CLEVELAND — The crews of three U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers are scheduled to be moored in Detroit near Cobo Hall, and provide free tours to the public on Friday and Saturday.

Each cutter’s crew will be supporting the Coast Guard’s 2011-12 domestic icebreaking mission and providing support for a security zone surrounding the 24^th Annual North American Auto Show.

Moored in Detroit will be the 140-foot ice breaking tugs Bristol Bay, homeported in Detroit, Neah Bay, homeported in Cleveland, and cutter Thunder Bay, homeported in Rockland, Maine, but temporarily assigned to the Great Lakes.

Cutters Bristol Bay and Neah Bay will be open for tours on Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., respectively. Cutter Thunder Bay will be open for tours on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Ice breaking on the Great Lakes is vital to keeping shipping lanes open. Large quantities of steel, coal, heating oil and grain ship throughout the region, and Coast Guard ice breaking services enable these shippers to transport an average of $2 billion worth of cargo each year.

For more information contact the 9^th District Public Affairs Office at 216-902-6020.

CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is temporarily moored at the Port of Cleveland during a visit for area familiarization and other training opportunities Jan. 5, 2011. The Mackinaw is the only U.S. heavy ice breaking resource assigned to the Great Lakes, and is permanently homeported in Cheboygan, Mich. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Michael Jorgensen)

CLEVELAND — Media are invited for a tour of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw and to interview the crew Thursday afternoon while the cutter is temporarily moored in Cleveland.

The Mackinaw is the only U.S. heavy ice breaking resource assigned to the Great Lakes and is permanently homeported in Cheboygan, Mich., but is currently in Cleveland for area familiarization and other training opportunities.

The cutter has state-of-the-art systems and multi-mission capabilities including servicing buoys, search and rescue, law enforcement and the ability to deploy an oil-skimming system to respond to oil spill situations.

• What: Tour of Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw
• Who: Crew of Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw
• When: 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, 2011
• Where: Port of Cleveland on West 3rd Street behind Cleveland Browns Stadium

Tours will not be available for the general public.

Editor's Note: Interested media should RSVP to the Coast Guard 9th District Public Affairs Office at (216) 902-6020 by 12:30 p.m. Thursday to gain access to the cutter. A driver's license or photo identification is required for entry to the port.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Media is invited to speak with and interview a Coast Guardsman who received a prestigious lifesaving award last month, at a media availability scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City.

Petty Officer 3^rd Class Thomas McArthur, an aviation survival technician at the air station, and recipient of the Silver Lifesaving Medal, will be available for interviews from noon to 3 p.m.

McArthur, a native of Dunwoody, Ga., and a 2007 graduate of the Greater Atlanta Christian School, is credited with saving 12 lives from violent riptides at Frankfort Beach in Frankfort, Mich., on Aug. 15, 2010.  At the time, McArthur was assigned to Coast Guard Station Frankfort and rescued the dozen swimmers while off-duty.

McArthur was awarded the Coast Guard’s Silver Lifesaving Medal at the Coast Guard Foundation Dinner in New York on Oct. 13. He was awarded the medal for his actions on August 15, 2010 when he rescued 12 people, including a family of four, who were in danger of drowning in dangerous rip tides off of Frankfort.

He was also recognized by the National Capitol Area Council Boy Scouts of America at their annual Scouting Salutes the Military event in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27.  A lifelong member of the scouting community, McArthur earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2006.  Click here to read about the Boy Scout event.

For his heroism, as well as his many accomplishments, McArthur was named the Coast Guard's Shipmate of the Week.

According to Title 14 of US Code, which establishes Coast Guard lifesaving authorities, the Gold and Silver Lifesaving Medals may be awarded by the commandant of the Coast Guard to any person who "rescues or endeavors to rescue any other person from drowning, shipwreck, or other peril of the water."

Media interested in attending the media availability are asked to RSVP to Lt. j.g. Jim Okorn at 231-922-8273 no later than 4 p.m. Monday.

Air Station Traverse City is located at 1175 Airport Access Road, Traverse City, MI 49686-3586.

CLEVELAND — Personnel from the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Cleveland Police Department, and other local law enforcement and intelligence agencies are scheduled to hold a maritime security exercise Wednesday morning, at the Coast Guard's Cleveland Moorings facility.

This exercise is being held in conjunction with the larger bi-national Frontier Sentinel 2011 exercise, which has been taking place since Sept. 20.  Click here to learn more about FS11.

Wednesday's exercise involves the controlled arrival and dockside boarding of a Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel playing the role of a private vessel suspected of carrying weapons and narcotics.  The simulated boarding of the vessel is the culmination of the active components of the FS11 exercise and is the result of weeks of intelligence-gathering and information-sharing among the bi-national federal, state and local agencies involved in the exercise.

There is no cause for public alarm due to any increased activity from law enforcement and emergency response personnel in and around the exercise area.

