Welcome Aboard Sector Lower Mississippi River
Sector Lower Mississippi River Memphis, TN March 19-23 2007 Underway in Arkansas and Oklahoma
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Sector small boat transiting Choteau Lock (No. 17) northbound on the Verdigris River in Oklahoma. USACE does a great job of operating and managing all locks in the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System creating short wait times for in/outbound vessels.
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Facility at Newt Graham Lock and Dam (No. 18). Newt Graham is the last lock and dam on the Verdigris River before reaching Tulsa/Port of Catoosa. The lock’s elevation is 532 feet.
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25733 exiting Newt-Graham Lock with BMC Jeff Dyer at the helm professionally carrying out his coxswain duties. We took delivery of 25733 and 25734 in August 2006, so both hulls still look clean.
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Sector Lower Mississippi River’s crew lands in Catoosa, OK. From left to right is FNMK Kevin Bishop, SN Irene Romero, and SN Amber Wade.
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Catoosa, Oklahoma Area Maritime Security (AMS) meeting held at the Port. The meeting was hosted by Marine Safety Detachment Fort Smith, Arkansas. LT Mike Carrero from the MSD is the ODU clad Coastie in the middle of the back row Seated at the table. Also in attendance were CDR P. J. Maguire, SLMR, and James (Keith) Jones from the SLMR Planning Shop.
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Interest in the Coast Guard was high wherever we traveled in Arkansas and Oklahoma. BM1 Levi Denham is interviewed here by KOTV Channel 6 outside of the AMS meeting. Sector LMR told their story on TV Channel 6, KJRH Channel 2, in the Tulsa World newspaper, and on KFAQ Radio.
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25734 grabbing some throttle in Catoosa. These were the makings of a 2-3 minute segment produced by KOTV 6 and broadcast Thursday 22 March 2007 at 2100.
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Its all about perspective… 25734 in the Port of Catoosa.
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Underway for training and AOR familiarization.
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Sector Response crews also conducted helo ops while in Catoosa with Air Station New Orleans. Sector qualified 5 new crewmembers.
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6592 steadies for the basket’s delivery. LT William Dunbar acts as the Aircraft Commander.
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Area familiarization flight over Oklahoma in 6592. SN Romero enjoys the view while her feet still swim her boots after she was dunked earlier during helo ops.
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AMT3 Benjamin Brown over the Port
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The waterway was short and narrow not providing much room for our boats or the helo to maneuver. Just enough room for a quick sprint up to full speed though.
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The Port’s pier was high providing an excellent vantage point to observe the boat/helo ops.
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Out of the shot to the left is LTJG Michael Carroll guiding HH 6592 east along the Verdigris River.
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Thanks 6592. Have a good trip to Memphis
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After the River transit and Catoosa the next and last stop for the crew was Lake Dardanelle at river mile 205 on the Arkansas. A lot of traffic and fishing tournaments originate at the Russellville State Park and a large women’s bass competition was underway as we arrived. 25733 and 25734 are shown here with a former Coast Guard 41’ UTB, which was also a former fire boat, and is now a Coast Guard Auxiliary facility. The Auxiliary are moving forward with the maintenance project. Thanks to Auxiliarist Mr. Blaine Selby for hosting us in Russellville.
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Mr. Blaine Selby and FNMK Bishop patrol the inlet used to extract cooling water from the Lake for Arkansas No.1 Nuclear Power Plant. The current visible on the bow of the boat in this picture is used by the Auxiliary to practice their boat handling and maneuvering skills. Land-based security at the Plant has shoot-to-kill orders. Water based security patrols are conducted by our CG volunteers.
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The cooling tower is used by Arkansas No.2. The reactor units for both 1 and 2 can be seen just behind the trees to the right of the tower.
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The one aspect of the operation heightening the excitement is the amount of noise created by the helicopter when its hovering right above your boat. It’s not something for which you can prepare. BMC Dyer kept 25734 on a steady course during the entire evolution.
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