A group of Coast Guardsmen at a Marine Corps Ball stick out like a handful of sore thumbs. However, this noticeable group was welcomed with a standing ovation and handshakes by the Marines of All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 121 during this year’s ball.

This year the squadron not only celebrated the 236th birthday of the Marine Corps and the 70th anniversary of the squadron being established, but they also welcomed two of their members back to the squadron who were injured when they ejected during a training flight over the Pacific Ocean in August.

That’s where the Coast Guard members come in. These particular Coast Guardsmen were members of a search and rescue crew from Air Station Sacramento who helped locate the downed aviators amid the debris of their plane 30 miles off the coast of Mexico, Aug. 10, 2011.The crew of the CG-1712, a C-130 Hercules airplane, was already airborne en route to a law enforcement patrol off the coast of southern California when they heard radio transmissions about lost communications with an F/A-18 Hornet from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The Hercules crew immediately diverted to join Navy and Marine Corps crews searching for their downed comrades.

The CG-1712 coordinated with a Marine Corps C-130 crew that was also searching and spotted the men in the water. Once the survivors were sighted, the C-130 crew vectored in the other rescue crews to their location.

Thanks to the combined efforts of air and surface crews, as well as those working in command centers throughout California, the downed Marines were found after several hours in the 60-degree water. They were battered, but alive when they were hoisted from the water by a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and transported to Balboa Naval Medical Center in San Diego.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Conant, former 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Commanding General, and Sgt. Maj. Don Gallagher, former 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Sergeant Major, visited Coast Guard Sector San Diego in August to speak to the crews who helped in the search, but the squadron also wanted to thank the Sacramento crew.

“We all felt extremely fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to aid in the rescue of our downed aviator brothers,” said Lt. j.g. Jarret Stricker, one of the pilots of the CG-1712 and himself a prior Marine. “The display of teamwork between our sea-service partners was truly inspiring and to see the injured aircrew well on their way to recovery is a testament to this cooperation.”

Luckily, this cooperation and the quick actions of rescue crews gave the squadron something extra to celebrate at this year’s ball.

Losing 33 pounds while surviving on canned tuna for weeks sounds like something from the plot of a Hollywood survival movie, but for Tom Hussey it is part of his yearly ritual when preparing for a bodybuilding competition.

This year, Hussey competed at the national level for the first time in the National Physique Committee’s USA Bodybuilding Championship held in Las Vegas, July 29-30, against other top bodybuilders from around the country.

Hussey’s wife, Erykah, and daughters, Oliviah and Gloriah, braved the desert heat to be with him during the competition, which was held on the campus of University of Nevada Las Vegas.

To compete in the nationals, considered the major league of bodybuilding, competitors must win a state or regional qualifier. Only about 25 bodybuilders were able to compete in the middle weight class with Hussey.  Achieving this level of athleticism is demanding, but Hussey manages to balance bodybuilding with a full-time Coast Guard career and being a husband and father.

“Erykah probably thinks there’s something deeply psychologically wrong with me,” Hussey said. “But, the kids think it’s cool that their dad has big muscles. They’re probably my biggest fans.”

The preparation for Hussey’s first national-level competition began back in San Diego during the first week of June. This is when Hussey’s weight training increases in intensity.

This is also when the tuna comes into play.

“The most important part of this is diet,” he said, “I’d say it’s about 80 percent of being successful.”

Hussey explained that he has a zero carbohydrate diet during the weeks leading up to a show, relying on protein to provide his body with energy. He takes in approximately 400 grams of protein per day, usually in the form of a dozen cans of tuna seasoned with fat-free mayonnaise or mustard.

 “The idea is to lose weight while maintaining the muscle,” he said.

This accentuates the definition of the muscles, and makes the striations and vascularity more visible during judging.

The days are busy when Hussey is preparing for a competition. Starting at 6 a.m., he begins with a high-intensity cardio work out. Then, he goes to work at the San Diego recruiting office, where he specializes in recruiting for the Coast Guard Reserve. Next, it’s back to the gym for several hours of weight training. Then, it’s back home to the normal bustle of family life.

Instead of being overwhelmed by the demanding schedule, Hussey finds that he is able to thrive.

“There are a lot of rules you have to live by if you’re going to be a successful bodybuilder,” he said, “Rest, eat, manage your time, everything you do has to be by the clock. Having kids actually made me a much better bodybuilder.”

His daughters have picked up some of his passion for the sport.

“We went to one of Tom’s shows when Gloriah was about two,” Eyrykah said, “She was posing with Tom and yelling his name while he was on stage.”

