Air Facility News

An ailing crewmember was airlifted from a Panama-flagged bulk carrier of the U.S. West Coast.The U.S. Coast Guard said it received a report Saturday evening of a 29-year-old male who had suffered from a stroke and related medical complications aboard the vessel Malto Hope approximately 1,000 miles west of the Oregon coast.Watchstanders at the 13th Coast Guard District Command Center recommended the ship transit closer to shore to be within range for a medical evacuation from a Coast Guard helicopter.Once the vessel was within response range…

The U.S. Coast Guard said it medevaced a 41-year-old man from the Teal Arrow, a 544-foot cargo vessel, approximately 50 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C., Tuesday.An Air Facility Charleston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew hoisted and transported the man to the Charleston Executive Airport where emergency medical services took him to the Medical University of South Carolina for further medical care.At approximately 4:44 p.m. Monday, Coast Guard Sector Charleston command center…

Marking his first official travel to the Asia-Pacific region, Vice President Mike Pence made his first ceremonial stop in Japan at Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, April 18. During the Japan portion of his regional visit, the vice president will travel to Tokyo where he will meet with Prime Minister Shinz Abe and lead the inaugural U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue with Deputy Prime Minister Tar As. The vice president will also participate in a listening session, followed by remarks to the U.S. and Japanese business community. Naval Air Facility Atsugi Commanding Officer Capt. John Bushey, from Spencer, Iowa, said NAF Atsugi serving as the…

A U.S. Coast Guard aircrew from Air Facility Newport rescued a man from a capsized boat about a mile west of Devil’s Punchbowl State Park, Monday morning. The aircrew safely hoisted the man aboard the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and transported him to the Air Facility in good condition. A video is available here. “He was wearing his lifejacket when the boat capsized and that allowed him to stay above the surface and then climb onto the boat,” said Lt. j.g. Dustin Brecher, Dolphin helicopter pilot.

The Navy's annual Installation Excellence Award winners were announced today by Commander, Navy Installations Command. This installation excellence award program recognizes the Navy's top three large and small installations, and rewards installation performance consistent with the command's strategic goals and Office of the Secretary of Defense criteria for the DoD-wide Commander in Chief Installation Excellence Awards. 1st Place: Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island (led by Capt. M. K. 2nd Place: NAS Lemoore (led by Capt. M. G. 3rd Place: Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay (led by Capt. J. W. 1st Place: NAS Whiting Field (led by Capt. 2nd Place: Naval Air Facility El Centro (led by Capt. W. C. 3rd Place: Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg (led by Capt.

The search for a man who reportedly jumped overboard from a freighter near Big Sable Point in Lake Michigan early Sunday morning has been suspended, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan received a report just before 2 a.m. Sunday, from the motor vessel Stewart J. Cort, a 989-foot, U.S.-flagged freighter owned by the Interlake Steamship Company, that they had a man overboard approximately 3-4 miles offshore of Big Sable Point. Crew members reportedly witnessed the man climb over the rail and jump from the vessel.

The Department of the Navy, after carefully weighing the strategic, operational, and environmental consequences of the proposed action, has decided to base the F-35C aircraft at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California. This will be accomplished by implementing Alternative 2 of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for U.S. Navy F-35C West Coast Homebasing. Under Alternative 2, a total of 100 F-35C aircraft in seven Navy Pacific Fleet squadrons (10 aircraft per squadron) and the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) (30 aircraft) will be based at NAS Lemoore beginning in 2016. The proposed action will be completed in the 2028 timeframe. The Navy has determined Alternative 2 best meets the operational needs of the Navy and, where feasible, minimizes potential environmental impacts.

Crews have recovered a third body, Monday, from a collision between a recreational vessel and a barge that occurred late Friday evening in the Cal-Sag Channel near Palos Hills, Illinois. At about 10 a.m., local time, a man's body was recovered about 1.5 miles west of the Worth Boat Launch. He was the last of the three victims recovered during the search. The man was not wearing a life jacket. The case began on Friday at about 11 p.m., local time, when a crewmember onboard the 66-foot uninspected towing vessel Bill Arnold notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan, in Milwaukee, of a collision with a 19-foot pleasure craft in the Cal-Sag Channel near mile marker 311.

The Coast Guard and local agencies are searching for at least three people in the Cal-Sag Channel near Palos Hills, Illinois, following a vessel collision late Friday evening. The names of the persons are not being released. Just before 11 p.m. local time, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan in Milwaukee were notified by the 66-foot UTV Bill Arnold of a collision with a 19-foot pleasure craft in the Cal-Sag Channel near mile marker 311. Sector Lake Michigan dispatched a boat crew from Coast Guard Station Calumet Harbor, Illinois, aboard a 25-foot response boat. They also requested a Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Facility Waukegan, Illinois, but aircrews have been unable to assist in the search due to fog.

