Posts Tagged ‘Coast Guard’
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
Read the news and turn the pages:
“The Neptune Coalition is composed of 15 participating Bay Area Law Enforcement Agencies and is a cooperative effort to enhance the safety and security…”
Let me tell you something:
I am no stranger in your town/
And Rasta seed is all around
And yet, I ain’t never heard of no monthly meetings of no “Neptune Coalition.”
Is this their former domain name?
I’m intrigued:
“One of the 9/11 Commission’s major findings was the need to improve sharing terrorism related information across government lines. And, there has been a shift from “need to know” to a “responsibility to provide” paradigm. While MDA has no room for turf wars, sharing information has moved to the forefront of relations between commercial shipping operations and governmental entities. The “Neptune Coalition” in San Francisco Bay, which is comprised of 20 federal, state, and local law enforcement and response agencies, meets regularly and shares information is an example of best practices in the MDA.”
Why doesn’t somebody look into this and report back to tout le monde?
Oh, and when you’re done with that assignment, start working on what the “Trident Coalition” is all aboot, eh?
I’m srsly, the melon-farming Trident Coalition.
Here you go, I’ll get you started, with a little tidbit from the Port of Oakland:
Port Security:
• Area Maritime Security Plan (AMSP)
• Trident Coalition
• Neptune Coalition
It’s like I’m the Man from Mars, it’s like I don’t know anything.
Maybe I am a stranger in your town.
And Rasta seed is not all around…
Tags: 2012, AMSP, Area Maritime Security Plan, bay area, california, Coast Guard, maritime, Neptune Coalition, San Francisco, Trident Coalition
Posted in paranormal | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Well, this is news to me.
Check it, the biggest military shoulder patch in the world is worn by members of the Novato-based “Pacific Strike Team,” which is part of the National Strike Force, which is part of the Deployable Operations Group, which is part of the United States Coast Guard.
See? Here they are, training for disaster response up in Marin County last year.
“Petty Officer 2nd Class Sharina Lamonica and Petty Officer 3rd Class Grace Peterson setup a weather station during an exercise with National Strike Force’s Pacific Strike Team, Feb. 16, 2011. The Pacific Strike Team conducted the exercise as part of its annual Readiness for Operations inspection”
Click to expand and check it, the rake icon says “we’re here to clean up,” but the trident says something like “don’t mess with Texas.” Delightful. Via Chief Petty Officer Paul Roszkowski
And you thought Novato was just a cow town:
I moved your star about 100 clicks north of where you have it, Dawg. Novato’s in the North Bay, not the South, just saying.
All the deets:
“The Deployable Operations Group (DOG) is a United States Coast Guard command that provides properly equipped, trained and organized Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) to Coast Guard, DHS, DoD and inter-agency operational and tactical commanders. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, it was established on 20 July 2007, and is commanded by a Rear Admiral lower half.”
“Each Strike Team is a highly trained cadre of Coast Guard professionals who maintain and rapidly deploy with specialized equipment and incident management skills wherever needed. The strike teams are recognized worldwide as expert authorities in the preparation for and response to the effects resulting from oil discharges, hazardous substance releases, weapons of mass destruction events, and other emergencies on behalf of the American public. There are three strike teams within the NSF. The Atlantic Strike Team (AST) is based at Fort Dix, New Jersey, the Gulf Strike Team (GST) is based in Mobile, Alabama, and the Pacific Strike Team is based in Novato, California.”
Thanks in advance, Pacific Strike Team.
Tags: 2011, 2012, 2nd, 3rd, bay area, bucolic, california, class, Coast Guard, county, Deployable Operations Group, disaster, dog, federal, Grace Peterson, inspection, logo, marin, military, National Strike Force, Novato, oil, oil spill, Pacific Strike Team, Petty Officer, rake, Readiness for Operations, response, San Francisco, Sharina Lamonica, shoulder patch, trident, U.S., United States, united states coast guard
Posted in military | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
I’ll tell you, if you like to see people walking around 415 dans l’uniforme, then late 2001 would have been the time for you. Military-types were all over town.
But these days, you don’t see that anymore, for some reason. These days, you need to go down the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in the sleepy North of Financial District area to see men and women in uniform.
See the door on the left? They’re* hiring!