Bodybuilding can seem like an unusual sport to take up. Hussey traces the origins of his passion for bodybuilding to his freshman year of high school, when his motivation to bulk up was self-preservation.

“I was a bully magnet. I was a good athlete, but I was a bully magnet,” Hussey said. “I was about 5 feet tall and 95 pounds, so I was a easy target for real ‘tough guys.’”

Hussey decided to get strong to give his tormentors some of their own medicine.

“We had an old weight set in the basement that my mom used to lift on. The book that I learned all the basic movements from was Weightlifting for Women,” he said. “It had all the standard stuff in there, but it was women from the 80’s in their leotards and fluffy socks.”

His determination was apparent, he put on 25 pounds of muscle in the first year of training.

“I never got to get my revenge on any bullies, though,” said Hussey,  “The funny thing is, bullies are cowards too, so nobody ever wants to fight you once you get big.“

Since that summer when Hussey decided to bulk up, he has come a long way. He entered his first contest in Arizona in 1999. Eventually, he began placing in the top five in every show he entered. In 2003, he enlisted in the Coast Guard and was stationed in Kodiak, Alaska, after attending boatswain’s mate Class “A” school.

After a disappointing loss in Alaska in 2004, Hussey decided to dedicate himself to bodybuilding 100 percent. Since then, he has not lost a competition that he entered. Among his accomplishments are several first place wins in the Alaska State Championships, first place in the Western All Forces Bodybuilding Championship and induction into the Alaska Bodybuilding Fitness and Figure Hall of Fame.

This year, Hussey decided it was time to compete at the next level and test himself against the best bodybuilders in the nation.

The audience crowded into the concert hall in the sweltering evening of July 29 for prejudging. The chatter of vendors in the foyer was drowned out by rock music on the speaker system and cheers from the crowd as the competitors took the stage.

Each bodybuilder took center stage individually to have their physiques scrutinized by the panel of judges.

“When I’m on stage I’m trying not to pass out,” said Hussey, “Dehydration, the heat of the stage lights, full physical exertion and the enormity of the moment all play a factor in how you look and present yourself. I concentrate on smiling and then constantly going through all body parts in my mind and ensuring that everything is staying flexed at all times.”

“In some shows you can find yourself on stage for 20 minutes straight,” he said, “That can really test your endurance and strength.”

Despite his best efforts, Hussey was not ranked in the top five of his weight class to continue into the finals the following evening.

 “This has been an education for me,” he said the next day. “I am disappointed because this is the best I have ever looked, this is my top conditioning and I didn’t crack the top ten.”

Though visibly exhausted, Hussey did not seem to have lost his spirit.

“Usually after a show I stay out of the gym for awhile to give me some clarity on what I need to do,” he said. “Every time I do a show I have to look at myself and reevaluate where I’m at.”

Hussey placed thirteenth in the middleweight division, however just competing at the national level was a valuable experience for him and his family.

“I like having the kids see me do it,” he said, “It gives them a sense of what it takes to be a champion; the kind of dedication that you have to put into anything in life. “

Story and photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry G. Dunphy.

Burial at sea is a tradition that can be traced back as long ago as people have gone to sea. During wartime, service members who died aboard ships were buried at sea out of necessity.  For one family, this age-old tradition was a way to honor their parents’ final wish and bring closure for themselves.

The ashes of retired Navy Chief Warrant Officer Milton Strouse, who passed away in 2003, and his wife Josephine, who passed away in April of this year, were reunited and scattered off the coast of San Diego during a ceremony aboard Coast Guard Cutter Petrel June 10, 2011.

“My father loved the sea and loved serving in the Navy,” said David Strouse, Milton’s son.  “He really had saltwater in his veins. It was always his wish to be buried at sea.”

Milton Strouse served as a shipfitter in the Navy from 1936 to 1958, achieving the rank of chief warrant officer. 

Not only did he serve bravely, he also suffered greatly. Early in World War II, Strouse’s ship, the U.S.S. Pope, was sunk during a battle in the Java Sea with 101 people aboard. After 59 hours in the water, 27 survivors were picked up by a Japanese destroyer. The American sailors were interned at a prisoner-of-war camp in the Dutch East Indies, where Strouse was made an example of by the guards. He was accused of smuggling a newspaper into the camp and subjected to solitary confinement in a 4-foot by four-foot cell and endured regular beatings with belts and clubs for seven days.

Strouse and the other prisoners were later moved to a work camp in Japan, where they were forced to labor in coal mines until the end of the war, more than 42 months later.

Despite these hardships, Strouse continued on in his military career after his release from the prison camp.

