Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Filed Under: Not Good for the blogger
Posted by Joe Coastie
An outspoken soldier who wrote one of the most brutally honest blogs ever to come out of Iraq has been forced to shut down his site, after criticizing his superior officers one time too often.Found this over at Danger Room from Noah Shachtman. It talks of an Army LT who was "forced" to shut down his site after, as noted above, "criticizing his superior officers one time too often." The site in question, Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal, is still there and I have read it from time to time. It's a great chronicle of life in Iraq, even better, it reads very genuinely.
on June 27th, LT G announced to his audience that "due to a rash posting on my part, and decisions made above my pay-grade, I have been ordered to stop posting on Kaboom, effective immediately... it was too much unfiltered truth.Why does Joe here think you should care about this? Well it's the whole issue of Active Duty members writing about there lives as Service Members and the trials and tribulations we/they have to go through to ensure the right information is being presented (i.e. no OPSEC). I encourage you to check out the blog as a reminder of what's going on over there- then remember what happens to those who cross the line... we only try to walk it.
Speaking of Iraq blogs, where is Casey Wardynski of Hell of a Day at Sea?
Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
CGBlog Find Recap
Posted by Joe Coastie
This week I didn't have time to investigate a new CGBlog Find, though I have gotten a few nominations I haven't had the time to fully investigate 'em. So instead of not giving you anything I would like to give you something... a recap of our previous blog finds. Clicking on 'em will bring you to their original post. From oldest to newest, here they are.
- CGBlog Find #1: ChristiaanConover.com, May 2, 2008
- CGBlog Find #2: My Coast Guard Career, May 7, 2008
- CGBlog Find #3: Hell of a Day at Sea, May 14, 2008
- CGBlog Find #4: Waiting for ships to come in..., May 28,2008
- CGBlog Find #5: gCaptain.com | A Blog About Ships, June 4, 2008
- CGBlog Find #6: USMilNet, June 11, 2008
- CGBlog Find #7: Mama, Did You Wear Combat Boots?, June 18, 2008
- CGBlog Find #8: Not really sure yet...
Posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008
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Monday, June 23, 2008
USCG + Food Network= Wonky TV with Coasties involved
Posted by Joe Coastie
First off the word wonky is a real word, go here to see for yourself. The Food Network must of had a recent running of their show The Next Food Network Star which took place on an un-named Coast Guard Cutter. The blog MinxEats has the breakdown of the episode and has a few screen shots (removed; see here for pic originally with this post.). Not a lot of Coast Guard related items in here, but none the less, it did have real Coasties involved... and that's what we like to see.
From said blog
The Wannabes get some time to prep at the Food Network Kitchens, but must then take the food on board a Coast Guard ship and present it to thirty hungry Coast Guard men and women. Again with the copycat Top Chef-type challenge.And though "[the] halibut was overcooked..." I'm pretty sure out Coasties weren't too picky.
Let us know if you know who that Coastie in the picture at this site is, and what Cutter this was filmed on. Bon Appetit!
Updated by Peter @ 1745 EDT; offending photo removed.
Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008
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Sunday, June 22, 2008
FY09 DHS (USCG) funding one step closer
Posted by Joe Coastie
Yesterday it was brought to our, well my, attention that the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday approved $41.3 billion in Homeland Security spending on Friday (20 June... I know- "way to keep on top of it Joe!"). Mr. Czerwinski over at HLSwatch.com notes that the Senate version of this FY09 funding provides the with DHS $40.1 billion in discretionary spending and $1.2 billion in mandatory funds, amounting to an increase of $2.5 billion more than the Bush requested. So where are we in this mess?
The Coast Guard would receive $9.2 billion, $145 million more than the president’s request.Oh, but don't think we are the only lucky ones getting more money; FEMA may receive $7.4 billion through the Senate Appropriations proposal, about $2.1 billion more than the Bush Administration requested. Mr. Czerwinski also notes that a portion of funds in the sum of $528 million to be used for aerial and marine operations and procurement... who is that for?
Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2008
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008
CGBlog Find #7: Mama, Did You Wear Combat Boots?
Posted by Joe Coastie
I love reading this website- I was going to start of with an example of an earlier post, however, a few days ago there was a post that hits home for many of you out there- pretty funny:
Mommy, we are getting deployed.Reminds me of my oldest daughter...