Click to expand
“Navy Recruiting Station San Francisco
670 Davis Street
San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 434-0195″
*The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, all of them, and maybe even the Coast Guard
Tags: 2011, 670 Davis, air force, army, bay area, broadway, CA 94111, california, Coast Guard, davis, marines, military, navy, Navy Recruiting Station San Francisco, NoFD, North of Financial District, pacific, recruit, Recruiting, San Francisco, Station, street, uniform
Posted in employment, military | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
We’ve had some extra low-and-loud chopper traffic over the 415 recently, not sure why.
Are our U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dauphin helicopters taking a new short cut from the east side to the west side, buzzing the NoPA and Nob Hill, when they’re on search and rescue missions nowadays? Could be.
As seen over the Western Addition (yes, there are tiled roofs on the DivCo).
Click to expand
As it noisily flew over my vast real estate holdings I started thinking about how a trend like this could affect property values, so I started yelling and waving my arms and chanting “U.S.* out of NoPA!” But I remembered I’m not a God Damn Landed Gentry NoPA NIMBY Millionaire and then everything was fine once again. Crisis averted.
Semper Paratus.
*The CG is the smallest branch of the U.S. military, hence the mil in .mil.
Tags: 2011, bay area, buzzing, california, chopper, choppers, Coast Guard, dauphin, dolphin, helicopter, helicopters, hh-65, low, orange, rescue, San Francisco, search, white
Posted in aircraft, military | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
I don’t know, don’t you ever wish you could have a new name? Like Penelope or Scout or ANYTHING, ANYTHING BUT CARNIVAL SPLENDOR?
I mean if the Condoleezza Rice can change her name, then anything’s possible, right?
Anyway, here she is, preparing to be sitting on the dry dock of the Bay at Pier 80.
Via Daver6:
And hey, just what she needs – a new engine all the way from Trieste Italy. Thanks Wärtsilä!
Oh, better check the packing list to make sure it’s all there.
Bon Courage, Pier 80 workers!
Bon Voyage, Carnival _______!
Tags: 2011, american splendor, bay area, california, carnival splendor, Coast Guard, cry dock, drydock, engine, italy, mexico, navy, new, new name, pier 80, San Francisco, shipyard, trieste, Wärtsilä
Posted in vessels | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Has it been only three years since the Cosco Busan, the leakiest 2001 Hyundai ever, spilled 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel* into the bay? Seems longer.
Anyway, turns out that a dude who supposed to be up front looking out for stuff in the pea soup fog was downstairs in the galley eating breakfast. I did not know that, no sir. Of course, the idea to depart on sked despite the fog came from the bar pilot, so that’s the person who’s primarily responsible. But there still plenty of blame to go around. Deets below.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
Click to expand
All right, it’s Blame Time:
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the following probable causes of the accident:
- the pilot’s degraded cognitive performance from his use of prescription medications, despite his completely clean post accident drug test,
- the absence of a comprehensive pre-departure master/pilot exchange and a lack of effective communication between Pilot John Cota and Master Mao Cai Sun during the accident voyage, and
- (COSCO Busan Master) Sun’s ineffective oversight of Cota’s piloting performance and the vessel’s progress.
Other contributing factors included:
- the failure of Fleet Management Ltd. to train the COSCO Busan crewmembers (which led to such acts of gross negligence as the bow lookout eating breakfast in the galley instead of being on watch) and Fleet Management’s failure to ensure that the crew understood and complied with the company’s safety management system;
- the failure of Caltrans to maintain foghorns on the bridge which were silent despite the heavy fog;
- the failure of Vessel Traffic Safety (VTS) to alert Cota and Sun that they were headed for the tower. VTS is legally required to alert a vessel if an accident appears imminent, yet they remained silent;
- the malfunctioning radar on the COSCO Busan, which led Captains Cota and Sun to use an electronic chart for the rest of the voyage. Although Coast Guard investigators found the radar to be in working order, they did not examine it until days after the accident (allowing time for faulty equipment to be fixed, which is not uncommon after a marine accident)
- Captain Sun’s incorrect identification of symbols on the electronic chart;
- the U.S. Coast Guard’s failure to provide adequate medical oversight of Cota, in view of the medical and medication information he had reported to the Coast Guard
Happy Anniversary, Cosco Busan, or should I say MSC Venezia? Don’t ever come back.
The patched-up ship finally hits the road, back in aught-seven – this was the last time we’ll ever see the Cosco Busan in the Bay Area, most likely:
*Yeah, Wiki is still wrong on that gallonage figure, partly due to the U.S. Coast Guard sitting on information for months and months ’cause they didn’t want to earn themselves any more bad press.