“He spoke often of his time in the Navy, but didn’t talk about being a POW until the last few years of his life,” Susan Seevers, one of Milton and Josephine's daughters.

Some of this love of sea-going life rubbed off on Strouse’s son, David, who served as a quartermaster in the Coast Guard from 1984 to 1988.

Milton met Josephine in Pensacola, Fla., where she was working as a telephone operator for the Navy. After a brief courtship, they were married Dec. 26, 1954. Seevers remembers her father telling a story about his wedding day in which he forgot to buy the cake until the day of the ceremony. He rushed to a local bakery and purchased a cake, but had to scrape the words “Happy Birthday” off the frosting.

Milton had been transferred to San Diego in 1954, and after the marriage returned to his duty station there. Josephine, along with her mother and sister, moved across the country so she could be with her new husband. They rented a series of houses in the San Diego area, and after Milton retired from the Navy, built their dream home on the side of Mount Helix in El Cajon, Calif.

“My parents were very much in love their whole lives,” said Seevers, “My mother adored my dad, and he lived for her.”

Seevers said her mother did not share her husband’s enthusiasm for the sea.

“The funny part of this is that my mother hated the water,” she said.  “She would go to the beach with my dad, but would not go near the water even though he loved it.”

Seevers, who helped care for her parents during the later part of their lives, said they were an extremely close family.  

“They were a big part of my life,” she said, “we [the Seevers family] had dinner with them every night.”

Milton Strouse passed away in 2003. As the family discussed the funeral arrangements for his burial at sea, Josephine decided that she wanted to wait until she passed away as well and have their ashes scattered together.  Milton’s remains were placed in a chest with intertwined wedding rings carved into the wood and the inscription “Until we meet again” to symbolize the strong religious belief that they both held, as well as being scattered together in their final resting place.

Josephine passed away in April, 2011, and the couple could be reunited.

David Strouse, who remembered performing burial at sea ceremonies while serving in the Coast Guard, contacted Sector San Diego with the request and the ceremony was planned for June 10, 2011.

"It's a privilege to honor those who have courageously served in times of war and grant them their last wish for a burial at sea," said Lt. j.g. Erin Slycord, one of the Coast Guard members who helped coordinate the ceremony.

The ceremony was held on the forecastle of the Petrel, under an overcast sky. Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Owens, the chaplain from Sector San Diego, offered remarks and a prayer. The ship’s crew snapped to attention and saluted as Master Chief Petty Officer Peter Desillier scattered Milton and Josephine Strouses’ ashes into the Pacific Ocean. Their three children, two grandchildren and two family friends who attended then placed yellow carnations in the water and paused to say farewell to their loved ones.

“It is beyond what you can comprehend how much this means to us,” David Strouse said. “To fulfill the final wish of our parents and be present for the ceremony was immensely important.”

“It was definitely her wish to have them together and her everlasting love for him that made her finally ‘get in’ the ocean,” Seevers said of her mother.

Story and photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry G. Dunphy

Petty Officer 2^nd Class Jonathan Raimey, a yeoman stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton, enlisted in the Coast Guard six years ago because he wanted to serve in the branch of the armed forces whose primary mission is saving lives.

Raimey, a San Diego native whose father and grandfather served in the Navy, had firsthand experience of military life.

“I grew up around the military and knew that someday I would join as well,” Raimey said. “I chose to join the Coast Guard because, out of the five armed forces, the Coast Guard was the only one with the mission to save lives and give second chances.”

Since joining the Coast Guard, Raimey has done a variety of jobs, including being a boarding team member for law enforcement missions, navigated ships, stood watch as an engineer and assisted in relief efforts during the Hurricane Katrina response.

Of the 19 possible enlisted job specialties, Raimey decided to be a yeoman, which is similar to human resources and administration in the civilian world. Part of a three-person department, he is responsible for pay, leave, transfers and arrivals for the approximately 160 crewmembers aboard the Hamilton.

“The most influential factor in choosing my career path was that I wanted to help people on a daily basis,” Raimey said. “It feels good to know that I take care of my shipmates.”

This passion for helping people is also apparent in Raimey’s life outside of work. He has volunteered countless hours mentoring at schools and working with Habitat for Humanity. This dedication was commended when Raimey received the Volunteer Service Medal while stationed at Coast Guard Sector Seattle.

“I want people to know that they can have a brighter future,” Raimey said. “That is what motivates me to volunteer in the community.”

Through his varied experiences, Raimey views the connections with people he works with as the best part of the job.

“The most rewarding aspect of working for the Coast Guard is the relationships I have built with my shipmates,” Raimey said. “I know that, just as I look after them, they look after me.”

