Coast Guard Mission Excellence: A Monthly Report
Every day, Coast Guard members risk their lives to protect our country. When we stand together and show them our appreciation, we can ensure they remain always ready. Thank you to the Coast Guard members and units highlighted here, and to all who serve. Please take a look at a few ways Coast Guard members fulfilled their mission support this past month.
Honoring our Heroes: Captain Zeita Merchant, Deputy Sector Commander for Coast Guard Sector New York, speaks on the importance of Black History Month and recognizes the contributions of Dr. Olivia Hooker in this February 9 Coast Guard video. Captain Merchant will be the next Sector Commander for Sector New York.
Living Marine Resources: The Coast Guard and partner agencies released approximately 146 sea turtles displaced by a recent winter storm near Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 22. Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi and Station Port Aransas crewmembers worked alongside Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens, Texas State Aquarium personnel, and volunteers to release the sea turtles back into the Gulf of Mexico. Click here to see how they released the sea turtles back into the water.
Search and Rescue: On February 4, Coast Guard units responded to reports of more than 60 ice fishermen stranded on an ice floe near Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. High winds and a winter storm caused the ice to break free and crack into smaller sections. Helicopter crews from Air Station Traverse City lowered rescue swimmers to the ice to help coordinate the response. Together with Coast Guard ice rescue units and local first responders evacuated all fishermen in need of assistance.
Admiral Karl Schultz, Coast Guard Commandant, shared, “Thanks to the swift response of our state and local partners and Coast Guard crews in the Ninth District, more than 60 people were rescued from an ice floe. Bravo Zulu on this mass rescue operation!"
COVID-19 Response: In its ongoing response to the global pandemic, the Coast Guard is delivering COVID-19 vaccines on the West Coast using a C-27 Spartan aircraft. Coast Guard Base Alameda is the only Coast Guard medical facility on the West Coast with the capability to store the Pfizer vaccine at the necessary temperature. It takes a dedicated team of medical professionals, logistics coordinators, and Coast Guard ingenuity to provide hundreds of vaccines in an efficient and timely way. In this February 18 video, you can see some of the ways “Operation Honey Bee” comes together in service to Coast Guard members in need of the vaccine.
_____________________________________________________
Photo credit, from the top: Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Kelley, Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Dickinson, Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Petty Officer 3rd Class Alexander Gray.
