They Had to Go Out

Retired Aviation Electronics Technician (AET) Gina Panuzzi talks a decade of service in Coast Guard aviation, the crash of CG-6028 in the Utah mountains that nearly claimed her life, and her road to recovery in the aftermath.

Former AET2 Todd Ebner talks his decade of service in Coast Guard aviation, locating 17 survivors of a fishing trip gone wrong off the Alaskan coast, transporting a dead whale in the cargo hold of a C-130, tracking Russian and Chinese poachers, taking down a corrupt government official in American Samoa, rights of passage at ‘A’ School in E City, and coping with the loss of so many who have died in the line of duty.

Francois Michaud, the Chief Instructor for Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue (RCM SAR), talks his decade of service onboard the ships and lifeboats of the Canadian Coast Guard, a long and harrowing day of MEDEVACs from a fishing fleet caught in a storm, training coxswains to lead boat crews on emergency calls, and the most important lessons he works to pass on to volunteer lifesavers.

Senior Chief Machinery Technician Tina Claflin (Ret.) talks towing a sailboat through high surf, sailing aboard the tall ship Eagle, Strike Team CBR call outs for everything from a tire fire in Ohio to a burning train in a submerged tunnel, and the Centennial of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers. Her company @halcyonreflections is producing a commemorative CPO Logbook now available for preorder at http://www.halcyonreflections.com .

Service academies and colleges nationwide have active and powerful alumni associations, but those who enlist and substitute boot camp for higher education lack any similar organization they can leverage for their own social and professional network, or to give back to better the institution that positively impacted their lives. With tens of thousands of potential members who have completed boot camp, the Coast Guard Recruit Training Alumni is looking to change this.

In this special episode we trade boot camp stories and talk the stand-up of the Alumni with veteran enlisted leaders, including 10th MCPOCG Skip Bowen, President of the CPOA Jon Ostrowski, TRACEN Cape May Command Master Chief David Pace, and the Alumni’s public affairs lead Richard Brahm.

Learn more and join the Alumni today at http://www.cgrtalumni.org/

As we continue to celebrate the centennial of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers we talk with Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate Jim Rambus (Ret.) who tells of the dangers of logistic runs to the shoals and reefs of the Great Lakes where manned lighthouses once stood, including a lesson in confidence for a new coxswain after swamping a 40 footer during a personnel transfer and the near loss of a crew when their boat’s engines died in icy waters, the dangers of lightship duty during hurricanes and heavy fog, commanding three boat stations as an enlisted Officer in Charge, a fatal snap back after the service’s boats first transitioned from manila to nylon towlines, the service’s move from Treasury to Transportation, and what it means to be a Chief Petty Officer.

Chief Health Services Technician Adam Cravey (Ret.) talks a Coast Guard Medal case that demanded he deploy into a raging sea as a boat swimmer in an effort to save the crew of a burning tug and barge, serving as an independent duty corpsman aboard a Coast Guard cutter, treating the most common complaints of patients visiting an underway sick bay, and coordinating the medical evacuations of severely sick and injured crew members at sea.

Retired Senior Chief Boatswains Mate Jon Ostrowski talks deploying for Operation Iraqi Freedom with a Reserve Port Security Unit, the centennial of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers, the unique role of Chiefs in the service, leading the Chief Petty Officers Association (CPOA) at the national level, the volunteer work of the CPOA’s local chapters during recent crises including the federal government shutdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, and his dramatic introduction to Coast Guard operations aboard his first cutter.

Part II. Former Lieutenant Peter Eident talks surviving the capsizing and sinking of the USCGC Cuyahoga during a nighttime training cruise on the Chesapeake Bay and the legal and emotional aftermath stemming from the loss of eleven of her crew. Learn more in Peter’s book “Bearing Drift”, available now at http://bearingdrift.petereident.com

Part I of II. Former Lieutenant Peter Eident talks surviving the capsizing and sinking of the USCGC Cuyahoga during a nighttime training cruise on the Chesapeake Bay and the legal and emotional aftermath stemming from the loss of eleven of her crew. Learn more in Peter’s book “Bearing Drift”, available now at http://bearingdrift.petereident.com