Coast Guard Blogger Lost “and now I’m found”

Blogger and former contributor to Coast Guard Report and other Blogs Mike McGrath has started his own Christian Blog, the “ChurchBlog.”  Mike’s profile on his site says:

I surrendered to the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ at the age of 21, while I was serving aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Cherokee. I’ve traveled a great part of the world, experienced many cultures, witnessed horrific things; but I love the Lord, I love my family, I love my church family all the same. I have endured what some would consider the most heinous of tests and trials with the death of my oldest son followed closely by the death of both of my in law parents, my wife left me, I lost my career due to the conspiracy surrounding my son’s death, my house was auctioned, and I had several business partners over the years kill some of my business ventures due to embezzlement and thievery. I am currently filing for bankruptcy. I apparently have a very bad track record picking business partners. I have a Masters Degree in Business, had a successful consulting practice for over a decade, am a University Professor and prior Bible School Instructor; I’m also an avid student of everything I can get my hands on to read. At the end of the day, however, I still totally rely upon the Lord for everything! Because he is able! And I’m not giving up on him!

Reached for comment, Thomas Jackson said

“I’m glad to hear Mike is back Blogging.  Only someone who has poured their heart and soul into Blogging can truly understand the time and dedication it takes.  As you develop a following you beging to take on a loyalty to your readers.  It can become life altering and time consuming.  I enjoy my departure from Blogging as much as I miss it.  Mike … welcome back.”

Medal of Honor Winner Rescued by Coast Guard Dies at 88

Col. James E. Swett

James E. Swett, a Marine Corps pilot who received the Medal of Honor for shooting down seven Japanese bombers, has died at age 88.

He had to ditch his plane off Tulagi island and hit hard, breaking his nose and getting dragged into the water before breaking free. He was rescued by a small Coast Guard boat.

Born on June 15, 1920 in Seattle, Washington, James E. Swett graduated from the San Mateo (California) High School and enrolled at the College of San Mateo in 1939. He earned a private pilot’s license, which amounted to 450 more hours of flying than he received during his Navy flight training. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve as a seaman second class on August 26, 1941, and started flight training in September.

On April 7, 1943, on his first combat mission, Swett both became an ace and acted with such “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” that he would be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Swett commanded VMF-141 flying Corsairs at NAS Alameda, California, following the end of World War II. After the onset of the Korean War his squadron was deployed to Korea, but he was left behind because the Navy thought putting a Medal of Honor recipient in combat was too risky. Swett left active duty and continued service in the Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 1970 in the rank of colonel

Read the Medal of Honor Citation on our People page.

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US Airways Flight 1549 Recovery

From Reason Pad and Sea-Fever Blog — Photo’s of US Airways 1549 Recovery

With regards to TEMPEST, Coast Guards day of reckoning is coming

Another comment brought forward and bumped up as its own post. “Original Anonymous” left an insightful comment on the post Coast Guard tiptoed into the blogging waters – only to get smacked hard. We sincerely appreciate the recent readers who have contributed to this discussion.

by Original Anonymous

Michael (DeKort),

I’m glad to see that your misunderstanding of what a SCIF actually is has been cleared up. I still don’t think you have clearly accepted the NSC TEMPEST time line. from my first hand experience and direct conversations with those present before me (at the deck plates) I can lay out for you a clear path for the TEMPEST process:

• WMSL crew identified serious concerns with shipboard systems (EMO was a prior TEMPEST inspector)
• CG-9, 6, and 8 accepted concerns.
• CG-9 confronted LMCO which started theur was not contractual obligation for systems to be compliant with TEMPEST standards (it is important to understand that the Navy has this same problem with LMCO. Their solution is to just accept the ship and fix it themselves since its cheaper).
• LMCO accepted responsibility to fix system but CG had to pay for it.
• Ship failed visual inspection (at shipyard in early ‘0

LMCO began rearhitecture of systems (this lead to serious degradation of some sytems to allow for compliance (Air search radar and security cameras for example) which have still not been resolved but are TEMPEST compliant).

Some of these reworkings within the ship required numerous computer cabinets to be removed (WAESCHE and STRATTON racks were designed to be with standards and installed on BERTHOLF. Noncompliant racks were then redesigned to be compliant and installed in WAESCHE). This may have been what kicked off the thought that systems were removed to pass INSURV. this inspection is to safety only and has nothing to do with TEMPEST. C4I installs and removals may have been going on concurrently (spring ‘08, ship still in yards, not yet accepted).

CG signs DD-250 for WMSL 750 (C4I still not TEMPEST compliant and over 5,000 INSURV violations noted). DD-250 listed all TEMPEST and INSURV concerns. This resulted in a CONDITIONAL acceptance of Hull 1. NGSS/LMCO still liable/responsible for addressing all DD-250 concerns prior to full acceptance of the ship.

NSC still under constraints from DD-250 and Warranty period. LMCO/NGSS are still onboard fixing the issues noted.

Full acceptance of the ship still pends.

The CG really had no choice but to accept the ship and move forward. No real work was happening on the ship at the yards. On average only two dozens workers were onboard each day doing the work. There really was no impetus on their part to fix/finish the ship. Every day the ship remained at the yard was more money the CG was paying, not just on that hull but on all future hulss since it gets figured into the fixed cost on future hulls. It wasn’t until the CG accepted the ship that the crew coud actually start managing the work onboard, supervising the quality of the work, inspecting the results, and removing workers the were literally hiding around the ship and sleeping.

The BERTHOLF is now on the west coast and managing all of the remaining issues through MLC, ELC, and ship’s force oversight. Instead of being forced to watch worthless workers drag their feet they can now contract to competent contractors and complete the work on time, within budget, and at a proper quality level. I would venture that more work has been done on the ship since departure from MS than was done in its last year at the yard. In the yard there was rarely more than 30 works on board. In Alameda an average of 70 workers have been onboard six days a week plus ship’s force, NESU, MLC, and othe CG members. Even with the ship under way half of the time more is getting done since contractors are sailing with the ship to address issues and working on the ship during port calls.

With regards to TEMPEST, the day of reckoning is coming. Within the next five months the work, and hopefully final instrument inspection will be done and awaiting final approval. We all, including yourself should hope it goes well. I’d like nothing better than to put this issue to bed and focus instead on all the rest of the problems NGSS and LMCO left us with.

Retired Chief Warrant Officer Rich Glasgow – Still Helping Others

Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Rich Glasgow and Cpl. Robert Glasgow

By Linda Hosek American Forces Press Service

Rich Glasgow and his son, Robert, served in different military services at different times, but they know what it’s like to deal with the same psychological enemy. And both have recommendations for the military.

Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Rich Glasgow directed search and recovery operations out of New York in the 1990s, overseeing boating accidents, airplane crashes and even Fourth of July events. But the post he really wanted was commanding officer of Station Golden Gate in San Francisco – not for its beauty, but for a grim reality.

By Linda Hosek

“It was known throughout the Coast Guard as the station where you pick up bodies,” he said, referring to people who commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. “I was going to figure out the trend.”

Glasgow got that job in 2000. But as he immersed himself in efforts to lessen the number of suicides and ease the burden on his Coast Guard crew, he began his own psychological struggle against post-traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event.

“I thought I was prepared,” Glasgow said, but the vivid sights and sounds of people falling and hitting the water replayed over and over in his mind and affected his behavior.

Stunt Plane Nearly Takes Out Coast Guard Cutter