CSG2, Congressman Present Awards to Nautilus SSN 571 Division Cadets

By Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, Commander, Submarine Group 2 Public Affairs

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. (NNS) -- Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, commander, Submarine Group 2 and U.S.Rep. Joe Courtney joined nearly 100 Sea Cadets and their families for their annual holiday party and awards at the VFW Post 1053 in Old Saybrook, Dec. 10.

Nautilus (SSN 571) Division Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Robert Smith, who retired from the U.S. Navy as a chief messs specialist, thanked the families and local community for their support of the Sea Cadet program.

"So many give so much to run a program like this," said Smith. "Your kids make this unit as strong as it is."

Smith added that countless hours are spent by volunteers to better the organization and these volunteers bring nearly 200 years of cumulative military experience.

Breckenridge, a strong supporter for the Sea Cadet program, praised the cadets for their interest and commitment in serving a purpose greater than themselves.

"It's great to see your selfless discipline and personal devotion to our country at such an early point in your lives," said Breckenridge, who also emphasized the values of the program in preserving what is great about America.

Breckenridge impressed upon the group the significance of Courtney's attendance.

"When a congressman with the scope of responsibilities of Joe Courtney invests his extremely limited discretionary time to meet here, it speaks volumes on the importance of our youth and to this program," said Breckenridge.

Courtney and Breckenridge attended the annual awards ceremony to present the Nautilus 571 Division Cadet of the Year and Navy League Cadet Corps Training Ship Nathan Hale Cadet of the Year awards.

Sea Cadet Tulsa Scott, Fitch High School senior, received the Nautilus 571 Cadet of the Year and has been in the program since July 2010. After graduation Scott hopes to attend the U.S. Naval Academy and pursue a naval career in the Submarine Force.

"Both my father and grandfather were submariners and I have been on the water all of my life," said Scott.

During the ceremony Breckenridge presented the 2011 Navy League Cadet Corps of the Year award to Petty Officer 1st Class Jakob Stanton.

Another senior participating in the Sea Cadet program is Sarah Kukich; an East Lyme High School senior was recently accepted into the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

While she has her sight set on the Coast Guard Academy, she is still waiting for acceptance replies from Naval Reserves Officer Training Corps or U.S. Naval Academy.

Kukich is a perfect example of the programs' benefits said Smith who spoke of the benefits of the Cadet Corps by instilling obedience, military bearing and discipline. Captain of her crew team; sailing team, as well as a fierce competitor in pole vaulting and track team, Kukich has also received the coveted Girl Scout Gold Award earlier this year.

"It's a good leadership opportunity and a good introduction program that shows kids about the military," said Kukich.

Melinda Welch, Kukich's mother discussed her daughter's drive. "She has always been very organized and disciplined," said Welch.

During Courtney's speech he emphasized the important role he plays in approving academy nominations and congratulated Kukich on her recent acceptance.

"I get to be involved in the nomination process and a Sea Cadet label on a resume or application is like a stamp of Good Housekeeping," said Courtney.

Wendy Bahner, resident of Clinton, Conn., is another parent whose two sons, 17 and 19, has been involved in the Sea Cadet program for the past eight years collectively and echoed the programs' benefits.

"It teaches them leadership, self discipline, self respect and teamwork, as well as respect for others," said Bahner.

Bahner added that the Navy vs Army annual game will have new meaning in her home when her two sons join the military. Her 19-year old will be leaving for boot camp in January and her 17-year old will enter the U.S. Navy upon graduation from high school next year.

Obama Salutes Devotion to Duty at Coast Guard Commencement

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 18, 2011 – The smallest U.S. military service has vast responsibilities in protecting thousands of miles of coast, securing hundreds of ports and patrolling millions of miles of ocean, President Barack Obama said today.

The president addressed 228 graduating cadets and 1,500 military personnel and their families during a commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

Obama praised the cadets’ commitment and dedication to service.

“I've seen your devotion to duty all along the Gulf Coast when the Coast Guard, including members of this class, worked day and night tirelessly as you led the largest environmental cleanup in our nation's history,” the president said.

