Guard Integrated Support Command News

The U.S. Coast Guard recognized five top performers who demonstrated exceptional performance in areas of leadership, work ethics, knowledge and community service during 2007. The awardees are: Guard Enlisted Person of the Year CCG Hickory Homeport Homer, Guard Reserve Enlisted Person of the Arthur, Lena M. Gavello Civilian Employee of the Christopher M. Todd New Auxiliarist of the Year Flotilla 6-11 Peggy Pies Non-Appropriated Fund Employee of the Guard Integrated Support Command

The commanding officer of the Boston-based Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba relieved of duties in a change of command on August 8, at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command in the North End. Cmdr. James B. McPherson will relieve Cmdr. Brian D. Perkins as the commanding officer of the Escanaba in a formal ceremony presided over by Vice Adm. James D. Hull, operational commander of all Coast Guard activities on the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. The ceremony restates the continuity of the commanding officer's authority and represents a total transfer of accountability from one individual to another. Perkins is transferring to the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., where he will assume the duties of the Coast Guard liaison officer to the Navy Warfare Command.

The Coast Guard will commission a new station in the port of Boston at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command in Boston's North End. Mayor Thomas M. Menino will serve as the keynote speaker. The commissioning ceremony formally signifies the establishment of the unit as an official independent Coast Guard Station. For Station Boston, it is a return to an official status the unit held until 1996, when a realignment of operational forces throughout the Coast Guard downsized the station to seasonal operation under the control of Coast Guard Station Pt. Allerton in Hull, Mass. Immediately following the tragic events of September 11th…

A new Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST 91110) was commissioned on Oct. Vice Adm. James Hull, Coast Guard Atlantic Area Commander, presided as the official for the ceremony. Craig P. Coy, Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Port Authority, was the guest speaker. MSSTs are domestic mobile units that possess specialized training and capabilities to perform a broad spectrum of port safety and security operations. They are modeled after the Coast Guard's Port Security Units (PSUs) and Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs). They will be staffed with Coast Guard men and women, ready to respond or deploy, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. MSST 91110 is the ninth Coast Guard anti-terrorism/force protection to be established.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office and Hampton Roads Maritime Association are sponsoring a safety seminar for crewmembers on commercial tugs. This year's seminar will be held at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Thursday, May 30 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Recent major accidents involving towing vessels highlight the importance of this unique effort to prevent accidents. The Seminar includes lessons learned from significant accidents. The agenda is modified each year to address new or developing trends. This year's seminar includes a session on navigation in reduced visibility as a result of two collisions last year that occurred in fog.

The Coast Guard will host a multi-agency, Homeland Security field exercise entitled "Port Rio Grande," focusing on the consequence management of a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) on Monday at 8 a.m. on Coast Guard Island. The exercise will conclude at approximately 2 p.m. The exercise will test the interoperability of procedures and equipment in response to a WMD onboard a Coast Guard Cutter. Participants will focus on setting up a shore-side command post, physically securing Coast Guard Island from further infiltration, proper medical procedures for a mass casualty incident and the possible introduction of chemical and biological weapons.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane will welcome a new commanding officer in a change of command ceremony here Tuesday at 10 a.m. The crew will welcome Cmdr. John W. McKinley and bid farewell to Capt. Christopher P. Scraba. McKinley comes to the Harriet Lane from an assignment as executive officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell, homeported in Alameda, Calif. McKinley graduated from George Mason University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration. In 1990, he graduated from the Coast Guard's Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, Va. From January to July 2003, McKinley deployed to the Middle East as the first officer in charge…

Coast Guard Integrated Support Command New Orleans is scheduled to host a change-of-command and retirement ceremony for the commanding officer of Coast Guard ISC New Orleans, Friday at at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility. During the ceremony, Capt. Peter Oittinen will assume the responsibilities of commanding officer of Coast Guard ISC New Orleans from Capt. David J. Regan. Rear Adm. Ronald T. Hewitt, Maintenance and Logistic Atlantic commander, is scheduled to preside over the change-of-command ceremony. Capt. Regan, the commanding officer of ISC New Orleans since 2004, dilitgently oversaw the relocation and reconstruction of the ISC after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Capt. Regan will retire with more than 27 years of Coast Guard service. Capt.

The Coast Guard and the Virginia Marine Police are combining forces in southeast Virginia to sponsor a search and rescue forum from 8:30a.m.-3:00p.m. at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command Portsmouth on Tuesday. The forum will include classroom search and rescue training, underway search and rescue techniques, rescue and survival equipment procedures and helicopter familiarity. More than 70 maritime search and rescue first responders will attend the forum. The search and rescue forum is aimed at building upon existing interagency cooperation by providing training and enhanced understanding between coastal and maritime search and rescue agencies.

The Coast Guard is advising all mariners to take safety precautions while it works with local, state and other federal agencies to prepare for Isidore. The service is constantly monitoring the storm and coordinating any necessary response with emergency and law enforcement officials. to affect rescue operations after the storm," said Capt. Bradford Black, chief of operations for the Eighth Coast Guard District. The best safety measure is to keep away from the water completely. Capt. Jake Korn, chief of search and rescue for the district. The Coast Guard is recalling essential personnel to fulfill any search and rescue, aids to navigation and environmental safety missions following the storm.

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA, and the University of Hawaii's Sea Grant Program have just returned from a joint mission to remove thousands of pounds of deadly marine debris from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. The Coast Guard Cutter Walnut, a 225-ft. buoy tender home ported in Honolulu, departed on Aug. 22 for a 1,000 mile trip to the remote islands of Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Their goal was to remove as much lethal marine debris as possible. Walnut's crew removed 21,110 pounds of fishing net and other marine trash from more than 60 sites across the atoll using the ship's crane, lift bags, divers and just plain elbow grease. The Kukui, another 225-ft. Coast Guard cutter from Honolulu, joined the debris recovery effort on Sept.