Government Executive: Coast Guard Modernization Stalls

For more than two years, Coast Guard leaders have sought approval from lawmakers to reorganize flag officer positions in the service’s headquarters and restructure the Pacific and Atlantic commands into a force readiness command and an operations command.

“Modernization is a change in business processes and command and control,” Allen said. “It’s not budget driven. It is driven by the necessity to change and adapt to ensure future readiness.”

Read more at Government Executive.

Bits & Bytes

Updates from Coast Guard Report Staff:

• AFGE looking to expand?  Reports indicate that the American Federation of Government Employees may be looking to expand their reach around the Coast Guard.
• Are former Coast Guard Civil Rights employees planning a pre-Congressional Hearing news conference?  Reports indicate that this may be in the planning.
• Capt. Michael Sullivan – where is he and what happened with charges of obstruction of justice in the charges against him for wrongful use of cocaine?
• And where is Capt. Elmo Alexander following charges last year he assaulted an enlisted man?
• Is a senior officer before a Courts-Martial that is underway on the West Coast …?

“Professional Mariner” Magazine Gives Good Review to Cape Cod Coast Guard Rescue Book

Raymond Brown, a former Coast Guard search and rescue officer, says Bob Frump’s book “Two Tankers Down” rescues a forgotten Coast Guard rescue story that should be told forever.

Chatham, MA (PRWEB) March 6, 2009 — Professional Mariner magazine, the voice of merchant marine officers and executives, published a review this month that praises a new book by Robert R. Frump about a famous Coast Guard rescue off Chatham, Ma., on Cape Cod.

The review, by Raymond J. Brown, a former Coast Guard Captain who worked in search and rescue, states:

“‘Two Tankers Down’ is an improbable true story of men against the sea. In a fierce nor’easter offshore Cape Cod on Feb. 18, 1952, two tankers broke in half. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 70 of the crew amid deadly dangers. Noted maritime author Bob Frump has rescued this all but forgotten story that should be told as long as men go down to the sea in ships.”

Brown said Frump’s writing is a plus even though it made him personally uncomfortable reliving his rescue missions at sea.

“Two Tankers Down was not an easy read for this reviewer. I have been involved in rescues in those same dangerous seas and in similar conditions. Frump’s simple prose had my stomach tightening as the description of the perils became all too familiar.”

The book describes the rescue of crew and officers from the steamships SS Pendleton and SS Fort Mercer, which split in two in February 1952 in rough waters off Cape Cod. A young Coast Guardsmen, Bernard C. Webber, lead an incredible small boat rescue of the Pendleton’s crew, while other Coastguardsmen launched a small Monomoy surf boat to rescue officers off the fractured bow of the Fort Mercer.

“There is no better praise in my book than from a critic who has actually been there and lived the types of rescues I’m writing about,” Bob Frump said. “Captain Brown’s criticism and compliments mean a lot to me.”

Information about the book is at www.twotankersdown.com.

The full review is located at:

http://www.professionalmariner.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=5E30719D00CC40A8AF71F95C8245D32F

Bob Frump is a nationally recognized journalist and author who lives in Summit, NJ. His previous maritime book told the story of the wreck of the SS Marine Electric. (“Until the Sea Shall Free Them.”) His book Africa, “The Man-eaters of Eden,” documented how apartheid created a class of man-eating lions in Kruger National Park.

Others working in the maritime business also have praised the book. Richard Hiscock, a maritime safety expert and former Chatham resident, wrote of Two Tankers Down in an Amazon.com review.

5 stars Two Tankers Down a Great Read, November 26, 2008
By Richard Hiscock” (Fairfax, VA) -

“Two Tankers Down” is the third book about the T-2 tanker disasters of February 1952, and the only one that delves into the break-up and rescue of the crew of the Fort Mercer. Robert Frump (who wrote “Until the Sea Shall Free Them” about another T-2 disaster in 1983) has done a magnificent job of bringing together all the known facts about the Pendleton rescue and some new information heretofore unknown. “Two Tankers Down” is a great contribution to the literature of marine safety and maritime rescues. Anyone who loves the sea will appreciate this gripping tale.”

CNO Releases Diversity Podcast

Admiral Gary Roughead Chief of Naval Operations

From Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) — The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead released a podcast on the importance of diversity and the Navy’s diversity initiatives Feb. 27.

In the podcast, Roughead talks about the strides the Navy has made since he released his new diversity policy in 2008. He emphasized that a diverse population is important because when Sailors and Navy civilians are approached with issues, it provides a range of ideas, perspectives and backgrounds that provide better solutions making the Navy stronger.

“In the military and in the Navy, it’s important that we are a diverse organization because we have to represent what I call the face of America,” said Roughead. “As our population changes and the percentages of majority-minority changes and that’s always taking place we have to reflect that same demographic in our Navy and that’s why it’s important, but at the end of the day, it really makes a huge difference because we’re stronger because of the different perspectives and ideas that people bring to bear.”

CNO also said the diversity of the Navy has made great progress in recent years.

“We’ve expanded our junior ROTC programs, we’re expanding our ROTC programs, we’re offering scholarship opportunities sooner than we did before so that the young men and women can make an earlier choice,” he said.

He expressed that it is each individual’s responsibility to recruit, develop, educate and retain leaders from and for all parts of the Navy and nation.

“Diversity is also about leadership and looking for young men and women with talent and drive and competence and putting them in positions where they can succeed,” said Roughead.

He stressed the value of a diverse Navy and the success it will bring the young men and women put in positions to lead Sailors in the future.

“Those positions then enable them to reach higher and go further in the Navy then they would have had they not had a leader who was looking out for them, mentoring them, training them and guiding them along in a career that is the best in the world,” Roughead said.

Commander in Chief Staff Spotlight – Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel is the White House Chief of Staff. Prior to joining President Barack H. Obama’s administration, Emanuel served in the House of Representatives, representing the fifth district of Illinois, and was Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. As an advocate for Chicago’s working families, Emanuel served on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees taxes, trade, Social Security, and Medicare issues.

Appointed by then House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Emanuel served as Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the 2006 cycle. Under his leadership, Democrats gained 30 seats in the House without losing a single incumbent, and ushered in a new Democratic majority for the first time in more than a decade.

In January 2007, the new majority elected Emanuel to serve as Democratic Caucus Chair, the fourth-highest-ranking member of the House Democratic Leadership. As Chair, Emanuel led the Democratic Caucus in fulfilling its campaign promise to pass legislation reflecting the values and priorities of the American people.

Before being elected to Congress, Emanuel worked at the Chicago investment bank Wasserstein Perella. He was a core member of the Clinton White House from 1993 to 1998, starting as the national finance director for the 1992 campaign and eventually becoming Senior Adviser to the President for Policy and Strategy. In 1989, Emanuel was a senior adviser and chief fundraiser for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s campaign. He also played an important role in Paul Simon’s 1984 campaign for the Senate.

Emanuel graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 and received a Master’s Degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. He and his wife, Amy Rule, have three children, Zach, Ilana, and Leah.