For Raimey, Black History Month is an important time to look back at the perseverance of the generations of black Americans that have come before him.

“This is a time to teach and learn about how black people have endured oppression and the struggle to gain equality in America,” Raimey said. “It is important to remember the past. I think it is important to not dwell on the negative, but focus on the positive achievements that have come out of the struggle.”

Story, photos and video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry G. Dunphy

Petty Officer 2^nd Class Leon Ann’el, a gunner's mate serving in Coast Guard Sector San Diego's enforcement division, was born on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and moved to California when he was 18.

“I’m an island boy, I feel like my self when I’m near water,” said Ann’el. “That’s one of the reasons I love the Coast Guard all the more.” 

After living in Long Beach, Calif., for several years, Ann’el decided to enlist in the Coast Guard as a way to become more stable and independent.

“I worked many years doing security, which were pretty much dead end jobs,” Ann’el said. “I wanted to be able to take care of myself and my family.”

As many people do, Ann’el also enlisted in the military to see the world and experience new things.

“I wanted to look back one day in life and say, ‘You know what? I lived life. I’ve experienced it, and not just by watching the geographic channel. I’ve been out there, and I’ve done it,’” he said.

Ann’el said it was challenging coming into the Coast Guard at 26, a later age than many people enlist, and giving up some of the autonomy that he enjoyed as a civilian. Many people his age were already further along in their Coast Guard careers. He said that by working hard and applying himself he was able to be promoted.

“Making 2^nd [Class Petty Officer] in under four years, I think that was pretty awesome,” Ann’el said. “That is my biggest accomplishment in the Coast Guard so far.”

Now, Ann’el is an integral part of Sector San Diego’s boarding team, serving as assistant training officer and as a boarding officer. His day-to-day duties include training other members of the boarding team on small arms use and law enforcement procedures and tactics, as well as conducting security boardings of vessels coming into port in San Diego.

Outside the Coast Guard, Ann’el finds enjoyment volunteering his talents as a graphic designer. There are even examples of his work at Sector San Diego, including the signage for Coastie Joe’s Coffee Shop and a logo redesign for the Area Maritime Security Committee. He is currently working on updating Sector’s logo as well.

“Graphic design is my passion, my sanity away from work. It’s what makes me happy,” Ann’el said.

 This passion for life is apparent when Ann’el talks about what Black History Month means to him.

“Black History Month for me is a time to reflect on who we are as a people. Looking at all our accomplishments and being grateful for what we have achieved so far in life,” he said.

 Through this inspiration and the challenges that he has already overcome, Ann’el sees the possibilities for his future as limitless.

“Where do I want to go? As far as I can go. They say the sky is the limit, but the sky has no limit. Then how far can you go?” he said. “That’s just my mindset.”

For information on the history of African Americans in the Coast Guard follow this link:

http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_Africanamericans.asp

Click the link below for video:

Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree Gibbs, 24, is an electronics technician who has been assigned to Electronics Support Detachment (ESD), San Diego, for the past two and a half years, and is an example to every one she comes in contact with.

Gibbs, an Ewa Beach, Hawaii, native, comes from a military family. Her father served in the Navy, one of her uncles served in the Air Force, and she has cousins who serve in the Marine Corps. Gibbs joined the Coast Guard in the summer of 2008 when she decided she wanted to do something different, something worthwhile.

“I decided to join the Coast Guard because no one else in my family has been in the Coast Guard, and I wanted to do something positive that would impact the United States of America right then, right now,” Gibbs said.

As an electronics technician, it is Gibbs responsibility that everything from radios to RADARs aboard all of the cutters, boats and shoreside units in the San Diego area functions and runs properly.

“Becoming an [electronics technician] was the best decision I made,” Gibbs said. “It’s one of my passions, really, to work on electronics. I’ve been working on them all of my life. When I was small I took apart a TV. I think I was destined to play with electronics.”

One of the biggest accomplishments she said she has achieved in her three short years in the Coast Guard is when she and her shipsmates were able to figure out an important radio system that had given senior technicians a difficult time.

“This project was going for about three and a half years, and no one could figure out the circuit path of this radio. [Two other techs and I] were assigned to this project and it took us three months to actually understand what was going on with the radio, how it worked and actually correct it,” Gibbs said. “That was the biggest accomplishment ever because we needed that radio system to work properly so they could install Rescue 21.”

Rescue 21 is a system that has been created by the Coast Guard to better locate mariners in distress and save lives and property at sea. Sector San Diego officially accepted the system in October 2010.

