Fred's Place - The Place To Meet Old Coast Guard Shipmates

Welcome Aboard The CGC Healy July 24, 2005
Come aboard as the Healy informs correspondents, continues their census taking project and performs ‘frenetic leapfrog’. All while collecting data contributing to our knowledge of the effects of global warming and our changing environment. All photos are credited: U.S. Coast Guard.	The Coast Guard Cutter Healy, homeported in Seattle, Washington.

July 17, 2005. Jeff Jackson, Executive Officer

Warmest Greetings to family & friends from the Arctic Ocean, 100 nautical miles northeast of Barrow, Alaska

Journalists have been accompanying polar expeditions since 1933, when a US trek to learn whether there was a navigable strait connecting the Ross and Weddell seas in Antarctica was joined by CBS radio correspondent Charles Murphy. Late this week HEALY continued this tradition by embarking correspondents from ABC news, National Public Radio and the Toronto Star.

These journalists are here to report on our current science mission, which is focused on completing a ‘census’ of sea life in the Arctic Ocean and studying the summer ice conditions. These efforts are expected to contribute to our knowledge of the effects of global warming and how this may change our environment. You will be able to hear the NPR report on the “Morning Edition” program later this week, and the ABC news report will run on World News Tonight in the next few days. The Toronto Star has a website where you can soon find their article.

The week was more of the ‘frenetic leapfrog’ operational model that has marked this past month. Find a station, stay for 30 hours of round-the-clock activity including remotely operated submersibles, diving, boats to the ice, and helicopter flights, then move to the next station & repeat.

On Saturday we reached our current and final station and the aviators delivered a group of journalists from Barrow, 100 miles distant. We also said goodbye to an officer ‘on loan’ from the POLAR STAR, Lieutenant Junior Grade Melissa Hentges. LTJG Hentges qualified as an officer of the deck (underway) during her time on HEALY, and we will miss listening to (and occasionally struggling to understand) her Scottish brogue.

Cadet First Class Nora Basile (on summer cruise from the Coast Guard Academy) marked a significant professional achievement this week by becoming qualified as on underway officer of the deck. Also, Boatswain’s Mate Second Class John Lobherr was qualified as a boat coxswain for the LCVP (which stands for ‘landing craft, vehicles & personnel,’ and not ‘landing craft, very pretty,’ which wouldn’t apply in any case.)

This week’s Big Saturday Night Bingo Tournament was rewarding for:

Eric Mittelstaedt (science party) who won a box of candy; Storekeeper Second Class Rebecca Arakaki, who won a box kite which it’s too cold to fly; Aviation Electronics Tech Louis Bishop, who won a DVD; Lieutenant Dave Merriman, who won a gift described as “a gold flecks jar from Nome” (enjoy!); and

Machinery Technician Third Class Melinda Nesvold, who won our blackout consolation prize, a box of “Nutty Bars.”

Seems like that last prize should come with it’s own consolation offering, but I don’t run the Bingo.

Among the pictures below is a group photo of our invaluable Storekeepers. The Storekeeper, or SK, rating is responsible for managing our budget, procuring all of our supplies from government and commercial sources, managing our ‘imprest cash’ fund, and tracking our centrally-accountable property. It’s a truism in military operations that ‘professionals talk logistics’ when planning operations. This underscores just how important our storekeepers are. They somehow manage to get obscure parts to the farthest ends of the earth with little notice, and they keep track of an impressively large, onboard inventory of parts and equipment. In addition to the work they do onboard the ship while underway, one of the SKs is detailed to Seattle to work independently in support of HEALY. Chief Karl Keyes supervises SK1 Jacques Faur (ashore), SK1 Steven Selph, SK2 Chris Sison, and SK2 Rebecca Arakaki.

Early this week we’ll move this batch of scientists ashore and take on new crewmembers and the ‘riders’ from the Afloat Training Group, who will run us through a series of drills on our way to Dutch Harbor. Then it’s 5 days of work and sightseeing in Dutch Harbor which, if you haven’t found it on your map, is at the eastern end of the Aleutian Islands.

I would like to thank the persons who took the time to write messages of support for the crew and post them on the Fred’s Place website (www.fredsplace.org). We published all of the messages for the crew and they were much appreciated. Ed Note: Tain't nothin' - it is we who own you our appreciation.

For Captain Dan Oliver, Command Master Chief Pete Perron and myself, thanks for all your support. You’ll hear from us again next week.

The HEALY Storekeepers. Left to Right: SK2 Rebecca Arakaki, Chief Karl Keyes, SK2 Christopher Sison, SK1 Stephen Selph

LCVP Boat Crew and Divers. Left to Right: BM3 Adam Gunter, MK2 Andrew Benigno, BM2 John Lobherr, BM2 Phillip Dawalt, MK3 Fernando Gonzalez, MKCS Michael Huff, ENS Ariel Piedmont, LTJG Jessica Noel, ENS Michael Carr, ENS Keidi Niemann, Cadet First Class Nora Basile.

Marine animals are retrieved from the ROV after a successful dive.

ABC News interviews one of the scientists.