Honey, what do you mean? Wait....do you know what deployed means?
Yes, it's when daddy goes away.
That's right, when daddy goes away for work, just like other members of the military do, he is deploying.
OK, well, since we are going somewhere this weekend, we are going away this weekend deploying.
This week's CGBlog Find is Mama, Did You Wear Combat Boots?, a personal blog by one of the contributers to Waiting for ships to come in... by the handle of Just a Girl in a Port. I highly recommend this one!
Though if asked I would have to say this site aimed towards the female spouse audience. However, as I stated for a previous site, I would recommend this site to anyone who is trying to learn the way of a spouse and there thoughts when the active one is away.
Check out this weeks CGBlog Find at Mama, Did You Wear Combat Boots?
**Have a blog or website you would like to see as a CGBlog Find? Leave a note in the comments or email me (Joe@CGBlog.org) for your nomination. ~Joe
Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008
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Monday, June 16, 2008
Motivational Request: Granted
Posted by Joe Coastie
A few days ago I posted an un-edited version of this photo here and happened to mention how great it would be if there were a motivational poster of this particular photo... In steps George- he went ahead and took the challenge of a motivational theme. Maybe we should look into having a contest of sorts here soon.
Thanks George!
Posted on Monday, June 16, 2008
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Sunday, June 15, 2008
A Coast Guard Fathers Day
Posted by Joe Coastie
Today's that day!Posted on Sunday, June 15, 2008
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
Happy 233rd Birthday to the U.S. Army
Posted by Joe Coastie
Yesterday ADM Allen was nice to enough to send his regards to the U.S. Army for their 233rd Birthday. From ALCOAST 284/08
SINCE JUNE 14, 1775, THE ARMY HAS BEEN THE GUARDIAN OF FREEDOMSo... Happy Birthday!
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND THE STRENGTH OF THE NATION. YOUR HONORED
TRADITION OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE ARE UPHELD EVERY DAY FROM THE
BATTLEFIELDS OF AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ TO THE SUPPORT OF CIVIL
AUTHORITIES IN TIMES OF DOMESTIC EMERGENCIES YOUR COMMITMENT TO PLACE
THE MISSION FIRST, NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT, AND NEVER QUIT ARE AN
INSPIRATION TO US ALL.
Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2008
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Wednesday, June 11, 2008
CGBlog Find #6: USMilNet
Posted by Joe Coastie
The search through the tubes of the interweb continues as we scour the vast wasteland looking for the good site you should be reading. And I found it... USMILNET. To be a little more specific I am referring to their Coast Guard Forums. I've been following the forums for a few weeks now and though it's not a active as other forums out there, the members and guest have a great amount of knowledge to share. The CG forums on this site also allow for it's users, that's you and I, to maintain a great amount of control over their profiles. I encourage our users to check out the USMILNET site. You may also like to know that the site offers forums for those other services as well as special areas of those services (i.e. Special Ops...). Though I haven't found anything for the T.U.N.A. teams... Anyhow, it's worth checking 'em out. And when you get there- tell 'em Joe sent ya.
Check out this weeks CGBlog Find at USMILNET.com
**Have a blog or website you would like to see as a CGBlog Find? Leave a note in the comments or email me (Joe@CGBlog.org) for your nomination. ~Joe
Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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Tuesday, June 10, 2008
My how the Coast Guard has changed
Posted by Joe Coastie
And no this is not the perspective of this Coastie... I don't think I've been in long enough. The title is that of a photo I came across when viewing my RSS feeds this afternoon- found on Flickr from user vector1771. No I'm not doing my own "photo spotlight" here, but I did want to bring to the attention of all of our readers out there this great shot of what appears to be, to me at least, an MSST gunny on the bow of the 25767. Though the fact that this Coastie isn't wearing a "high-speed" tactical drysuit also suggests it may be a Station asset. Great shot! This should be a motivational poster... or at the very least a cool caption: "Coast Guard, not just a job, but a life." Ok, that was bad, but hey... I'm not an advertising guru!
Posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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Saturday, June 7, 2008
Cosco Busan... who really cares anymore?
Posted by Joe Coastie
Well no one really... but it still makes for an interesting story line. Especially now that the shipping company that owned the Cosco Busan
has claimed that the resulting oil spill was the government's fault for licensing [the] pilot...so says a story out of the LATimes. Notice they didn't say the Coast Guard directly... um, wow- this is getting out of control.
Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008
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Congratulations Ensign DeCarol Davis; from The House
Posted by Joe Coastie
'Tis that time of year we let loose a new crop of Ensigns into our great Coast Guard... 'tis also that time to send out those congratulations. Well Ensign DeCarol Davis is getting a grand 'addaboy' or 'gal' as the case is. Thursday the House of Representatives were in the beginning stages of pushing House Resolution 1241. On behalf of the CGBlog team- congratulations ENS Davis!
The short version: H. Res. 1241: Congratulating Ensign DeCarol Davis upon serving as the valedictorian of the Coast Guard...
The good version... umm OER fodder?:
Congratulating Ensign DeCarol Davis upon serving as the valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy's class of 2008 and becoming the first African-American female to earn this honor.
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Congratulating Ensign DeCarol Davis upon serving as the valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy's class of 2008 and becoming the first African-American female to earn this honor.
Whereas Ensign DeCarol Davis is the first African-American female to serve as the valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy;
Whereas Ensign Davis is from Woodbridge, Virginia, and was the 2004 Forest Park High School valedictorian;
Whereas Ensign Davis's academic achievement at the Coast Guard Academy in a class of over 200 cadets earned her status as the valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy's class of 2008;
Whereas Ensign Davis's accomplishments include being selected as a 2007 Truman Scholar, 2008 Connecticut Technology Council Women of Innovation Award recipient, 2006 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Women's Basketball First Team Sports Scholar, and 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I College Women's Basketball First Team;
Whereas Ensign Davis's community outreach during her four years at the Coast Guard Academy significantly impacted the lives of others, including those at a local elementary school where Ensign Davis wrote and directed a play that introduced engineering as a career to the students;
Whereas the Coast Guard Academy serves a critical role in training the future leaders of the Coast Guard to protect ports, waterways, coastal security, and the marine transportation system from an act of terrorism; secure our borders against aliens seeking to unlawfully enter the United States, illegal drugs, firearms, and weapons of mass destruction at ports, waterways, and throughout the marine transportation system; prevent human smuggling operations at ports, waterways, and throughout the marine transportation system; maintain defense readiness to rapidly deploy defensive port operations and security operations and environmental defense operations; coordinate efforts and intelligence with Federal, State, and local agencies to deter, detect, and respond to the threat of terrorism at ports, on waterways, and throughout the marine transportation system; prevent Osama Bin Laden, al Qaeda, or any other terrorist or terrorist organization from attacking the United States or any United States person; and protect the United States or any United States person from threats posed by weapons of mass destruction or other threats to national security;
Whereas the Coast Guard Academy has few women and people of color within its cadet population;
Whereas on April 24, 2008, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2008, which included several provisions to improve the diversity of the Coast Guard Academy; and
Whereas Ensign Davis gave her valedictorian address on May 21, 2008: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) congratulates Ensign DeCarol Davis for becoming the first African-American female to serve as the valedictorian of the Coast Guard Academy; and
(2) encourages the Coast Guard Academy to seek diverse candidates for the cadet corps and to continue to train and graduate cadets of a quality that the Coast Guard needs to fulfill all its homeland and nonhomeland security missions.
Image: Image is from CPBN.org with the caption of: Ensign DeCarol Davis with Captain Allen L. Thompson, USCG Retired; Photo By Chion Wolf
Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2008
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Wednesday, June 4, 2008
CGBlog Find #5: gCaptain.com | A Blog About Ships
Posted by Joe Coastie
This weeks CGBlog Find is outside the Coast Guard realm, yet, not too far. We bring you gCaptain.com | A Blog About Ships as our pick. This blog is uniqe, in my opinion, as it covers a parrellel world to the one covered here on CGBlog. The stories covered on the gCaptain blog range from shipping matters to the impact the maritime industry has on the marine ecosystem (these are both recent stories).
From der'Captains site 'erslef (I'm watching Pirates of the Caribbean right now...):
Our daily blog provides reporting on the most important and interesting stories in the maritime community. Our original stories are enriched by photos and videos which allow us to report on the latest stories in a unique way that is unmatched anywhere in the industry.TOOLS: Oh, but the fun doesn't stop there... This site is full of surprises. gCaptain also offers a multitude of tools aimed at the seasoned and weekend captain alike. Some of the tools available are mashups of news, publications, and the most important... WEATHER!
