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Coast Guard Diving—over 80 years of history!
—The Coast Guard has a rich history of underwater operations. Since the early 1940s, the service has nurtured a diving capability that has become vital to modern Coast Guard missions. -
Heroes of the Flood: The untold story of Coast Guard boat forces during Hurricane Katrina
—“Kill the engines,” Jackson ordered. In the eerie quiet, they heard a metallic tapping. Closer now, they saw a man in a second-story attic window, striking its metal bars with a quarter. He and his bedridden, 87-year-old mother had been trapped for days in water up to their necks. Jackson’s team sawed through the attic ceiling. -
Learning from Disaster: How Katrina helped the Coast Guard prepare for future catastrophes
—From evacuating stranded survivors to reopening critical waterways, the Coast Guard (USCG) performed heroically during Hurricane Katrina, but the widespread disaster exposed operational limitations that soon served as lessons learned and has resulted in sweeping changes in readiness, technology, and interagency collaboration. -
The Miracle of Katrina: Zero aircraft accidents
—The fact that all these aircraft, from all these agencies, completely avoided any major aerial mishaps has become known as the “Miracle of Katrina.” -
Journey of a Coast Guard Museum Artifact: The Sign
—Oftentimes during a crisis, an iconic image or object defines that moment. During the search and rescue effort following landfall of Hurricane Katrina, several of those images and relics became a hallmark of Aug. 29, 2005, the day the massive storm ravaged the Gulf Coast. To the men and women stationed at Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, the air station’s sign became that iconic relic. -
Into the eye of chaos–River Tender Pamlico in Hurricane Katrina, Part I. The Response
—The Coast Guard’s response to Katrina was not simply wild improvisation. After gaining significant hurricane response experience during Hurricanes Hugo and Bob, planning, training, and extensive preparations were made for a catastrophic weather scenario. Coast Guardsmen in the field would rely heavily on these plans and preparations. These instructions could be summarized as “don’t wait for permission,” and they became the basis for successful improvisation. -
Rescuers on the Rio Grande: Coast Guard team saves lives at the border
—Search and rescue cases typically have a clear beginning, middle and end. Search and rescue on the Rio Grande, however, is different. -
National Strike Force—the Coast Guard’s global responder for over 50 years!
—The United States Coast Guard has been a steward of the nation’s maritime environment for nearly 200 years. For 50 of those years, the National Strike Force has helped protect the American people and the environment from the impacts of dangerous chemical discharges and hazardous material releases, and other natural and manmade disasters. -
Lost at Sea—The origins of our SAR mission
—When Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton established the service in 1790, the stated purpose of the revenue cutters was law enforcement. However, after its founding, ships of the United States Revenue Cutter Service assisted vessels in distress as was the custom for mariners at sea. -
Local enforcer to global responder—235 years of Coast Guard transformation!
—In 1790, Alexander Hamilton established a small fleet of coastal law enforcement vessels to patrol off East Coast seaports. Over the next 235 years, the service experienced rapid growth in its responsibilities, missions, and organization.