“In you we see the same spirit that has made your service ‘always ready’ for more than two centuries, invoking the English translation of the Coast Guard’s Latin motto, “Semper Paratus.”

“In you we see the readiness that has made the Coast Guard one of our nation's first responders, leading the evacuation of Lower Manhattan on 9/11 and often being the very first Americans on the scene, from the earthquake in Haiti to the oil spill in the Gulf,” Obama said.

Coast Guardsmen pulled stranded Americans from the rooftops during Hurricane Katrina, the president added, saved desperate migrants clinging to rafts in the Caribbean and even today rescue Americans from the surging Mississippi River.

The Coast Guard Academy, founded in 1876, is the smallest of five federal service academies, with 1,030 cadets enrolled. Like the other academies, it is highly selective and charges no tuition. The academy's curriculum emphasizes leadership, physical fitness and professional development.

With the impending retirement of the academy’s superintendent, Coast Guard Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe, Obama noted that the incoming superintendent, Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sandra L. Stosz, “will become the first woman to lead one of our nation’s military academies.”

This is a tribute to the admiral, the president said, but also “to the opportunities that the Coast Guard affords women of talent and commitment, including the class of 2011, which has one of the largest numbers of women cadets in the history of this academy.”

He commended the class of 2011 on earning the highest grade-point average of any class in the academy’s history and noted the academy’s acceptance of a range of international applicants.

“This academy welcomes cadets from all over the world, including two dedicated young men in your class from the Marshall Islands and Romania,” he said. Obama also acknowledged President Jurelang Zedkaia of the Marshall Islands and King George Tupou from Tonga, who were in the audience.

“They are two of America's closest partners among the Pacific island nations,” Obama said. “Their citizens serve bravely alongside our forces, including in Afghanistan, and we are very, very grateful.”

Obama told the cadets that the nation, for its “enormous investment” in transforming them into leaders, has great expectations.

“Here at home, we need you to stop those smugglers and protect our oceans and prevent terrorists from slipping deadly weapons into our ports,” he said.

In congratulating the Class of 2011, Obama told the cadets that if they stay true to the academy’s lessons, he is confident that “future historians will look back on this moment and say that when we faced the tests of our time, … we passed our country, safer and stronger, to the next generation.”

Face of Defense: Cutter Commander Shares Haiti Experience

By Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Tamargo

U.S. Coast Guard Academy Public Affairs

NEW LONDON, Conn., April 7, 2011 – U.S. Coast Guard officers are presented with many challenges and opportunities. Normal operations may quickly turn into a life or death mission that challenges their training and experience.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Diane W. Durham became the head of the Professional Maritime Studies Department here during the summer of 2010. She leads 17 military and civilian instructors and staff, and oversees the nautical science training of the more than 1,000 members of the academy’s corps of cadets.

A few months earlier Durham had put her experience to the test as commander of the Coast Guard Cutter Forward. She and her crew were pressed into action in response to a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck less than 15 miles from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 12, 2010.

The Forward was on deployment, Durham recalled, and recently had arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when the earthquake occurred.

"The duty section and off-duty crew onboard were jolted by unusual movement of the ship and quickly gathered to respond to an onboard emergency,” she said. “We learned that it was an earthquake, and soon after, we learned of the devastation in Port-au-Prince.

“The crew was recalled from various points around the base,” Durham continued, “and we were underway by 10 p.m. We made best speed through the night.”

Durham’s cutter was the first U.S. vessel to arrive in Haiti for the earthquake response mission.

During the response, Durham said her crew members conducted numerous missions, including search and rescue, air traffic control, port assessments, damage assessment overflights and medical evacuations.

Durham and her crew were recognized for their exceptional work during the response effort. On July 4, 2010, Durham represented the Coast Guard at the White House and was commended by President Barack Obama for the Haiti relief efforts.

“We salute the United States Coast Guard, including a Coast Guardsman who commanded the first U.S. vessel to arrive in Haiti after the earthquake, helping to pave the way for one of the most complex humanitarian efforts ever attempted, Cmdr. Diane Durham,” Obama said.

