The US Coast Guard Experience


Firecoast's Medals and Awards
©1999-2004 Firecoast

The Coast Guard was a great experience and one full of wonderful memories. The missions of the US Coast Guard are search and rescue, marine environmental protection, enforcement of laws and treaties, ice operations, aids to navigation, marine safety and defense readiness. The missions to me have more of a day to day impact than the other services, who train for warfare. But that's not to knock them, because they are vital as well.

I enlisted in the US Coast Guard in October, 1993. I reported to Training Center Cape May, NJ and formed with Recruit Company November-143. My Company Commander was EMC Booth with Assistant CCs POs Witherwax and Castro. The first two weeks were the toughest, designed to weed out those who were not physically or mentally capable of continuing on with training. After that, the following six weeks were easy as long as you did what you were told, nothing more, nothing less. We graduated on 17Dec93 and were sent on to our first duty stations.


USCG Recruit Company November-143
©1999-2004 Firecoast

I then moved to Boston, Massachusetts and reported aboard USCGC Spencer (WMEC-905) in December '93 as a Fireman Apprentice. It is a Famous Class cutter which is the third to proudly wear the name Spencer on her transom. The acronym WMEC is for Medium Endurance Cutter, or We Must Eat Chicken. The W is from the WWII era where it indicated a white hull for mail purposes. The 9 in 905 denotes a Famous Class cutter and the 05 means it is the 5th cutter made in this class.

I worked in the Auxillary Machine Shop for the Engineering Dept. during the day, and stood the oiler watch in the engine room during two four hour watches. After four months, I transferred to Deck Dept. and switched rates to Seaman Apprentice. This gave me the opportunity to see more of where we were and where we were going. In the engine room, you couldn't do that. For those of you not familiar with maritime life, that's why you hear the engineers being referred to as "snipes." The snipe is a black oily-feathered bird which is nocturnal.

In Deck Force, we kept up the appearance of the ship, maintained lines and rigging, and oversaw the lowering and raising of the smallboats as well as operating them. I was in charge of avionics, where I maintained aviation equipment worn and used by landing, refueling, tie-down and fire fighting crews. I also stood helm and lookout watch during two four hour shifts.

During emergencies, I was on the fire fighting team, pipe plugging and patching team leader and shoring team leader. I also did emergency medical procedures until the arrival of the corpsman.

During special operations, I worked in communications as a phone talker, either on the bridge, in the Combat Information Center, or at the smallboat launching platforms. I also launched targets when we practiced with the .50-cal. machine gun or Mk 75 76-mm gun.

During my time aboard USCGC Spencer, I travelled to such places as

I met a lot of great people along the way and saw many at their best and many at their worst of times.


USCGC Spencer (WMEC-905) pulling into Miami, Florida
with a load of seized cocaine
©1997-2004 US Coast Guard 7th District

At Station Grand Haven, I dealt more with private boaters in Grand Haven, Muskegon and Holland, Michigan. Our primary missions were search and rescue, marine safety and law enforcement.


USCG Station Grand Haven Crew at CWO4 Larry Mulder & BMCS Joe Vernier's
Change of Command Ceremony, Summer 1997
©1999-2004 Firecoast

Two smaller stations, Station Muskegon and Station Holland, were operated seasonally by personnel from Station Grand Haven.

We operated with 40 personnel when I arrived and were downsized to about 27. That meant we had to drop the number of boats operated from the stations from 7 to 4.

The boats operated from Station Grand Haven when I arrived were two 44' Motor Life Boats (MLB), two 41' Utility Boats (UTB), two 21' Rigid Hull Inflatables (RHI) and a 22' Boston Whaler (UTL). Now, they operate a new 47' MLB, two 25' RHIB's and two 21' RHIMs.

When the seasonal stations in Muskegon and Holland are open, they each get one of the 25' RHIBs. There are two duty sections with two personnel each per station. This means that due to the downsizing a few years ago, we rely on Reserve personnel to assist us with manning the stations.

The usual day of duty started at 0745 with crew relief. The station and boats would be inspected for cleanliness and operational readiness by the oncoming Officer of the Day(OOD) and crew. After the relief, the Deck Force would start their work and the Engineering Dept. theirs. Chow was from 1130 to 1230. The afternoon was spent either working or training. Patrols were also done. If there was no work to be done in the morning, then there was always time to train and patrol. Dinner was from 1630 to 1700. After 1700, it was our time. Cleanups were assigned and completed prior to 2100. Duty was stood in 48 hour shifts, or 72 hour if it fell on a weekend. You get used to it after a while. Just think of it as having a three day weekend every other week. Or working five days one week and two the next.

These are boats operated past and present at Station Grand Haven.


41' Utility Boat (UTB)


44' Motor Life Boat (MLB)


47' Motor Life Boat (MLB)

Above boat photos courtesy of US Coast Guard

If you have any questions about joining the US Coast Guard, e-mail me, call your local recruiter or hit the banner below. You can also e-mail me for any general questions about the US Coast Guard.