FORUMS: Though, and this is my opinion only, the gCaptain Forums aren't in the easiest format to follow- they're still a great source of information... and humor alike.
PODCAST: Last but not least gCaptain offers its users a podcast for those on the go. Messing About In Ships is their near weekly audio show all about, can you guess it?, the maritime world. This last episode (23):
In this episode Capt. Kelly Sweeney gives us “A Mariner’s Perspective” and we bring you Part II of the harrowing rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard in saving the Sean Seymour II’s crew. BUT FIRST… if you haven’t listened already be sure to check out Part I of this series: Interview with USCG Rescue Helicopter Crew.As a Coastie I have found this site particularly useful in keeping up with my fellow Auxiliarist- it's amazing how much the know. In fact it was they who first steered me towards this site
Check out this weeks CGBlog Find at gCaptain.com- A Blog About Ships
**Have a blog or website you would like to see as a CGBlog Find? Leave a note in the comments or email me (Joe@CGBlog.org) for your nomination. ~Joe
Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2008
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Thursday, May 29, 2008
The seeking of $96.1 million has stopped
Posted by Joe Coastie
You will recall CGBlog posted back in January about the CG attempting to reclaim $96.1 million for the 123' patrol boat fiasco-
The U.S. Coast Guard has asked a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp (and Northrop Grumman Corp to pay $96.1 million for eight patrol boats that it modified, but that cannot be used.Well this piece on Marinelink points to an AP story stating that the Coast Guard has stopped in its venture pursuing a refund-
...
"The government is seeking $96.1 million in repayment from ICGS for the failure to deliver 123-foot patrol boats that conform to the requirements of the contract," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Laura Williams.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it will temporarily stop its review and suspend its pursuit of a $96.1m refund for faulty ships built by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC), pending a Justice Department investigation. The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General are investigating the Coast Guard's Deepwater contracts, including the eight, 123-ft. patrol boats found to have structural problems...One of these day's something just may workout in our favor.
Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2008
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
CGBlog Find #4: Waiting for ships to come in...
Posted by Joe Coastie
I tell ya, even the best laid plans have their problems- case in point: the weekly CGBlog Find. The goal was to highlight those blogs out there that were Coast Guard centric, however, as I have found, there aren't a whole lot of them. So with that, I have already changed my unpublished "Find" criteria to websites I/we think it would be worth your time to check out, and maybe even subscribe to. However for this week we struck gold- well, at least pyrite... it's a CG centric blog! So without any further blabbering, I bring to you our CGBlog Find #4: Waiting for ships to come in...
Waiting for ships to come in... has several, well actually 9, contributers with a varying style of writing. This blog has been mentioned several times on this site as having some great insight on being a military spouse. Here is a sample of what can be currently found on their front page:
Adjusting to "boat life"
While I certainly had my doubts about boat life, and whether I had the necessary "brave face" that I hear talk about, I've been adapting pretty well, I think. It's not so hard to clean the house the way I want it cleaned with just myself and the kids. There are no attempts from the boys to play one parent off the other. The boys have fallen right into our daily routine, and I'm glad about that...
Asking your boss for a transfer-- 4700 miles away
With great relief, I am finally writing to say that I am moving to Kodiak, AK. We received orders weeks ago. Within minutes of the news, my breath starts shorten, my brain begins to race, my adrenaline courses through my veins...
I'll admit it, I have been on a trip to try and view things the way my wife does- that is, with regards to my job. And by golly I think I may have found the website to help me in that venture: Waiting for ships to come in...
Another great aspect to this site is, as mentioned above, the several writers and their styles. You can find everything from photo contests to what it's like when the hubby (or DH) is gone on a deployment.
Check out this weeks CGBlog Find at Waiting for ships to come in...
**Have a blog or website you would like to see as a CGBlog Find? Leave a note in the comments or email me (Joe@CGBlog.org) for your nomination. ~Joe
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day- Do you know what it's really about?
Posted by Joe Coastie
Found a great site, well, actually it's a regular read of mine, that reminds us of what Memorial day actually is. The Mental_Floss Blog has a post entitled 10 Things to Remember About Memorial Day. Did you know that it's customary on Memorial Day to fly the flag at half staff until noon, and then raise it to the top of the staff until sunset. Well I did, only because my Grandfather told me so... If you want to remember, or learn for the first time, why we celebrate Memorial Day, I encourage you to visit the post above. To all that serve- Thank You.