The Coast Guard and two good Samaritan boaters rescued five boaters, Saturday evening, from southern Lake Michigan, but are still searching for one missing person. The names of the boaters rescued and the missing person are not being released by the Coast Guard, and there is no Coast Guard imagery for this case. At about 6:30 p.m., a rescue crew aboard a 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Michigan City, Indiana, responded to a report from La Porte, Indiana, 911 dispatch of six people in distress one and a half miles off the shore of the Michigan City Lighthouse. Upon arriving at the scene, the rescue crew pulled three adults out of the water and good Samaritan boaters on-scene pulled two more people out of the water.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, May 27 in Abe's office to discuss regional security and maritime partnership opportunities between the United States and Japan. The meeting between Japan's political leader and the U.S. Navy service chief underscored the importance each nation places on maintaining their strong maritime relationship to achieve strength and stability in the region through cooperative efforts. "Given the increasingly severe security environment in the Asia-Pacific region the importance of the Japan-U.S.

U.S. Coast Guard air and boatcrews assisted three men after a 55-foot commercial fishing vessel allided with a jetty near Newport, Ore., Monday evening. The crew of the fishing vessel Eclipse contacted the Coast Guard via VHF-FM radio at 8:15 p.m., reporting that they had lost propulsion and had struck the jetty and began taking on water. Two crewmembers were able to make their way onto the jetty, and one man was helped safely to shore by a shore party from Station Yaquina Bay, in Newport and waiting emergency medical services. The second crewmember, reportedly exhibiting signs of mild hypothermia, was safely hoisted by a Coast Guard aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Facility Newport. He was transported to AirFac Newport and transferred to waiting EMS.

The vice chief of naval operations (VCNO) met with several key leaders within the government of Japan and its Ministry of Defense Aug. 26. Adm. Mark Ferguson is at the beginning of a series of engagements in Tokyo, at several U.S. Navy installations in Region Japan, and with neighboring local government officials this week. During this first day of the trip, Ferguson met with the Japan Minister of Defense, Itsunori Onodera, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Vice Chief of Staff, Vice Adm. Eiichi Funada.

On October 7 in Washington, D. C., the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS), will award its Gold Medal and a cash prize to United States Coast Guardsman Roman D. Baligad, Aviation Survival Technician Second Class for a heroic rescue on 30 December, 2002. AFRAS will also present its AMVER plaque to the captain and crew of the Japanese-flagged ship M/V AUTOMOBIL ACE for exceptional humanitarian service in a rescue at sea. The award ceremony and reception will be co-hosted by The Honorable Howard Coble, co-Chairman, U.S. Congressional Coast Guard Caucus. The Gold Medal awardee – Roman D. Baligad - is cited for heroic achievement while serving as rescue swimmer aboard helicopter CGNR 6533 out of CG Air Facility Newport, OR.

The Coast Guard will begin a formal marine casualty investigation into the circumstances surrounding the leading to the sinking of the tug Valour, which sank 37-miles off the coast of Cape Fear, N.C., January 18, resulting in multiple loss of life. The hearings will begin Wednesday March 1, at 9 a.m. at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg's Prevention Office at 155 Columbia Drive in Tampa, Fla. The investigation is intended to determine causes of the accident and obtain information that may prevent or reduce the occurrence of similar incidents. Valour sank in 15-to-20 foot seas and gale force winds off the Carolina coast. Three people died in the accident.

Coast Guard crews are currently responding to a distress call from the 135-foot tugboat, Valour, towing a 500-foot barge loaded with approximately 140,000 barrels of petroleum by-product 37 miles off the coast of Cape Fear, N.C. The Valour radioed the Coast Guard for help on Tuesday because they had a crewmember fall overboard, and their vessel was taking on water. A rescue helicopter from Air Facility Charleston launched to assist, and upon arriving at the scene they rescued one crewmember and transported him to Myrtle Beach Hospital, S.C. The remaining crewmembers stayed with the struggling vessel until the Justin Fox, a 125-foot tugboat in the area, arrived on scene.

A Coast Guard rescue crew from Station Georgetown, S.C. rescued a 43-year-old Florida man about 42 miles southeast of Little River Inlet, S.C. Terry Watson, of Homosassa Spring, Fla., is believed to have been at sea for more than two months. His last known port of call was Miami, Fla., sailing the 23-foot vessel Psedorca July 19. Georgetown rescue members are scheduled to bring Watson into Coast Guard Station Georgetown about 10 p.m. last night. He will be transferred to emergency medical services for further transfer to the local hospital. Watson is reportedly suffering from dehydration, delusion and shock. The captain of the charter fishing boat Gulf Stream spotted the Psedorca.

Clean up crews working on the Cooper River Oil Spill are concentrating their efforts today on the remaining heavily concentrated areas of recoverable oil between Piers Delta and Pier Papa on the Old Navy Base in Charleston. Contractors will also be replacing saturated absorbent boom with new absorbent boom to facilitate collections efforts. To date, more than 700 gallons of oil has been recovered using skimmers, absorbent pads and boom. The spill still remains a mystery but more than 100 people from 10 different federal, state and local agencies are aggressively working to clean up the oil spill. Presently, over $225,000 has been spent on the recovery effort and the ceiling for the clean up was raised from $500,000 to $750,000 today.