HOLIDAY PARTY

click to enlarge

LE DOG TRAINING

I thought this was quite interesting.... I'll get the full story and post it later today.


Thanks to Larry Owens for the great picture of the guys.

HE DID IT!!

CONGRATULATIONS to our Shipmate
MK3 Walker

See related article here.

"Four officers and one enlisted man have been chosen to become the first Coast Guardsmen to participate in the elite Navy SEAL training in Coronado, Calif.

After Commandant Adm. Thad Allen announced the program July 31, Coast Guard Personnel Command fielded more than 150 phone calls from people requesting additional information. As of the Sept. 15 deadline, 19 people had applied — 12 officers and seven enlisted members, said Lt. James McLay, spokesman for Deployable Operation Group commander Rear Adm. Thomas Atkin.

Of the 19 applicants, 12 were selected to move on to the evaluation phase in Florida. The group was then whittled to five by Naval Special Warfare Command and the Coast Guard’s DOG.

If any or all selected Coast Guardsmen make it through the nearly two years of physically and mentally daunting training, they will be assigned to a SEAL team for five to seven years, although they officially will be part of the Coast Guard.

Those who successfully complete the service commitment are not required to return to the Coast Guard, but Allen said this summer that he wants them to come back.

It is not yet clear when those selected will begin training.

Selected were:

• Lt. j.g. Brian Bruns, Civil Engineering Unit Miami.

• Lt. j.g. Brian Naughton, Coast Guard District 7.

• Ensign Sean Norton, cutter Steadfast.

• Ensign Matthew Oloughlin, cutter Boutwell.

• Machinery Technician 3rd Class Kyle Walker, Station Channel Islands, Calif."

WAY TO GO!

THANKSGIVING

Here's a big thank you to the Command for providing such a great Thanksgiving Feast.

It was such a treat to be able to spend time with everyone on Thanksgiving! The food was great! The people were great! The kids had a great time! And it was even exciting to watch the guys rush out two different times to head out on a case!

Luckily (or maybe unluckily - depending on the surf) everyone had mostly eaten before the alarms went off.

A big thank you to Cookie who did a great job of figuring out how to set up the training deck with couches, a play area for the kids, and all of the food. Everything was really nice and inviting and it was easy for us wives as well as the kids to be able to feel comfortable and welcome. I know I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

-EVERYBODY GETTING READY TO EAT -
-FOOTBALL OF COURSE -

- COOKIE SETTING UP THE PIES -
- LITTLE CUSAMANO HAVIN' A GREAT TIME -- watchin' Christmas movies -
All in all it was a wonderful party.


Stay tuned for more information about the Christmas Party!!!

GIVING THANKS

Making the news -

It's always fun to see the Coast Guard in the news.

REPRESENT

I Google everyday. I love Google. Not so much yesterday.

Some of you may have noticed yesterday (Veteran's Day) that Google seemed to forget the Coast Guard and left them out of their Veteran's Day search engine picture.

A special shout out to Jenn Rothdeutsch who went out of her way and emailed them.....


To whom it may concern:

I was wondering why you do not have a US Coast Guard hat on your opening display! They are a branch of the military that are often forgotten yet risk just the same for their country as the other branches! Please don't forget them! Please honor them too! Thank you!

US Coast Guard Wife
Jenn R


Google's misstep apparently caused quite an uproar out in cyberspace and from devoted Coast Guard vets, members and spouses with the same complaint.

WAY TO GO JENN!!
Of note - Google did apologize:

Today is Veterans Day in the U.S., a day to honor all veterans of military service. As we often do, we created a special design of the Google logo (which we call a "doodle") in honor of the event. The design for the doodle featured a few military-style hats. We weren't trying to represent all of the branches or all of the symbols of military service and, as a result of space and design limitations, we inadvertently left the U.S. Coast Guard out of our depiction.

Understandably, we have heard from many veterans and Coast Guard members, and have now posted an updated version of our Veterans Day doodle, including all five branches of the military.

Our sincere apologies for what may seem like a slight -- this was not in any way our intention. Our thanks to those of you who were alert enough to catch our omission and diligent enough to tell us about it. Thank you very much to all current and former Coast Guard members for your outstanding service. And finally, thank you very much to all U.S. veterans, for protecting our nation and the ideals it stands for.