Venice computer repair

ATON teams come together

While residents and vacationers of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida watched closely as Hurricane Ivan made its way closer to home, members from Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Sabine, Texas, loaded a 21-foot boat with equipment and supplies, and prepared for the worst. When the hurricane passed, residents returned home to salvage what they could of their lives while members of the ATON team drove to Alabama, boat in tow, in an attempt to restore order in a time of chaos.

In addition to the devastation on land, Hurricane Ivan destroyed many of the waterways used by commercial shipping and fishing industries, rendering them unsafe. In all, Hurricane Ivan damaged or destroyed approximately 600 navigational aids from Gulfport, Miss., to Panama City, Fla., resulting in the closure of all ports and waterways in the Mobile area.

"During a hurricane, buoys can move and range markers can be destroyed. Our primary focus after a storm like this is to restore the major waterways first," said BMCS Bill Pitts, officer-in-charge of ATON Team Mobile, Ala.

Navigating through the waters without properly marked channels and waterways presented a challenge, especially for the Texas-based ATON team, who were unfamiliar with the area.

BM2 Stephen Rigley, EM3 Pedro Cruz and Seaman Jeremy Grubbs, all members from the ATON team in Sabine, arrived at Coast Guard Base Mobile Sept. 18 after spending more than seven hours on the road. Physically preparing for the road trip was easy. "We packed our trailer with equipment and supplies, and headed out," Grubbs recalled. But mentally preparing for the ordeal was a much different story. "There wasn't any way we could prepare for what was in store," Grubbs added.

Rigley and Grubbs joined up with MK1 Jared Taylor from ATON team Mobile, loaded their 21-foot boat with additional supplies, and departed Base Mobile en route to a remote boat ramp near Mobile Bay. After an hour, the team found themselves at a dockside restaurant, once populated with customers, now a pile of wood and glass sitting on a parking lot of sand and broken concrete. After they cautiously reversed their boat into the water from the restaurant's boat ramp, the team helped restore the waterways that now lay cluttered with wooden debris.

The extra weight of the 250-pound cement blocks, a spare fuel tank, air compressor and wooden dayboards bogged the aluminum boat to a crawl as they trudged watchfully through the water.

The sun's reflection off the surface of the water merely added to the heat the crew endured on the small ATON boat.

After an hour-long trip through Mobile Bay, Rigley located a bare wood piling jutting from the water and used a global positioning system-enabled laptop computer to identify what type of dayboard the post once supported. Shouting over the sound of the engine, Rigley relayed the information to the rest of the crew. Grubbs quickly assembled a replacement dayboard and stood cautiously at his post on top of the boat's cabin, nail gun in hand, as the boat slowly made its way to its mark. On cue, the boat slowly bumped into the piling while Grubbs rapidly and repeatedly nailed the board into its final position. "We're good," Grubbs shouted over the sound of the nail gun's compressor as Rigley slowly pulled the boat to safer water.

After more than 10 hours of work, replacing more than 20 daymarkers and one channel marker buoy, the team found themselves in the same parking lot where they began and started the hour-long trip back to Mobile. The quiet road trip in the air-conditioned truck was a stark contrast to the noisy boat engine and glaring sun. As Taylor fell asleep, his cheek pressed up against the glass of the passenger side window, Grubbs and Rigley looked forward to a restful night of sleep at a local area hotel, where they would wake up the next morning and continue where they left off.

ATON teams, along with construction and buoy tenders from the Gulf Region, came together and worked as a unified team in response to Hurricane Ivan. Their dedication to service resulted in the reopening of Alabama's ports and waterways to the recreational and commercial boating community Sept. 22.

Story and photos by PA3 NyxoLyno Cangemi, 8th Dist.

CG Auxiliary: Pickin' up the pieces and putting them away ...

When Coast Guard crews needed help restoring radio communications after Hurricane Ivan made landfall, the Coast Guard Auxiliary was there, and ready to assist in the recovery process wherever needed.

Three major radio antennas used for marine traffic and running search and rescue cases went down after the hurricane. When a natural disaster strikes, radio communication becomes more critical. Almost immediately, the Auxiliary set up communication centers inside their personal travel trailers, strategically placed them along the coast, and began operations. The mobile communication centers were manned 24 hours a day, providing safety broadcasts to mariners and much needed VHF marine radio monitoring.

"Between 70 and 100 miles of coastal VHF radio coverage would have been lost, in an area stretching from Panama City, Fla., to Pensacola, Fla.," said PO 1 Thomas Sudsberry, the assistant operations specialist in charge at Group Mobile, Ala. "These Auxiliarists arrived well trained, equipped, and capable of doing the job with minimal guidance."

As Hurricane Ivan brewed offshore the Coast Guard brainstormed with the Auxiliary and planned their response. After the hurricane ripped through the Gulf, the Coast Guard and Auxiliary put their plan into action.

"Within hours Auxiliary members were on their way," said 8th District Director of Auxiliary, Lt. Cmdr. Robert D. Perkins. "They knew there would be no food, water or electricity in these areas, and without hesitation they went."

Bringing Coast Guard units back to operational readiness proved challenging due to extensive damage to equipment, facilities and minimal availability of Coast Guard personnel immediately following Hurricane Ivan. Coast Guard Auxiliary flotillas from Divisions 1, 3, 4 and 8, including flotillas out of New Orleans, Biloxi and Ocean Springs, Miss., Mobile and Fairhope, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla., rose to the challenge.

Once radio communication was restored, Auxiliarists stood night radio guard at stations, allowing Coast Guard active-duty crewmen to get some much needed rest after long days of being underway and cleaning up around the stations.

"Their exceptional volunteerism came at just the right time," said BMCS Don Coleman, the officer in charge of Station Pensacola. "The crews were completely overwhelmed cleaning up and maintaining search and rescue readiness. Most of our people had no time to attend to their own personal losses, much less rest."

"Auxiliarists everywhere pulled together," said Auxiliary Division 3 Captain Philip Orton. "There were no boundaries, everybody chipped in to do what needed to be done."

The Auxiliary assisted in working with aids to navigation teams using their privately owned boats to conduct waterway surveys, and repair and replace aids.

Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 4-7 Cmdr. Rand Henke worked aids to navigation in Pensacola. "I come from a military family," said Henke. "This was an opportunity for me to serve and give something back."

Members of local flotillas also assisted Station Venice, La., and Station Pensacola cleaning up debris, and bringing food to Coast Guard crewmen who had living off of MREs.

"Auxiliarists integrated into these stations and really became part of the team," said Perkins.

Story by PA3 Stacey Pardini and photos by PA2 Kyle Niemi, 8th Dist.

Station Pensacola, Fla., Overcomes Challenges to Remain Semper Paratus

Of all the Coast Guard units along the Gulf Coast, Station Pensacola, Fla., suffered the brunt of Hurricane Ivan with approximately 85 percent of the station being damaged or destroyed.

In preparation for the storm, the station relocated their vessels and evacuated all non-essential personnel. On Sept. 15, the remaining members of the command secured the building, shifted their radio watch to Coast Guard Group Mobile, Ala., and departed the station, located on Naval Air Station Pensacola.

Upon return to the station the next day, the crew found significant water damage and flooding at the station. Nearly everything in the offices and supply rooms on the bottom floor of the building was washed out to sea, including their workout and weightlifting equipment.

"There was still some stuff in the offices, but nothing that could be saved," said BM1 Travis Sanders, operations petty officer at Station Pensacola.

Sanders described the first few days after the storm damaged the station as, "Chaotic--the crew was in shock at first."