HEAVY HEARTS

Taken from uscg.mil.

3 killed, 1 missing in Honolulu Coast Guard helicopter crash

By Rod Ohira

Advertiser Staff Writer

A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crashed last night during a search-and-rescue training exercise six miles off Sand Island, killing three of four crewmembers aboard

Search efforts were continuing for the fourth crewmember.

"This is a very difficult case because rescuers are being rescued," said Rear Adm. Manson Brown, 14th Coast Guard District commander.

Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig said three of four people aboard the helicopter, which crashed about 8:15 p.m., were accounted for.

The Coast Guard said the three were recovered from the water by the Honolulu Fire Department and transported by another HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter to the Queen's Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

Brown said witnesses aboard a passing Air Force C-17 transport aircraft and Coast Guard 47-foot motor lifeboat saw the Barbers Point-based helicopter go down. The helicopter and boat were doing "routine training," Brown said.

Coast Guard officials said the last major crash of one of its rescue helicopters occurred in 1982 on Moloka'i.

The Coast Guard was notified of the crash by the FAA and launched a C-130 search plane from Air Station Barbers Point.

The inbound Air Force C-17 circled the crash site until a rescue boat from the Honolulu Fire Department could get on scene.

Fire, police and Navy personnel were assisting in the search for the crewmember.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these shipmates and with all our shipmates who have been impacted by this accident.

MILITARY DISCOUNT OF THE WEEK

I am trying to find one free or discounted item every week and this is what I came up with this week. I know this one is a bit odd, but you never know when it might come in handy.

HomeTrafficSchool.com is a website that offers free online traffic school to members of the military who have received a traffic violation.

(Hopefully no one will end up needing this). But if you do - go and check it out and save some time and money!

GUSTAV LOOMS

click the picture for a current link to the NOAA Hurricane Update.

As the news about the hurricane gets more intense I have started to wonder about what role the Coast Guard will play in the next few days and weeks. It will no doubt be interesting to watch. More importantly this has made me rethink what disasters we are susceptible to here in California and if we as a station or as a family are prepared for them.

JUST A THOUGHT.....
From an ombudsman point of view, I think it would be helpful to have a plan in place, with all of the phone numbers and contact information for each of the families at the station. In the event of an emergency or earthquake, etc. it would be helpful to have a procedure and a point of contact and a phone tree to make sure each of the members of our unit and their loved ones are accounted for, safe and have their needs met. It would also be less hectic in terms of contacting our loved ones, and finding out information as the Station would no doubt be involved in some sort of relief/rescue effort.

I think I'll get to work on that. Any thoughts???? - please feel free to comment below.

In the meantime, here is a listing given by FEMA about a basic survival kit that each family should have. I know we used ours in the aftermath of hurricane Isabel when we were stationed in Virginia and it was a great relief to have been prepared!

Basic Disaster Supplies Kit

The following items are recommended for inclusion in your basic disaster supplies kit:

• Three-day supply of non-perishable food.
• Three-day supply of water - one gallon of water per person, per day.
• Portable, battery-powered radio or television and extra batteries.
• Flashlight and extra batteries.
• First aid kit and manual.
• Sanitation and hygiene items (moist towelettes and toilet paper).
• Matches and waterproof container.
• Whistle.
• Extra clothing.
• Kitchen accessories and cooking utensils, including a can opener.
• Photocopies of credit and identification cards.
• Cash and coins.
• Special needs items, such as prescription medications, eye glasses, contact lens solutions, and hearing aid batteries.
• Items for infants, such as formula, diapers, bottles, and pacifiers.
• Other items to meet your unique family needs.

Click here for more extensive information from FEMA
about emergency kits and disaster preparation.

HURRICANE RELIEF - USCG ON STANDBY

As of yesterday, the associated press was announcing this....

(08-30) 19:37 PDT San Francisco, CA (AP) --

California-based Coast Guard units are being deployed to the Gulf Coast as the region braces for Hurricane Gustav.

An estimated 1 million people have fled the region as forecasters predicted that Gustav could grow to Category 5 and make landfall Monday afternoon somewhere between East Texas and western Mississippi.

The Coast Guard plans to send units from San Francisco, including an HH-65 helicopter, to Houston on Sunday. Also traveling to the region from the San Francisco Bay area are teams trained in disaster assistance, damage assessment and reconstruction.

Units from Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Humboldt are on standby.

Are any of our guys on standby? -
I know many of the members at our station would be more than willing to go.

Sea Legs for Coast Guard spouses and families.

Personally, when my husband joined the Coast Guard I felt a little overwhelmed. Trying to figure out all of the different pieces of information involved in this complete change of lifestyle was difficult. I would have really benefited from having this new booklet given out by the Coast Guard.

This edition of Sea Legs for the Coast Guard Family contains information and tips that can assist you as you begin life as a military spouse. I have been a Coast Guard spouse for seven years and as I read through this the other day I still found some information I didn't know. Be sure to follow this link and click on the first item entitled Sea Legs for Coast Guard spouses and Families PDF file.

It really is a useful tool. It lists information about everything from reenlistment to insurance information, relocation and Mutual Assistance. Check it out, and keep it handy for future reference.

The Ombudsman

WELCOME!!!

I would like to say hello to everyone and introduce myself, and this site to everyone at
USCG Station Channel Islands Harbor.

My name is Melissa Cook, wife of BM2 Kenny Cook, and I am the Ombudsman for USCG Station Channel Islands Harbor.

For those of you who don't know what an ombudsman is or does, the USCG website states this......
An Ombudsman serves as a link between a Coast Guard command and the families of the members of that command. An Ombudsman can assist families in locating resources, communicate information from the command to the families, and take concerns of families to the command.

An Ombudsman is a volunteer (who may be a Spouse, Reservist, or Auxiliarist) that is designated by a Command to serve as a link between the command and families, assisting the command in its functions of providing information and related services to families regarding sources of assistance available to them, Coast Guard and command policies, and activities of interest to family members.

After living here for a while now, I realized that it would be great if our station had someone who could be a link between the command the families. I know I personally have had questions, and needed information that I ended up having to find on my own, or wait for my husband to be available to ask. Hopefully, now I will be able to help where I can for any of you who may have that sort of need, which will then allow our spouses to focus more fully on their duties at work and know that we are all being taken care of on the homefront.

I know more than once I have been "pleasantly" surprised to find out that instead of my husband coming home on his off going day......he had to stay for training. I wanted to be able to plan ahead and know what was going on and help work around that. This site allows for just that. We can all go in and see what is coming up and what things we need to plan for.

I have a lot of plans for this site and it will be updated on a very regular basis with new links and pertinent information. I am working on putting together a new welcome/relocation packet for those coming to our station as well. I have also been working with Lt. Gherardi on planning an upcoming party for all of us that should be a lot of fun so stayed tuned for more information on that.

Basically - I wanted to let each of you know that this site is here, and it is for all of you. Check out all of the features including; links to information/websites that you might need, interesting posts about things that are happening at our station, news and upcoming events in the command calendar, pictures of the goings on at the station, as well as a weekly spotlight of a spouse or CG member.

If you have any questions or comments (or if there is something you think should be on this site but isn't) please contact me at uscgombudsman@gmail.com.

I look forward to getting to know each of you better and becoming more connected as a unit. So.....ENJOY AND COME BACK OFTEN!!!

also - please feel free to leave comments on the daily posts!

Navy League Coast Guard Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was the Navy League's annual
Coast Guard Birthday Luncheon.

I didn't have the pleasure of going this year, but wanted to post a thank you to the Navy League. It looked like it was a very pleasant afternoon.

Happy Birthday USCG.