The Douglas Munro Chapter of the Surface Navy Association is honored to announce the recipients of the 2020 Hopley Yeaton Cutter Excellence and Superior Cutterman Awards.
This year's nominations were absolutely impressive, and a testament to the hard work being done by the cutter fleet every day. As nearly half of all U.S. Coast Guard members serve afloat in their first four years in the USCG, the cutter fleet is entrusted with the important task of developing and molding the Coast Guard of the future.
The cutter fleet continues to strive for excellence, while at the same time identifying and encouraging the future leaders of our fleet.
This year’s winners are:
- Cutter Excellence Award (Large Cutter): CGC POLAR STAR (WAGB 10)
- Cutter Excellence Award (Medium Cutter): CGC BEAR (WMEC 901)
- Cutter Excellence Award (Small Cutter): CGC CHEYENNE (WLR 75405)
- Superior Cutterman Award (Officer): LCDR Ian Starr - CGC ALEX HALEY (WMEC 39)
- Superior Cutterman Award (Enlisted): EMC Dimitri Brisker - CGC WAESCHE (WMSL 751)
The Polar Star at McMurdo Station
CGC POLAR STAR (WAGB 10), throughout a 325 Day Away from Homeport (DAFHP) in 2020, completed a remarkable 122-day deployment in support of Operation Deep Freeze (ODF). During ODF, POLAR STAR established and groomed a 22 nautical mile channel through 10-foot-thick Antarctic ice to resupply McMurdo Station, conducted a three-ship escort into Winter Quarter’s Bay for a sealift of 8 million gallons of life-sustaining fuel, 900 containers, and $480 million in materials and supplies for infrastructure recapitalization. During ODF, POLAR STAR also facilitated the State Department's historic treaty inspections of Chinese, Italian, and South Korean facilities, cementing U.S. leadership and influence in the region. Returning home amidst a global pandemic, the cutter successfully completed their $7.9 million, four-month dry dock. POLAR STAR's unique people plan required few crewmembers to need to spend more than 215 DAFHP. Lastly, POLAR STAR's prototyping of Deployment-Based Training (vice Tailored Ships Training Availability) is setting well-founded precedents for future cutter training models.
Honorable Mentions for the Large Cutter Award are:
- CGC HAMILTON (WMSL 753)
- CGC BERTHOLF (WMSL 750)
- CGC MUNRO (WMSL 755)
CGC BEAR off the coast of Praia, during the crew's most recent deployment to Africa.
In 2020 the CGC BEAR (WMEC 901) executed a very high optempo of 218 DAFHP in a 242-day period, exhibiting great flexibility in the execution of an unexpected deployment to West Africa. Initially slated to patrol in the Eastern Pacific, while on patrol BEAR's crew responded admirably to a hole in the engine room, battling flooding at sea for nearly 16 hours. Over a five-day period, BEAR conducted emergency repairs and requested $250K in parts and supplies for an Out of Hemisphere (OOH) deployment 3,500 miles away from depot level support.
BEAR sailed across the Atlantic to exercise US-Cabo Verde bilateral agreements during 25 LE exchanges, nume