At the height of the response in mid-January, the Coast Guard had up to eight cutters in Haiti’s ports, in the Caribbean and in Florida waters. Air assets included a HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft, five HC-130 Hercules aircraft, three MH-65 Dolphin helicopters and three MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters operating in Haiti with more than 800 Coast Guard members providing assistance on shore, afloat on the cutters and in the air.

Durham said she emphasized an open and honest command climate built on trust and communication.

“Being on a cutter requires people to embody the term shipmate," she said. “You live together, work together, struggle together and succeed together for long periods of time. You become a family.”

This command climate directly impacted Durham’s crew.

“Commander Durham is very dedicated to the overall mission of the Coast Guard. I have sought after her council for stressful situations on several occasions,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Nicole Rose, the command chief on the Forward. “What makes a good leader is looking out after your people, dedication, motivation, compassion and the ability to expertly handle difficult situations. This is a talent too few have and many more need.”

Durham has served more than nine years at sea during her 21-year career on the Coast Guard cutters Rush, Decisive, Resolute, Tampa and Forward. Durham said she now brings her knowledge and experience from the fleet into the classroom to train and teach cadets, officer candidates, prospective commanding officers and executive officers.

“It’s important to have officers from the fleet as instructors because they know what is expected of junior officers in their first tours and what will help us achieve success when we enter the workforce,” said First Class Cadet Amanda Cousart, a marine and environmental science major at the academy. “Teaching cadets and other Coast Guard personnel is a way to make sure all of the information Commander Durham has learned is passed on so future officers can make the Coast Guard thrive.”

First Class Cadet Dana Prefer echoed Cousart’s sentiments.

“I think that Commander Durham is a wealth of knowledge because she has done almost everything you can do in the afloat community,” Prefer said. “When she told us about her past jobs, I was very impressed that she held that many command positions and highly-sought-after billets.

I believe that due to her diverse career path,” Prefer added, “she is able to get through to her students effectively, and I see her as a very good model of what a leader should be.”

Coast Guard Commandant addresses future officers

Posted by: Christopher Lagan

Earlier this week, cadets at the United States Coast Guard Academy were given insight on what it means to be a military officer from none other than Adm. Bob Papp, Commandant of the Coast Guard.

Papp’s speech to the service’s future leaders focused on the oath of office each cadet will take when four years of academy life ends and their careers begin in earnest as commissioned Coast Guard officers.

Papp told the Corps “your oath is sacred, your commission is timeless” while noting that the wording of his commission is virtually identical to the 1791 commission of Hopley Yeaton — the first Coast Guard Officer.

Cadet 1st Class Meghan Zehringer, chosen by her peers to lead the 1,030-strong corps of cadets as regimental commander for the spring semester, was inspired by Papp’s message.

“With graduation approaching and my class about to take the oath to serve in the Coast Guard as junior officers, I found Admiral Papp’s address to be very eye opening and informative. I have never truly looked at the oath and the fact that he was able to analyze and explain each part of it increased not only my awareness of the importance of understanding the words that I pledge to live by but also that of the entire Corps of Cadets, the [Officer Candidate School] students, and all others present [at the speech].”

As the most junior members at the academy, 4th class cadets gained perspective on their chosen profession from the commandant’s words.

“I was humbled by Admiral Papp’s presence and how someone of his ranking could take the time to talk to the corps. He even stayed after for anyone who wanted to personally talk with him. His speech on commitment to the oath really made me appreciate what I am doing and gave me something to look forward to after my time at the Academy.” – Cadet 4th Class Devin Fellman

“Admiral Papp’s speech provoked a sense of unpretentious kinship between his self and the corps, blending perfectly with his message that we are all shipmates. I believe that this sense of kinship has inspired the corps to a greater trust of and willingness to follow the Commandant of the Coast Guard.” – Cadet 4th Class Laura Carts

“I stayed behind after and talked a little bit with the admiral, and what was awesome was the fact that he was able to relate to what I was going through as a 4th class cadet. He asked me how the school year was going and some goals I was going to set for myself. He provided words of encouragement and support. Also, even though the admiral is in such a high position of power, he doesn’t let that change his attitude or how he acts. He honestly acts like he is one of our shipmates. In other words, he is very down to earth and an approachable guy.” – Cadet 4th Class John Ramirez