Any media interested in attending should RSVP to the 9th Coast Guard District Public Affairs by 8:30 a.m., Wednesday.

This event is not open to the public.

CLEVELAND — Leaders from the U.S. and Canadian military branches that are conducting a maritime homeland security and defense exercise are scheduled to be available for a news briefing Thursday morning at the Marine Security Operation Centre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.

Military spokespersons from the U.S. Coast Guard and Joint Task Force Atlantic will be on hand to discuss the Frontier Sentinel 2011 exercise, which began on Sept. 20 and is planned to culminate on Oct. 5.

The overall purpose of FS11 is to conduct a maritime homeland security and defense exercise in the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of St. Lawrence and Great Lakes region, enabling the development of combined information sharing and planning, all of which should lead to the generation of a coordinated response to mutual maritime threats.

Taking part in the FS11 exercise are personnel from U.S. and Canadian military branches and government agencies, and state and local agencies, including: the U.S. Coast Guard's Atlantic Area and 9th District; U.S. Fleet Forces Command; Canada Command and Joint Task Forces Atlantic region and Central region; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police C Division; several Ohio Northern Border Initiative agencies; and others.

Click here to learn more about FS11.

CLEVELAND — Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Cleveland, the Cleveland Division of Police, and other law enforcement and emergency response agencies are providing details this afternoon regarding what media may see if they attend a maritime securty exercise at the Coast Guard's Cleveland Moorings facility, scheduled to be held Wednesday.

Media in attendance will see a coordinated response to a simulated maritime security incident.

Click here to read more about the exercise.

Media interested in attending must RSVP to the 9th District Public Affairs Office by 9 a.m. Wednesday.

This event is not open to the public.

CLEVELAND — A four-person aircrew assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, Mich., that deployed to South Carolina in support of the federal government's response to Hurricane Irene are scheduled to be available for interviews with the media Thursday regarding their deployment.

• WHO:
  Lt. Ryan Allen of Camden, N.C.
  Lt. j.g. Conor Madison of Lawrenceville, N.J.
  Petty Officer 3^rd Class Rob Rendon of Joshua, Texas
  Petty Officer 2^nd Class James Saleeby of Clemmons, N.C.
• WHAT:  Available for interviews regarding their deployment in support of Hurricane Irene response efforts
• WHEN:  11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011
• WHERE: Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City, 1175 Airport Access Road, Traverse City, MI 49686

The Coast Guardsmen met nearly 50 other Coast Guard aviators from around the country at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., Friday afternoon in preparation for the hurricane's landfall.

Once there, the Traverse City aircrew assisted with planning and logistics, flew through 70-mph winds Saturday evening to relocate a helicopter to Wilmington, N.C., flew post-hurricane assessment flights from Wilmington to Elizabeth City, N.C., and stood by to respond to potential search and rescue cases.

They were released Tuesday morning and returned to Traverse City Tuesday night.

WHO: Members of Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan, GE Healthcare, and school staff

WHAT: Participating in a community service event to paint the interior and exterior walls and fix cosmetic issues throughout Trowbridge Street School in Milwaukee

WHEN: Aug. 24, 2011, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Trowbridge Street School, 1943 East Trowbridge Street, Milwaukee, WI 53207-2596
Phone: 414-294-1900

WHY: Members of Sector Lake Michigan conduct community service events throughout the year in Milwaukee and the Lake Michigan region

The Coast Guard has tutored and volunteered at Trowbridge Street School over the years as part of the Partnership in Education program. Click here for more information about the PIE program.

Editor's Note: This event is not open to the public.  Media interested in attending the event should call Sector Lake Michigan Public Affairs at 414-747-7152 no later than 4 p.m. Tuesday

DETROIT — More than 65 U. S. and Canadian federal, state and local emergency response partner agencies are scheduled to take part in a full-scale, cross-border security, mass rescue and oil spill response exercise, “Detroit River Readiness 2011," on Aug. 23 and 24 along the Detroit River Corridor from Trenton north in the river to Detroit and Windsor.

Click here to read the original press release regarding the exercise.

 






SCHEDULE:

Media inquiries should be referred to Lt. Justin Westmiller, Coast Guard exercise public information officer, at 313-701-6016, or City of Detroit homeland security PIO, Pam Shivers at 313-596-1646.

CLEVELAND – A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson will be available for interviews with the media Wednesday afternoon in Harbor Beach, Mich., regarding the rescue of Michael Trapp, the pilot whose plane crashed in Lake Huron Tuesday.

WHO: Lt. Justin Westmiller, Coast Guard Sector Detroit public affairs officer

WHEN: 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, 2011

WHERE: U.S. Coast Guard Station Harbor Beach, 104 Richie Drive, Harbor Beach, MI

Press releases about the search for Trapp and his rescue are available HERE, HERE and HERE.