While working full time Gibbs also attends Vicennes University taking classes to earn her associates of applied science in electronics. After she achieves her two-year degree, she plans to continue her education by transferring to the University of San Diego and working toward her Bachelor’s Degree in electronics engineering with a minor in biochemistry.

“When I grow up I want to become an electronic engineer. I actually want to build robots,” she said.

Gibbs is also the first woman to complete the Army Combatives Course at Sector San Diego that Command Master Chief Robert Berry organized for the members of the sector as a morale and fitness event. The course was a 35-hour course that culminated in a match Dec. 16, 2010 with local Marine Corps instructors who came to help the students graduate. Each student had to “submit” a Marine in four different rounds to complete the course.

“That has to be one of the hardest things for females. Fighting grown men, who [are] coming at you,” Gibbs said. But, she did it and successfully completed the course.

The 24-year-old believes that her competitive edge has made her successful not only in her Coast Guard duties, but in everything she has put her mind to. She is looking forward to taking the second class in the Army Combatives course as well as training for an upcoming marathon in San Diego while maintaining her college workload.

***EDITOR'S NOTE*** For media interested in talking with Petty Officer Gibbs, please call 619.278.7025.

SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 3rd Class Desiree Gibbs sits atop one of the 25-foot patrol boats at the Maritime Safety and Security (MSST) as she weatherproofs the antennae Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. She and the other members of the Electronics Support Detachment (ESD) San Diego also reprogrammed the radios to make sure all of the MSST’s boat radios are in proper working order. Coast Guard photo. Click on each each upper image for high resolution imagery. Click image at right for video of Petty Officer Desiree Gibbs.

Anyone who has served in a branch of the military knows the feeling of family closeness that develops with the people you work with and call fellow service members. We all know that when we get ourselves into a spot of trouble there are more people than you can count whom you can turn to for a shoulder or a laugh. That feeling continues even after you leave your service.

Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Steve Shetler, retired, felt that same kinship. He called upon the Coast Guard for bit of help, a last wish, if you will, to take one more ride aboard a Coast Guard asset. The retired finance and supply officer was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer in 2008, only eight years after retiring from the Coast Guard, and all he wanted was to ride aboard a Coast Guard cutter.

“I originally thought maybe it would be nice to take a ride on one of the cutters here, but when I started talking with [Lt.] Josh Nelson and noticed he was a pilot, so I thought that might be worth trying,” Shetler said. “I didn’t think my request would be approved, but here I am.”

Shetler’s request was originally received by Sector San Diego and was quickly routed up to the Pacific Area commander in Alameda, Calif., for approval. When he initially contacted Coast Guard Sector San Diego, Nelson, a pilot at the sector and the public affairs officer, was determined to help make this request happen.

“From [Capt. Thomas Farris] on down I think every one of us really appreciated how special 30 years of service is,” Nelson said. “Shetler spent many years giving to others and this was a chance for us to give something back to him.”

Generally, being able to get someone a flight on a Coast Guard helicopter is not an easy task. It took Nelson coordinating with people all the way up to the headquarters level in Washington, D.C. But he said the effor was well worth it.

“Hearing Steve’s story and learning of his terminal diagnosis really motivated us to be able to provide him with something to take his mind off of the illness and painful treatments he’s had to endure,” Nelson said.

After finally vetting the request through all of the appropriate channels, and then a couple of delays due to bad weather, Shetler arrived at Sector San Diego on a foggy December morning. However, Shelter was in great spirits saying he was happy to have the opportunity to be around other Coasties once again. He entered the swimmer’s shop and Petty Officer 1st Class Dustin Skarra, the rescue swimmer on Shetler’s flight, helped fit him with a flight suite, helmet, safety vest and gloves, and walked with him to the waiting helicopter with pilots Lt. Amanda Sardone and Lt. Adam Young.

“It was an honor and a pleasure to fly with him,” said Sardone, one of the pilots for Shetler’s flight. “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to pay tribute to someone who has given so much to the Coast Guard during his 30 years of service.”

During the flight Shetler and the crew flew over Point Loma and Rosecrans National Ceremony where the helicopter conducted a flyover as part of the Wreaths Across America ceremony. The ceremony was one of more than 500 ceremonies conducted simultaneously at veteran’s cemeteries across the nation.

Since his diagnosis, Shetler has been through a handfull of surgeries and chemotherapy, but one would never guess he was sick by looking at him or talking with him. Before his flight, he tells his story to anyone who will listen about his 32 years in the Coast Guard; he laughs the loudest of anyone, and shakes hands with the strength of a bear. Like a lot of people who battle cancer, or any terminal disease, his attitude is still very optimistic and jovial. He jokes that his hair is silver because of the chemotherapy.

