The Coast Guard Foundation Hosts Dinner to Salute the United States Coast Guard in Alaska

The Coast Guard Foundation honored the men and women serving in the Coast Guard’s Arctic District in Anchorage, Alaska, on Tuesday, Aug. 11. The Salute, a reception-style dinner at the Hotel Captain Cook, offered delicious food, life-changing conversations, and moments of connection between the Coast Guard and its greatest supporters.

The mission of members serving in the Coast Guard’s Arctic District is to serve and safeguard the public, protect the environment and its resources, and defend the U.S. interests in the Alaskan maritime region. Their area of responsibility encompasses more than 3,853,500 square miles, with over 47,300 miles of shoreline throughout Alaska and the Arctic. 

This area of responsibility leaves plenty of room for the Coast Guard to complete missions and aid in rescues of all types; from natural disaster victims to teaching children about safety to aiding in environmental work on the water.

On average, in one month of operations, this district is responsible for:

• Saving 22 lives
• Assisting 53 people
• Reporting and investigating 25 marine casualties
• Performing 74 living marine resource inspection boardings
• Responding to 22 pollution incidents
• Servicing 93 buoys and fixed aids to navigation
• Conducting 13 security boardings and 22 security patrols
• Performing 143 commercial fishing vessel safety exams
• Saving over $1.65 million in property
• Teaching 375 kids about life jacket wear
• And performing 95 marine safety inspections

During the evening’s events, the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star was recognized for the crew’s performance in the execution of polar operations during the 2025-2026 Operation Deep Freeze deployment to Antarctica.

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star is homeported in Seattle and is the only active U.S. heavy icebreaker and the world's most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker. The cutter can break through six feet of ice while cruising at three knots and can ram through ice up to 21 feet thick, a capability no other non-nuclear icebreaker can match.

Polar Star and its crew left Seattle for its 29th deployment to Antarctica as part of Operation Deep Freeze on Nov. 20, 2025. This annual mission resupplies McMurdo Station, the U.S. research base near the Ross Ice Shelf. The crew cut a channel through miles of pack ice, allowing cargo and fuel ships to reach the station's ice pier.

On Jan. 16, 2026, the night before Polar Star marked 50 years in service, the crew received a distress call. The cruise ship Scenic Eclipse II had become trapped in pack ice about eight nautical miles from McMurdo Sound. Polar Star's crew navigated the cutter through dangerous conditions, made two close-range passes to break up the ice, and freed the ship. The cutter then escorted the cruise ship about four nautical miles to open water, ensuring everyone aboard reached safety.

Thanks to the support of many generous sponsors, the evening was a marked success, raising a total of $340,000. The continued support of sponsors, board of directors, trustees, and committee members make the biggest difference to the success of the Coast Guard Foundation’s mission to aid Coast Guard service members when they need it most.

The Foundation is especially grateful for the evening’s top sponsors: JAG Alaska, Austal USA, ConocoPhillips, and Delta Western Petroleum. 

“The foundation's work is critical. Every morale and wellness project, every emergency grant, every time tragedy assistance is needed,” said Admiral Kevin Lunday, Coast Guard Commandant and one of the evening’s keynote speakers. “Every scholarship helps ready our people and our force. You support men and women who serve in some of the harshest conditions on Earth, and the families who wait for them to safely return.”

Title image: Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday, addresses attendees of the Coast Guard Foundation's 2026 Salute to the United States Coast Guard at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, Alaska.