland, headed northeast on Thursday, weakened but still set to soak Georgia and the Carolinas after devastating the Florida Panhandle.By 6 AM on Thursday, heavy rain and wind had reached as far north as Charlotte, North Carolina and the Western North Carolina mountains. The center of the storm was located over Augusta, Georgia, moving north rapidly at more than 20 MPH in a north / northeast heading. Charlotte…

10 Oct 2018

U.S. East Coast Ports Await Yet Another Storm

The latest storm path predictions (CREDIT: NHC)

Hurricane Michael, now a Category 4 storm, will be the second hurricane in two months to significantly affect ports on the U.S. eastern seaboard. Eastern North Carolina in particular is only now recovering from Florence.The U.S. Coast Guard has set conditions X-Ray for ports in Georgia and South Carolina in preparation for Hurricane Michael. The storm is now expected to make landfall by Wednesday afternoon. While gale force winds are expected within the next 48 hours, these ports can remain open to commercial traffic.

09 Oct 2018

Hurricane Michael Bears Down on Florida

Hurricane Michael is expected to strengthen today in the Gulf of Mexico, with the Florida panhandle directly in its dangerous path.Thousands of local residents in Wakulla, Gulf and Bay counties have been ordered to leave. Forecasters now say that Michael could be a Category 3 storm when it makes landfall on Wednesday. That prediction, if true, would make the storm the strongest to hit this area in at least a decade.As of 3 AM CDT on Tuesday, Michael was a Category 1 storm, with sustained winds of up to 90 miles per hour. It was gaining strength following a path that took it along Cuba's western tip, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

26 Feb 2018

USNS Burlington (EPF 10) Christened

Austal celebrated the christening of Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) the future USNS Burlington (EPF 10) with a ceremony at its state-of-the-art shipbuilding facility this morning. Burlington is the tenth of 12 EPFs that Austal has under contract with the U.S. Navy with a combined value of over $1.9 billion. “Austal is excited to get Burlington one step closer to joining the fleet” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle. Rear Adm. Dee L. Mewbourne, Commander, Military Sealift Command, spoke at today’s event. “T-EPFs are operating around the world supporting maritime security operations, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, logistics support, and multiple international and joint exercises,” said Mewbourne. The ship’s sponsor, Mrs.

10 Jan 2018

Coast Guard Rescues Family from a Mudslide

Photo courtesy of USCG

The U.S. Coast Guard said it conducted multiple rescues during a mudslide response in Santa Barbara County, Tuesday. At approximately 9 a.m., Tuesday, a Coast Guard Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched to assist Santa Barbara County Fire Department with rescues after heavy rains caused mudslides in the Santa Barbara County area. At approximately 11:30 a.m., the Jayhawk crew was notified of a family needing assistance in Carpentaria, Calif. The crew arrived on scene and lowered both rescue swimmers to evaluate the situation.

29 Sep 2017

U.S. Army General to Lead to Puerto Rico Recovery Effort

The Pentagon named a senior general to command military relief operations in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Thursday and the Trump administration sent a Cabinet emissary to the island as U.S. lawmakers called for a more robust response to the crisis. The U.S. territory of 3.4 million people struggled through a ninth day with virtually no electricity, patchy communications and shortages of fuel, clean water and other essentials in the wake of Hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm to hit the island in nearly 90 years. The storm struck on Sept. 20 with lethal, roof-ripping force and torrential rains that caused widespread flooding and heavily damaged homes, roads and other infrastructure. The storm killed more than 30 people across the Caribbean, including at least 16 in Puerto Rico.

19 Sep 2017

USS Iwo Jima, USS New York Return to Mayport

The amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21), along with multiple embarked Navy and Marine Corps units, completed initial rescue and recovery operations in support of federal and state officials Sept. 17, following Hurricane Irma's devastation of the Florida Keys. Iwo Jima and New York are scheduled to return home Sept 19. Led by Commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10, the Navy and Marine Corps units partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and with state and local officials until civilian authorities and the Florida National Guard could take over long-term recovery operations.