“Just last week, you see, it was a deep brown color. It’s because of that little pill that it’s this color,” he says, pulling at his short hair

Shetler enlisted in the Coast Guard during the height of the Vietnam War when young men had to make a decision; wait to be told to join the armed services or do it yourself. His uncle introduced him to the excitement of what the Coast Guard does when they spent the day on his yacht in the waters just off the coast of Newport Beach, Calif.

“We saw a Coast Guard boat on patrol and saw them board a boat with a group of beautiful women on board,” Shetler reminisced. “I thought, there’s the job for me!” And so in 1968 he enlisted and attended boot camp in Alameda.

“I remember walking off the bus, excited to be there, then looking over and seeing this – ship that looked as it if had seen better days,” Shetler said. “I asked the gate guard if that was one of the boats the Coast Guard used in World War II. He laughed at me! He said, ‘No! That’s one of the ships we currently use.’ It was an old 311-foot cutter and I thought to myself what am I getting myself into.” Shetler laughs at the memory, and goes on to say he never once regretted his decision to enlist. After boot camp Shelter spent most of his career on the West Coast between Humboldt and the San Francisco Bay Area. He now resides in Temecula, Calif., with his wife of 37 years and enjoys the benefits of retirement.

During the flight Shetler beamed like a child on Christmas morning. It didn’t matter that for the first part of the flight all he was able to see was the thick fog hugging Point Loma below. Or that he had to “cut circles” in the air as Sardone and Young waited for the go-ahead for the Wreaths Across America ceremony flyby. By the time he was back on the ground the retired warrant officer was speechless in his gratitude for his fellow Coasties at Sector San Diego to take him above the clouds and view the city from a Coast Guard helicopter.

SAN DIEGO – Chief Warrant Officer Steve Shetler, retired, prepares for his flight aboard an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter at Coast Guard Sector San Diego Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. Shetler dedicated more than 30 years to the Coast Guard as a storkeeper before retiring in 2000, and eight years later he was diagnosed with stage four cancer; he requested one last chance to get underway with the service he spent so many years with. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Allyson E.T. Conroy.	SAN DIEGO - Chief Warrant Officer Steve Shetler, retired, (left) prepares for his flight aboard an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter at Coast Guard Sector San Diego, as rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class Dustin Skarra goes over the basics of the safety vest Shetler will wear for his flight Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. Shelter dedicated more than 30 years to the Coast Guard as a storkeeper before retiring in 2000, and eight years later he was diagnosed with stage four cancer; he requested one last chance to get underway with the service he spent so many years with. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Allyson E.T. Conroy.
SAN DIEGO - Chief Warrant Officer Steve Shetler, retired, (left) prepares for his flight aboard an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter at Coast Guard Sector San Diego, as rescue swimmer Petty Officer 1st Class Dustin Skarra goes over the emergency and safety procedures in the helicopter before their flight Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. Shetler dedicated more than 30 years to the Coast Guard as a storkeeper before retiring in 2000, and eight years later he was diagnosed with stage four cancer; he requested one last chance to get underway with the service he spent so many years with. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Allyson E.T. Conroy.	SAN DIEGO – Chief Warrant Officer Steve Shetler, retired, looks down from an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter at a ceremony at Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010. Shetler dedicated more than 30 years to the Coast Guard as a storkeeper before retiring in 2000, and eight years later he was diagnosed with stage four cancer; he requested one last chance to get underway with the service he spent so many years with and was given the opportunity to take part in the fly-over for Wreaths Across America . U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Allyson E.T. Conroy.

Story and photos by Petty Officer Henry G. Dunphy

The dining rooms and passageways were dimly lit with emergency power, and the odor of smoke could be detected in the still air. The dance floors were silent and the swimming pools deserted. For the nearly 3,300 guests aboard the cruise ship Carnival Splendor, this was not the luxury excursion to the Mexican Riviera that they had bargained for.  Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of the many entities involved, the passengers and crew of the debilitated vessel were safe and headed to port in San Diego.

Two days into the cruise, on the morning of Nov. 8, 2010, a fire erupted in one of the cruise ship’s engine rooms. After several hours, the ship’s crew succeeded in extinguishing the fire, but damage to the electrical systems left the ship dead in the water, and the almost 4,500 people aboard with electricity to power only the barest essentials.

With the fire out the situation was stable, but the ship was now adrift and facing the problems of health and sanitation for those aboard due to the loss of sewage systems, ventilation, hot water and refrigeration.