Tags: $10 million, 2007, agreement, Alameda, Assistant, attorney general, bar pilots, Bay, California Department of Fish and Game, Captain, charges, China, chinese, Coast Guard, Coast Guard Investigative Service, compliance, Cosco busan, cota, Criminal Investigation Division, department, discharge, district 11, Electronics Support Unit, Environment and Natural Resources Division, environmental, Environmental Crimes, EPA's, false, FBI, federal bureau of investigation, felony, firm, Fleet Management, Fleet Management Ltd, Hanjin, Hanjin Venezia, hing kong, Hyundai, Ignacia Moreno, Ignacia S. Moreno, Investigative Service, Joseph Castillo, Judge, justice, Justice Department, Legal Office, Ltd, management, Marine, Marine Safety Laboratory, masters, national transportation safety board, Nov. 7, ntsb, obstruction of justice, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Office of Maritime and International Law, Office of Vessel Activities, oil, Oil Pollution Act of 1990, oil spill, plea, Rear Admiral, report, Russoniello, San Francisco, san franicisco, Sector, Silicon Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, statement, Susan Illston, training, u. s., U.S. Attorney, U.S. District Court, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, united states coast guard, USCG, Venezia
Posted in events | No Comments »
Friday, June 4th, 2010
The Bay Area-based USCGC Aspen Seagoing Buoy Tender just took off for Florida to help out with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
As she looked yesterday on her way to the Panama Canal and beyond:
Click to epxand
Check the video:
SAN FRANCISCO – Lt. Cmdr. Roy Burbaker, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Aspen, discusses the oil spill response capabilities of the cutter as crewmembers prepare to deploy to the Gulf of Mexico to provide clean up and operational support for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, June 3, 2010. With a crew of 34 and seven officers, the Aspen is one of the most technologically advanced cutters in the Coast Guard fleet, capable of providing on-the-water skimming operations. The Aspen is a versatile ship that can be used for pollution response, command and control, logistics, or other roles in addition to her primary missions of maintaining aids to navigation, search and rescue, and law enforcement. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Pamela J. Manns
All the deets:
ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Coast Guard Cutter Aspen, a 225-foot sea-going buoy tender homeported at Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco, deployed to the Gulf of Mexico to assist with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response today.
The Aspen is a versatile ship that can be used for pollution response, command and control, logistics, or other roles in addition to her primary missions of maintaining aids to navigation, search and rescue, and law enforcement. The cutter has the capability to deploy the skimming and oil containment equipment known as the Spilled Oil Recovery System(SORS). The cutter’s crew of 41 joins over 180 California-based Coast Guard personnel who have been assigned to Deepwater Horizon oil spill duty. Two skimming systems and 9,500 feet of boom based in California have also been sent to the region.
“The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a national disaster,” said Rear Adm. Joseph Castillo, commander of the 11th Coast Guard District headquartered here. “We’re going to help in any way we can. The American people and Gulf Coast citizens deserve our strong support.”
Responding to disasters is an important Coast Guard mission. California-based Coast Guard personnel, aircraft, vessels and equipment have regularly deployed to disasters such as the Haitian earthquake, California wildfires, floods, tsunamis, and other major response and relief operations. Some 5,300 active duty and 929 reserve Coast Guard personnel are based in California.
Shore-based maintenance teams and other West Coast buoy tenders will cover the Aspen’s aids-to-navigation duties while the cutter is deployed to the Gulf of Mexico. The ship is expected to be deployed for several months.
Bon Courage.
Tags: 11th, 3rd Class, Alameda, ASPEN, Buoy, california, Coast Guard, cutter, Deepwater Horizon, district, Gulf of Mexico, headquarters hq, Joseph Castillo, Lt. Cmdr, ocean going, oil, Pamela J. Manns, Pamela Manns, Petty Officer, pollution, Rear Adm, Roy Burbaker, San Francisco, sea-going, sea-going buoy tender, ship, skimming, spill, Spilled Oil Recovery System, tender, u.s. united states
Posted in vessels | No Comments »
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Here’s the news from the boys and girls at Justice, below.
Patched up and riding high – the last time we saw the Cosco Busan back in 2007. Will it ever come back? She’s called the MSC Venezia these days, currently working in the Canaries.
Oh well, she’s not the first Hyundai to leak oil into San Francsico Bay, and she won’t be the last.
