Crewman dies after vessel sinks in Gulf of Alaska; three saved (Ketchikan: credit, military)

[Captain Crunch]

Thanks Marty....the CG is going just fine and will continue to what they do just fine all over the country

Nothing happening here but an attempt at spin by the OP

He is unable to back up what he wrote...

Yet, they always get the budget shaft.

[gobrien]

It would be so nice if Obama wasn't dragged into every discussion, wouldn't it CC? I see it on entertainment comment sections, even. I almost preferred it when the smirking chimp was in office. Then we could just make fun of his intelligence and not have to hear all the irrational tangents.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by Captain Crunch

News this afternoon is reporting the skipped died of a head injury...

think first...lets see some data to support your claim...toss a link in here, or if that is just your opinion just say so and omit your spin

The CG ain't hurting at all for new equipment...I'm seeing a ton of new boats both in Alaska and around the lower 48...66 new 87' cutters in the last 10 years to replace the ole 82's

Highlights...
Sea change for the Coast Guard - - MSNBC.com

700 new 25' Coast Guard Safeboats in the last few years and all the support to go with them....to include personnel and facilities
SAFE Boats International

Mark....check this out
http://www.multicam.com/eng/News/SAFEBOATS.PDF

The new CG base in Bellingham mustta cost 20-million.......stationed there: two 87' cutters (one brand new) 2 41' Utility and 2 new Safeboats, and they are out everyday on patrols

87' Sea Lion...Bellingham
CGC Sea Lion - Supported Units - USCG: Group/Air Station Port Angeles (http://www.uscg.mil/d13/portangeles/cgcSeaLion.asp - broken link)

87' Terrapin...Bellingham
USCGC Terrapin (WPB-87366), Bellingham WA

Cool boats, I wish we had the faster ones they have now than from when I was in. Fastest thing we normally had was the 44' Motor Life Boat, was great and could go out in any weather, flip over and self right, but only did about 13 knots. Now they got them doing 40 knots and self righting. They came out with the 41', it could do about 25 knots, but was a rollover risk (and not back up) and wasn't allowed out in four to five foot seas or higher.

But as far as the budget cuts go, the Coast Guard has always been at the tail end of the money tree line. Most of the stuff you quoted was from the Bush Admin and that money was budgeted about two to four years ago and the bidding process goes on.

You have to remember that all those boats were on the drawing board, put out to bid and then built over a couple of year period. So Bush does get the claim to fame on those. Stuff that Obama's administration would do, won't see the light for a few more years.

But if Obama keeps the stuff on track, then good for him... even if he wasn't born here....

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by gobrien

It would be so nice if Obama wasn't dragged into every discussion, wouldn't it CC? I see it on entertainment comment sections, even. I almost preferred it when the smirking chimp was in office. Then we could just make fun of his intelligence and not have to hear all the irrational tangents.

Well when the OP talks about it, that is the subject line. If people don't like it they don't have to respond.

The lifesaving is always a hot topic at Coast Guard Bases, and the Budget is right behind that. The money's the Coast Guard gets for funding rises and falls with the different Presidents and the Congress they have to work with.

After 9/11, Bush pushed for massive amounts of money to be pushed into all the armed services, Coast Guard included. What Obama does or doesn't do won't be felt for a few years That is just the way the process works.

The Budget for this last year (2009) was from the money Congress approved in 2008. Congress under Obama has passed the budget for the Coast Guard 2010 season in 2009 and under Obama and it may or may not have cuts or increases, I haven't seen it so I don't know. But when the government spends too much money elsewhere, the military is normally the first to see the cuts, and the Coast Guard has always been the bastard child of the group.

But I can attest, that when a CG boat comes to pluck you from the water, you don't care if it has got a nice shiney paint job or is all rusty, you are thrilled to death it is there!

[gobrien]

Well, the OP did bring it up, what irks me is like something I saw a few days ago about a story on an electric lineman's accidental near-fatal elecrocution, and some guy hijacked the comment section with something about Obama and the day of prayer or something similiar. Everyone was passing on sympathy comments and then a political comment came out of nowhere.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by gobrien

Well, the OP did bring it up, what irks me is like something I saw a few days ago about a story on an electric lineman's accidental near-fatal elecrocution, and some guy hijacked the comment section with something about Obama and the day of prayer or something similiar. Everyone was passing on sympathy comments and then a political comment came out of nowhere.

Yeah, that never happens here

[Captain Crunch]

But as far as the budget cuts go, the Coast Guard has always been at the tail end of the money tree line

Mark...as you well know, the CG is not a combat unit....therefore there is no real reason for them to be any further up on the money tree

The OP either isn't smart enough to realize that or has another agenda. Sure its the latter, having looked at a number of his other posts.

[RedJacket]

Originally Posted by Captain Crunch

Mark...as you well know, the CG is not a combat unit....therefore there is no real reason for them to be any further up on the money tree

The OP either isn't smart enough to realize that or has another agenda. Sure its the latter, having looked at a number of his other posts.

Then why is there a USCG Combat Veterans Association?

The USCG has participated in nearly every war, declared and undeclared going back over 200 years.

Coast Guard at Normandy Memorial
Utah Beach, Normandy, France
On June 6, 1994, the Coast Guard Combat Veterans Association dedicated a plaque to those Coast Guard veterans who served at the invasion of Normandy.

Coast Guard Monuments & Memorials

In 2003, the CG was cobbled up by the DHS and given a larger role in everything from fighting terrorism to the war on drugs.

For you to say they don't deserve any more money is nothing short of pathetic. The DOD currently has an annual budget of $750 billion dollars. The CG only gets $10 billion of that for playing a critical role in keeping all Americans safe.

Even you.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by Captain Crunch

Mark...as you well know, the CG is not a combat unit....therefore there is no real reason for them to be any further up on the money tree

The OP either isn't smart enough to realize that or has another agenda. Sure its the latter, having looked at a number of his other posts.

That is where you are dead wrong, and well that is what I thought too when I enlisted during the Viet Nam deal...

Wasn't interested in shooting people, I thought that saving them was much more appealing than getting drafted and living in a foxhole.

First night in Boot camp it was told to us that during WWII, the Coast Guard had the highest percentage of losses over any military service. The landing craft run on D-day were mostly Coast Guard operated...then it goes down hill from there. Funny how the recruiter never mentioned any of that.

In Viet Nam, we ran river patrol and "Operation Market Basket" where we searched boats for weapons, and again... the Coast Guard lost a lot of people there, the patrol boat I was on was sunk.

Currently there is a lot of CG personnel in the Mideast doing vessel inspections under fire you might say.

Nope, the CG is a full military unit, that does lifesaving, environmental cleanup and other oddities until "Stuff" hits the fan, then they are in the thick of it too. The CG is bounced under all sorts of other departments depending on what the President wants at the time, they are under the Department of Defense, then the Department of Transportation and now under "Homeland Secrutiy"... and still getting shot at.

This is an entertaining bit of info on the CG at war

The U.S. Coast Guard at War: A History

[Captain Crunch]

Hogwash Mark.....you knew I was referring to present day rather than history

Show me present-day CG operations related to current conflicts, not related to Homeland Security in the US

All CG operations within the US appear to be very well funded...