posted 06-04-2009 09:21 PM ET (US)        

BOSTON - The Coast Guard pulled five of its own members from the water after their 25-foot response boat submereged while training about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

One member suffered an ankle injury and another showed symptoms of hypothermia.

All five members, assigned to Port Security Unit 301 in Cape Cod, Mass., were recovered by another PSU boat crew conducting training nearby.

The crew was transported to Coast Guard Station Menemsha where they were met at the pier by paramedics.

Coast Guard Cutter Jefferson Island, a 25-foot response boat from Station Menemsha, and a Coast Guard Auxiliary boat are currently on scene with the overturned vessel.

Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England is working on a plan to salvage the swamped vessel.

"Unfortunately, events like these remind us of the risks associated with Coast Guard training and operations," said Rear Adm. Tom Atkin, Commander of the U.S. Deployable Operations Group. "Our teams are trained to operate as safely and efficiently as possible, mitigating risk whenever possible. We will look into this case thoroughly for the benefit of those involved and for all those Guardians operating around the globe."

posted 06-05-2009 03:06 PM ET (US)         

[The RB-S has the direct benefit of years of evolutionary USCG Non-Standard boat history to maximize its operational availability. The USCG began accepting delivery of boats in the summer of 2003 at the rate of 2 or 3 each week. The RB-S fleet is expected to consist of 350 boats, though that number may grow to 700 depending on funding and the growing Homeland Security missions. The RB-S will be the largest boat fleet ever acquired by the Coast Guard and one of the largest of its type in the world.]

We don`t need 700 of those boats for Homeland Security. So far the Coast Guard has captured ZERO terrorists and broken up ZERO terrorist plots since 9-11. They need to spend the money on Search and Rescue. In the boating disaster from last Feb./March involving the football players that turtled their boat in the Gulf, they let the survivor sit on his turtled boat for two days, his friends perished, while the Coast Guard was running boats up fron Key West, 350 miles away, because most of the boats and equipment from Tampa was under repair. Even the C-130 Coast Guard airplane at the Tampa Air Base had its locating equipment screwed up, and couldn't`t help.
I`m not trying to open up an old thread, and its been said that the unfortunate boaters were unskilled and did not have safety equipment aboard, and that hampered the rescue effort.
If there are any terrorists out there coming ashore in small boats, they sure aren`t going to give the CG their coordinates, and without those the CG would never locate them anyway. LOL

rich/Binkie

posted 06-10-2009 03:29 PM ET (US)            

When you read their literature, whether it be press releases, recruiting materials, or their website, you will first see colorful banners touting phrases like "Shield of Freedom" and announcing terrorist threat levels. But when you go past that, and actually read what they say about themselves, you will always see that they list things like Search and Rescue and Safety first. Terrorism prevention, national security, and other duties are always mentioned later. It is clear to anyone who looks past the political posturing that the Coast Guard sees themselves primarily as a search and rescue organization.

The 25' Response Boat, built by SafeBoats just up the road from where I live, is an excellent example of this. The funding for the construction of this boat was undoubtedly sold to congress under the guise of it's functionality as a threat interceptor, which no one can refute. It's true, it's a great anti-terrorism vessel. But it's also an impressive search and rescue and marine safety enforcement vessel as well. It's fast, even in rough water, so it can get on-scene quickly, in a wide range of conditions. It has a heated cabin, reducing operator fatigue, so it can stay on-station longer. And you see those little cut-outs on the side? Do you think those are there so they can pull the terrorists corpses from the water after they cut them down with the M-16? No, they're there to aid in the rescue and recovery of victims from the water. Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) cameras used on their aircraft may sound to the public like a great way to spot bad guys, but the reality is that it's immensely helpful when trying to spot MOB's on the open ocean.

posted 06-10-2009 04:36 PM ET (US)            

As far as needing 700 boats, that seems like a small number if you consider all of the territory that they have to cover. These boats are designed to be towed to where they are needed. It is much faster to tow a boat doing 55mph on the highway than to try to motor the distance by water. Pretty simple idea that should be understood by even the simplest of minds.

What evidence do you have that zero terrorists have been captured or plots have been broken up?

You stated "Even the C-130 Coast Guard airplane at the Tampa Air Base had its locating equipment screwed up, and couldn't`t help."

Well I'll have to say that is a load of baloney. The Air Station is out of Clearwater and they have way more than 1 C-130 that is able to respond to SAR cases. I suggest reading up on the facilities at Clearwater before bad mouthing them in the blind. I'm sure the guys and girls stationed there would have some choice comments to pass on to Binkie/RTM/rich/EIKNIB/ or whatever you go by now.

http://www.uscg.mil/d7/airstaClearwater/default.asp

I can also assure you that the CG has locating equipment far superior to anything that you may have for locating small boats.

You must have been a real screw-up during you tour to have nothing good to say about the CG except for negatives. Makes me wonder if you really did do any time in the CG or if you are a closet wannabe. Maybe you spent most of your time in the galley washing dishes or pealing spuds. You sure didn't pull much operational time.