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008
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Monday, May 19, 2008
Troops told to start blogging...
Posted by Joe Coastie
...in the U.S. Army that is.
Sorry to get your hopes up... It was reported on Wired's Danger Room by Noah Shachtman (what, no David Axe?) in a post titled Leading General Tells Troops to Start Blogging that a leading General in our great Army, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell,
who heads the Combined Armed Center [CAC] and Ft. Leavenworth, told his soldiers in a recent memo that "faculty and students will begin blogging as part of their curriculum and writing requirements both within the .mil and public environments. In addition CAC subordinate organizations will begin to engage in the blogosphere in an effort to communicate the myriad of activities that CAC is accomplishing and help assist telling the Army’s story to a wide and diverse audience."This is a huge step in the right direction, only it's not the correct service as far as I'm concerned. You my recall a post here on CGBlog by Peter- Where's that blog bomb?, where it has been reported that an official word on letting Coasties blog was supposed to hit the streets... so where is it?
Posted on Monday, May 19, 2008
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
CGBlog Find #3: Hell of a Day at Sea
Posted by Joe Coastie
It was looking like our newest find, Hell of a Day at Sea was going to be last weeks CGBlog Find- but that would have been to predictable. So this week I would like to showcase a blog we found by way of asking for comments/nominations off of our first CGBlog Find. Again we find a blog run by one of our own, Casey Wardynski. Mr. Wardynski entered the CG in 2003 and has been rockin' it since.
I would like to point out a post made by Peter a few weeks ago when we discovered this gem titled The first DECKPLATE blog where it's noted that Peter (and I agree) has
discovered the perfect blog to serve as the ideal FROM THE DECKPLATE coastie blog. The blog is from Casey Wardynski, and it's called Hell of a Day at Sea.As noted, I agree. This is a great blog! Mr. Wardynski has a great career in the blog world, as either an "off the cuff, tell it how it is" blogger, or a great legit writer. I would like to highlight a sentence from his post dispelling common misconceptions, an exercise in futility I think I will be using in my personal eMail signature:
This is the real deal. Stop on by Hell of a Day... ; scroll to the bottom and start reading up.
We ARE NOT all rescue swimmers. They are a critical component of our service but when looked at in size compared to the Coast Guard as a whole, they comprise a small part of the Coast Guard.This is a great read... Keep it up Casey!!
Check out this weeks CGBlog Find at Hell of a Day at Sea.
**Have a blog you would like to see as a CG Blog Find? Leave a note in the comments or email me (Joe@CGBlog.org) for your weekly nomination. ~Joe
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Coast Guard gets Lost
Posted by Joe Coastie
Here is the time I profess my geekness for those thing that most would find geeky. Today I found a Coast Guard reference in an unexpected place... on a blog that is all things Lost (DarkUFO). You know, that awesome show on ABC. Anyhow, our CG reference...
US Coast Guard in Lost FinaleAnd for you who care: What is the picture of in this post? First one to get it right gets an
I'm pretty sure this is true but until I get confirmation I'll leave in rumors.
- The Lost Crew were at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii
- They spent a day filming various Coast Guard aircraft taxing and performing low level fly by's
- Lots of "Coasties" were used as Extras.
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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GI BIll change just around the corner?
Posted by Joe Coastie
Again I come across a story that's not entirely Coast Guard, but Military in general. It was announced yesterday, or at least reported on via GovExec, that a Congressional change, the first dramatic one since WWII, to the GI Bill may be just around the corner.
...a plan that would essentially guarantee a full-ride scholarship to any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend, for individuals who serve the military for at least three years.That would rock! This would more than likely convince more recruits to join the ranks of the military.
The proposal would give veterans 15 years to use the benefit, instead of the current 10-year limit, and would set up a new government program that matches financial aid by more expensive private institutions.
For a pricey public school -- such as Miami University in Oxford, Ohio -- that benefit might be worth as much as $31,000 per school year, compared to the maximum $9,900 benefit that veterans are given now.
So the next question is cost:
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the proposal would cost $51.8 billion in the next 10 years.However, there is always a catch...
President Bush is expected to veto the measure if it is sent to him with added domestic spending...Oh well, it will be nice if they can get 'er through.
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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