The full release, after the jump
(more…)
Tags: $10 million, 2007, agreement, Alameda, Assistant, attorney general, bar pilots, Bay, California Department of Fish and Game, Captain, charges, China, chinese, Coast Guard, Coast Guard Investigative Service, compliance, Cosco busan, cota, Criminal Investigation Division, department, discharge, district 11, Electronics Support Unit, Environment and Natural Resources Division, environmental, Environmental Crimes, EPA's, false, FBI, federal bureau of investigation, felony, firm, Fleet Management, Fleet Management Ltd, Hanjin, Hanjin Venezia, hing kong, Hyundai, Ignacia Moreno, Ignacia S. Moreno, Investigative Service, Joseph Castillo, Judge, justice, Justice Department, Legal Office, Ltd, management, Marine, Marine Safety Laboratory, masters, national transportation safety board, Nov. 7, ntsb, obstruction of justice, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Office of Maritime and International Law, Office of Vessel Activities, oil, Oil Pollution Act of 1990, oil spill, plea, Rear Admiral, report, Russoniello, San Francisco, san franicisco, Sector, Silicon Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, statement, Susan Illston, training, U.S., U.S. Attorney, U.S. District Court, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, united states coast guard, USCG, Venezia
Posted in environment, vessels | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Does that headline make enough sense? It means that if you are a member of the military (yes, including even the touchy touchy Coast Guard), or a firefighter, or a peace officer, or a teacher, then you can get into San Francisco’s awesome California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park for free over the next month-and-a half:
“From February 1 through March 15, 2010, the Academy will offer free admission to military personnel, firefighters, police officers, and teachers, in honor of their service to our communities and country. To participate, individuals must show proof of occupation and a valid ID at the ticket window. This discount applies to one individual admission only and cannot be combined with other offers.”
Just think, your camera could soon be recording the most-photographed fish in the world:
This temporary program will save you $24.99.
See you there, hero.
Tags: 1, 15, 15th, 1st, 2010, admission, air force, airman, airmen, army, cal academy, calacademy, California Academy of Sciences, Coast Guard, college, educators, elementary, fabruary, feb, fighter, fire, free, get in free, golden gate park, hero, heroes, High, instructors, junior, man, mar, march, Marine, marines, member, military, navy, officer, peace, police, professors, sailor, salute, San Francisco, school, servicemember, SFPD, soldier, teacher's, tickets, U.S., United States, university, wOMAN
Posted in museums | No Comments »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Well there’s a whole lot I don’t know about this incident involving a purported cocaine smuggler killed on January 19th, 2010 somewhere in the “Eastern Pacific Ocean.” But, apparently, this smuggler and his boat weren’t too far away from Guatemala City because that’s where he ended up dying after the Coast Guard shot at his engine with a massive rifle mounted on a helicopter.
Feel free to read the account below – it was just released from the 11th District HQ in Alameda, They’re looking into the theory that the purported smuggler died due to “engine fragment or shrapnel injuries.”
Did this shooting get any coverage in Guatemala? No se. Did this shooting get much coverage in any English language publication? Not that I can see. Do the Coasties have video of all this? Oh yes, I’m sure. Does the Coast Guard even know this guy’s name? Maybe not, they haven’t released it, anyway.
Here’s your 21st century Coast Guard – a machine gun for warning shots…
…and when you ignore that, a massive rifle to take out your engine block, presumably a Barrett M82 .50 cal.
I don’t have a photo of one of those helicopter-mounted rifles, but how would you like .50 caliber rifle bullets like these sailing by your head from a chopper one at time?
Click to see the ammo - it’s the most powerful commonly available cartridge not considered a destructive device under the National Firearms Act. So don’t be surprised when the unarmored engine block of your “go-fast” boat blows up after you pretend not to hear all the warnings you’ve just been given:
Last year, the Alameda-based “maritime security cutter” USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750), which is like a destroyer, basically, bigger and badder than anything else the Coast Guard has ever had in warm waters, was on a maritime security mission in the same area. So I suppose this is how the smallest branch of the military is spending part of its time these days, just hanging out near Central America looking for drug boats and submarines. It’s like Miami Vice, West Coast or something.
And that’s it.
Maybe the Coasties will issue a more-detailed report sometime.
Read all about it, after the jump
(more…)
Tags: 11th, 50, 750, Alameda, amercia, barrett, Bertholf, boat, caliber, california, central, chopper, City, Coast Guard, cocaine, colombia, dead, district, dolphin, drugs, guatemala, helicopter, killed, m82, machine gun, maritime security cutter, ocean, pacific, rifle, ship, smuggler, south, United States, USCGC, WMSL
Posted in vessels | 2 Comments »
