My Coast Guard News

Rear Adm. Zeita Merchant poses for a photo in New York City following her historic promotion. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

April 23, 2024

Rear Adm. Zeita Merchant: Coast Guard pioneer

Rear Adm. Zeita Merchant makes Coast Guard history as its first African American woman to attain the rank of admiral.

An official portrait photograph of BM1 Bernie Webber in his dress blues. (U.S. Coast Guard)

A painting by Richard Kaiser of CG-36500 in heavy seas nearing the broken stern half of the Pendleton (depicted in the background). (U.S. Coast Guard)

March 22, 2024

Bernard “Bernie” Webber and the greatest smallboat rescue in Coast Guard history

Divine intervention, dead reckoning and plain luck have all been trumpeted as ways Bernie’s crew found the Pendleton that night.

A picture of a cannon that will become a major display at the National Coast Guard Museum Website.

Dec. 5, 2023

National Coast Guard Museum Website emerges with plans for an interactive, immersive online experience

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, at 12:30 p.m. EST the NCGM team will host a Facebook live event, don’t miss this!

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans sign leaning against a building after hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005.

Nov. 17, 2023

Journey of a Coast Guard Museum Artifact: The Sign

The transformation of the Air Station New Orleans sign from a functional marker to a rallying relic.

Photograph of the 75-foot patrol boat CG-249 from around the time of the James Alderman incident. (From The Hanging at Bahia Mar by Hal Caudle)

Sept. 1, 2023

The Long Blue Line: The infamous James Alderman and redemption of CG-249 100 years ago

The next morning, they would return to Fort Lauderdale and resume the grind of chasing rum runners.

Main images from the third and last story in a series about the SS Marine Electric sinking.

Aug. 23, 2023

The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, part three

The shipwreck that prompted the creation of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program is recalled by the pilot of one of the helicopters sent to rescue survivors on that fateful night.

Long Blue Line Marine Electric series part 2 photo highlights.

Aug. 21, 2023

The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, Part Two

The shipwreck that prompted the creation of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program is recalled by the pilot of one of the helicopters sent to rescue survivors on that fateful night.

Long Blue Line Marine Electric series part 1 photo highlights.

Aug. 18, 2023

The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, Part One

The shipwreck that prompted the creation of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program is recalled by the pilot of one of the helicopters sent to rescue survivors on that fateful night.

Color photograph of the author, then Lt. Wayne Wheeler, on the bridge of Ironwood (WLB-297) in its home waters of Alaska. (Courtesy of the author)

Aug. 7, 2023

The Long Blue Line: The Ironwood—wartime ATON in Vietnam

"Back then it was less expensive to repair a ship in Japan than in a U.S. shipyard."

A photograph of LTJG Tom Beard, who began his career as a Navy pilot and transferred to the Coast Guard aviation branch. (Courtesy of the author)

July 7, 2023

The Long Blue Line: Omitted — Coast Guard’s forgotten evacuation of typhoon-ravaged Wake Island 55 years ago!

Being the first aircraft to arrive, the C-130 landed about 11:00 a.m. Wake Island time or just over 12 hours following the storm’s passage.