Coast Guard Units Honored with Awards

The Eighth Coast Guard District and Coast Guard Integrated Support Commands New Orleans and St. Louis were awarded the 2002 Admiral Russell R. Waesche Award at the Coast Guard Congressional Reception in Washington, D.C., Monday. The award, sponsored by the Coast Guard Reserve Officers Association, recognizes the Coast Guard district and corresponding integrated support command(s) judged to best utilize the skills of reserve members to augment and assist active-duty forces. The Eighth District and ISCs New Orleans and St. Louis provided leadership and partnership to support 1,433 reservists and 2,854 active-duty personnel in fiscal year 2002. Those men and women, assigned to 12 marine safety offices, seven groups and numerous stations, air stations, vessels, and other units, safeguarded 15,490 miles of coastline and 10,300 miles of inland waterways in all or parts of 26 states. Eighth District reservists conducted 1,200 boarding of high-interest vessels, established 385 security zones and performed more than 1,400 sea marshal boardings in fiscal year 2002.