To meet the immediate needs of the people aboard, a team of Coast Guard members from Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau and sailors from the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan worked together to deliver supplies to the stricken cruise ship.

The Coast Guard coordinated with the Navy to have 65,000 pounds of supplies, including water, bread and canned goods, flown from Naval Air Station North Island, in San Diego, to the Reagan. From there, the supplies were ferried by helicopter to the cruise ship, where the replenishment team was ready to receive them.

“Our first concern was being able to do the operation safely,” said Coast Guard Ensign Steven Lewis, a landing signal officer from the Morgenthau.  “We had to make sure that the deck was clear of any debris and that all the passengers were in safe locations.”

The Splendor has no helicopter pad, so an improvised staging area was chosen on the exercise track, just forward of the distinctive red, white and blue smokestacks on the upper deck. Lounge chairs were cleared from the deck and anything that could be moved by the hurricane-force winds created by an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter overhead was secured.  Curious passengers were ushered inside, and the flight operations could commence.

The pallets of provisions were slung three at a time in cargo nets below the matte gray aircraft. Lewis, the yellow-jerseyed landing signal officer, guided the helicopter crews into place using hand signals. When the cargo dangled over the correct spot, a sweeping lateral hand motion cued the aircrew to release the bundles.

With each drop, the ground crew of Coast Guardsmen and sailors moved in, unfastened the cargo nets and cleared the supplies from the deck to make ready for the next drop.

“This is what we do best, get supplies aboard the ship,” said Navy Seaman Logistics Specialist Immanuel Carter, whose day-to-day job is performing similar supply operations aboard the Reagan.

After several drops, a group of Splendor crewmembers approached and offered to assist in moving supplies off the deck between drops. Together, the Coast Guard, Navy and Splendor personnel settled into a system of guiding in the helicopter, detaching the cargo nets from the pallets, hauling the provisions off the deck and prepping the area for the next drop.

By sunset, more than 20 drops had been completed, and the people aboard the Splendor had enough food and water to sustain them for the transit to port.

“When we were finished we got a round of applause from the crewmembers and the guests aboard,” Carter said, “It made us feel pretty important. It was nothing new to us because this is our everyday job, but seeing how we could impact the people aboard felt good.”

“It’s a great feeling knowing that Coast Guard and Navy personnel can jump in and work together after not knowing each other for even five minutes,” Lewis said. “We were able to safely conduct operations together quickly and efficiently.”

The essentials were on board and the tugboat Chihuahua was towing the Splendor slowly, but surely, toward San Diego. The menu was not gourmet, but it could have been worse.

“There is a lot of stability to this case,” said Capt. Anthony Gentilella, commanding officer of the Morgenthau and on scene commander for the response, “The passengers aboard the cruise ship are safe, and they get a lot of peace of mind seeing that the Coast Guard is out here doing things to help them, like bringing on food and water.”

Though not the cruise anyone planned on, for everyone involved with this voyage of the Carnival Splendor, it will be one they will never forget. 

Story and photos by Petty Officer 2^nd Class Henry G. Dunphy

San Diego’s mild climate and plentiful moorings make it an ideal destination for boaters, but the high volume of small vessel traffic and proximity to the international border also make it a potential pathway for smugglers seeking to bring illicit cargo into the United States.  This creates a unique challenge for the law enforcement officers whose mission it is to protect the American people.

U.S. Coast Guard members and other federal agencies came together with state and local authorities for an exercise Thursday, Sept. 23, that was designed to validate training, equipment and procedures and demonstrate their ability to detect radiological and nuclear materials in a maritime setting. This drill, and a similar one held in the Seattle region Sept. 16, targeted smuggling aboard small vessels, the movements of which are less regulated than large vessels.

The potential exists for someone to bring a nuclear or radiological device into the U.S. and deliver it direct to target into one of the Nation’s ports, said Army Lt. Col. Kevin Hart, Deputy Assistant Director for Pilots and Experimentation Division in the Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office.

The scenario developed for the San Diego drill was that radiological materials had been smuggled into San Diego via small boats for distribution to terrorist cells. An incident command was stood up and a plan devised to sweep several marinas in Mission Bay and San Diego Bay using boat-mounted and handheld radiation detectors.

Law enforcement vessels equipped with boat-mounted detectors operated by the California Department of Fish and Game and San Diego Lifeguards officers searched along the matrix of finger piers in Mission Bay, while detector-equipped boats operated by the San Diego Harbor Police swept marinas along San Diego Bay’s Shelter Island. Detector operators focused on discerning the spike that would indicate a possible threat source against the signature of naturally occurring background radiation.

