Pacific Strike Team News

The Coast Guard Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to the education and welfare of all Coast Guard members and their families, announced today that in 2016 it has awarded a record 128 new scholarships. Combined with multi-year scholarship recipients and three Fallen Heroes Scholars, the Foundation is currently supporting 163 students totaling $576,500 in support this year. In just over 26 years, the Foundation's scholarship program has paid out more than $3.8 million to more than 630 college-aged young adults to help the families of Coast Guard members achieve their goals of higher education. Of the students receiving Foundation assistance…

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Fir, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Astoria, Oregon, participated in a Spilled Oil Response System exercise near Blake Island, Washington, Wednesday. The exercise was part of an annual response exercise and included members of the Coast Guard 13th District Response Advisor Team, Pacific Strike Team out of Novato, California, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Washington State Department of Ecology, Harley Marine Service Inc., Navy Region Northwest, Washington State Ferries, and the Marine Spill Response Corporation.

The Coast Guard is scheduled to participate in training exercises Thursday, in the vicinity of Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) San Diego 91109 will partner with U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection, Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) as participants in the Center for Asymmetric Warfare exercise Coastal Trident 2014. The Pacific Strike Team (PST) and National Guard 9th Civil Support Team will practice first aid and decontamination capabilities. MSST San Diego was created under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 in direct response to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and is a part of the Department of Homeland Security’s layered strategy directed at protecting seaports and waterways.

Members of the Coast Guard Research and Development Center, under the guidance of the Coast Guard’s recently released Arctic Strategy, worked with partner federal agencies and scientific organizations to successfully complete a simulated spilled oil response and recovery exercise aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy on the Arctic ice field Tuesday. The exercise involved air, surface and underwater assets to simulate the detection and recovery of oil from ice-strewn water. Assets…

1881- The light was first shown at Tillamook Lighthouse, located 19 miles south of the Columbia River entrance. 1897- Secretary of Treasury empowered to bestow life-saving medals. 1969-CGC Point Banks while on patrol south of Cam Rahn Bay received a call for help from a nine-man ARVN detachment trapped by two Vietcong platoons. Petty Officers Willis Goff and Larry Villareal took a 14-foot Boston whaler ashore to rescue the ARVN troops. In the face of heavy automatic weapons fire, all nine men were evacuated in two trips. For their actions Goff and Villareal were each awarded the Silver Star. 1982-"Streamlining" plans: the Commandant, ADM John B.

According to a report from Pacific Daily News, Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team members assisted with salvage operations for the sunken dry dock, Big Blue, in Apra Harbor by helping with a fuel transfer Jan. 6. Rough seas and high surfs caused the dry dock to take on too much water in its tanks, according to Pacific Daily News reports. Approximately 13,000 gallons of diesel oil and 2,000 gallons of waste oil will be transferred from the dry dock. (Source: Pacific Daily News)

1791- Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton authorized an allowance of 9 cents for every ration that Revenue officers did not draw. 1922- Congress authorized officers of the Customs and of the Coast Guard to board and examine vessels, reaffirming authority to seize and secure vessels for security of the revenue under act of March 2, 1799. 1938-A hurricane hit the northeast coast, wreaking havoc among the lighthouses and the light keepers there. First assistant keeper Walter B. Eberle of the Whale Rock light was killed when his lighthouse was swept into the sea. The wife of head keeper Arthur A. Small was killed when she was swept away from the Palmer Island Light Station.

Representatives from the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, Arctic region stakeholders and established responders are scheduled to hold a joint “Canada - United States North” (CANUSNORTH) tabletop exercise March 16 and 17 at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage. This biennial exercise provides an opportunity for all responders to work together to consult on local issues and improve communications and coordination for potential responses to pollution incidents in the contiguous waters of the Arctic Ocean and Beaufort Sea. Over thirty response organizations and regional stakeholders have been invited to participate. These include the Canadian Coast Guard, Environment Canada, U.S. Seventeenth Coast Guard District, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Anchorage, the U.S.

1791- Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton authorized an allowance of 9 cents for every ration that Revenue officers did not draw. 1922- Congress authorized officers of the Customs and of the Coast Guard to board and examine vessels, reaffirming authority to seize and secure vessels for security of the revenue under act of March 2, 1799. 1938-A hurricane hit the northeast coast, wreaking havoc among the lighthouses and the light keepers there. First assistant keeper Walter B. Eberle of the Whale Rock light was killed when his lighthouse was swept into the sea. The wife of head keeper Arthur A. Small was killed when she was swept away from the Palmer Island Light Station.

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.

Members of the Coast Guard's Pacific and Atlantic Strike Teams are assisting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at a contaminated soil cleanup and a hazardous materials cleanup. One member of the Atlantic Strike Team and one from the Pacific Strike Team deployed to the hazardous materials cleanup of an Orange, Calif., plating shop Sunday and are currently provide contractor monitoring, site safety and sampling support. A member of the Pacific Strike Team deployed to Gallup, N.M., Thursday, where a project is underway to clean up radium contaminated soil at the site of an old uranium mine. The Coast Guardsman is providing contractor monitoring and site safety support.

Eleven members of the Coast Guard National Strike Force are scheduled to return to the United States this week, after deploying to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The 11 members are assigned to the Pacific Strike Team in Novato, Calif.; the Atlantic Strike Team in Ft. Dix, N.J.; the Gulf Strike Team in Mobile, Ala.; and the National Strike Force Coordination Center in Elizabeth City, N.C. Strike Team Members are trained to respond to oil spills and hazardous chemical releases. At the height of Operation Enduring Freedom, twelve members were deployed. During deployment to the Persian Gulf, they utilized their…