“Radiation is all over the place,” said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Eric Cooper, commanding officer of Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) 91109 San Diego. “For example, it can be found in bananas, pottery and clay, and it’s used for medical and industrial purposes. In a situation like this we are looking for that needle in the haystack that could represent a threat to the American people.”

Once the boat-mounted detectors located a possible source of radiation, a team composed of MSST members and other regional stakeholder agencies including San Diego’s Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT) and the California National Guard’s 9^th Civil Support Team moved in to pinpoint and identify the radiation.

“We come in with different equipment to determine if the source is legitimate or illicit radioactive material,” said Petty Officer 3^rd Class Christopher Pierce, an MSST San Diego member who has undergone training to identify radiological and nuclear material. Pierce said they capture a digital fingerprint of the radioactive emissions and send it to subject matter experts onshore for near-real time analysis. They also do additional surveys of the vessel to make sure smugglers are not masking an illicit source with a legal one, Pierce said.

 Though no nuclear devices were involved there, terrorists have used small watercraft in attacks before, such as the 2000 attack on the USS Cole while moored in Yemen and the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India.

Inter-agency cooperation is key to preventive detection and interdiction of radiological and nuclear threats, Hart said.

“We had the whole gamut of federal, state and local agencies working together for this exercise,” Hart said.

“This is the first time in the San Diego region that we’ve put this all together end to end,” Hart said, “from initial detection using boat-mounted detectors, to locating and identifying the potential threat sources. This exercise showed that we can certainly perform this mission in the San Diego area.”

Long before he arrived, word of a new pilot coming to train at U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego spread quickly. However, the new pilot would be coming from abroad. Pilots and aviators alike were eager to meet this new Aussie and see what kind of experience and skills he would bring to the table.

Meanwhile, more than 8,000 miles away in Sydney, Australia, LEUT. Martin Stiles of the Royal Australian Navy and his wife, Janelle, were working on uprooting from their home, family and friends to begin a fresh start on their lives in a whole other country. For the Stiles, this would be the first time either of them had lived abroad.

“We just went through a lot of recent moves,” said Stiles. “I was nervous about coming home and telling my wife that we might be packing up our home yet again for one of the biggest moves in our lives.”

Stiles was offered the chance to participate in the Royal Australian Navy’s Personnel Loan Program. However, he wouldn’t be serving with the U.S. Navy, he was going to train and fly with members of the U.S. Coast Guard flying MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters in San Diego. An opportunity the Stiles nearly passed on for a chance to begin their family.

With the chance to broaden his experience and proficiency as a pilot, Stiles opted to accept the position offered to him from the PLP, because he wanted to be part of relationship building with allied countries’ aviation forces.

With his witty personality and the lure of his Australian accent, Stiles quickly fit in among his new peers and America’s Finest City, attending the local team’s baseball games and partaking in some cultural dance instruction.

While here, Stiles quickly adapted to the rigorous training in order to become qualified as an aircraft commander of the MH-60 J and T Jayhawk helicopter models. This included traveling to Mobile for advanced pilot training during the helicopter model changeover.

He flew on Coast Guard missions as diverse as long-range search and rescue cases, Homeland Security border patrols, and smuggling interdiction, a seemingly increasing issue.

At times, some of the cases that Stiles flew seemed to be a bit routine, launching for searches of activated distress signals coming from grounded Navy aircrafts or conducting medevacs from cruise ships transiting hundreds off the coast of Mexico.

Once in a while, there came a case when the alarm went off and the pipe for “now launch the ready helo” sounded and got  the air crew’s adrenalin flowing. 

Stiles recalls one such case early one foggy morning. A call came in about a boat that had grounded on the rocks of San Clemente Island, Calif.

“We spent significant amount of time searching along the steep bluffs of the desolate island for any sign of where the people or boat may have been washed ashore,” said Stiles.

Once the people were located, the air crew realized that they were badly banged up from the accident and immediately began hoisting them into the aircraft.

“It was satisfying for me and the crew to know that we were able to rescue them and transport them safely to a local area hospital where they received medical care,” said Stiles. “Had we not been able to locate the men, the outcome may have been unfortunate.”

Now, more than three years later, Stiles, his wife Janelle, and the new addition to their family, daughter, Elizabeth gather among peers in front of the bell at Sector to recount what an amazing experience these past few years have been to everyone who had the chance to work with and get to know Martin Stiles. It makes for a sad day to us all, as goodbyes often are, but a great memory to forever have.

Over the next few days the Stiles will wind down their time in the U.S. by packing up their household goods, separating boxes for shipment by both air and sea for their return back to their native country of Australia.