Rooting out Racism.

In a recent Editorial in The Day, it was asked “What must the Academy do to restore dignity and honor to the 130-year-old military school?" It must reassert its moral authority. It must re-take the moral high ground.

An infection must be treated quickly and aggressively. The problem of bigotry at the Academy has not gone away. On the contrary, the senior officer corps has been leading by example. They have shown the junior officers and the cadets how they want the Black cadets to be treated. (Keep your hands off the white girls and stay in your place.) That was supposed to be the practical lesson of the Webster Smith court-martial. But, it has gone much further than that.

THIS IS THE QUESTION!!
The question was asked ”How did some twisted and cowardly person get away with leaving the threatening, offensive objects in a cadet’s personal belongings and in a staff member’s office?
Well, the answer is simple. He had help. He had assistance. He had an accomplice. Maybe not an active co-conspirator, but he was certainly helped by a sympathetic on-looker or two. Van Sice and Wisniewski blazed the trail and hinted for all men of like mind to follow.

Think about it. How did Adolf Hitler manage to exterminate 6 million Jews? The answer is simple and obvious “he had help”. He was helped by the majority of the ordinary good German people. The perpetrators of The Holocaust were many more than just the Gestapo and the German army. The German people had to assent to and contribute, in their own respective ways, to The Final Solution. Had Germany not been defeated, the Germans would have eliminated every single Jew in Europe. The Holocaust was the defining feature of German politics and the political culture of the Nazi period. It was the most shocking event of the twentieth century. The persecution of the Jews culminating in the Holocaust was the central focus of the entire German population during the Nazi period because of what it meant to the entire German population at the time. Ordinary Germans became Hitler’s willing accomplices. They accepted Hitler’s ideas of white, Aryan racial superiority and minority racial inferiority. And they marched with him right out of the community of “civilized nations”.

The world is in greater peril from good people who sit back and do nothing in the face of escalating evil than from a few bigots. All right thinking people should care enough to stay informed. Don't ever let yourself become deluded into thinking that this is not your fight. I remind you of what Pastor Neimoller said in World War II: "First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me".

The court-martial of Webster Smith was similar to the Nazi persecution of the Jews. The parallels between the two are frightening. It was the central focus of the Coast Guard Academy legal staff and senior officer corps for two years. The majority of the population of Connecticut acquiesced. Not one voice was lifted in dissent. It was celebrated as a worthwhile accomplishment. It sent a message. The quotes in the New London and Norwich papers were jubilant. The Letters to the Editor were in total agreement. These two noose incidents can be liken to The Kristall Nacht (Crystal Night) of the Nazi Era.
Kristall Nacht, November 1938, turns out to be a crucial turning point in German policy regarding the Jews and may be considered as the actual beginning of what is now called the Holocaust.


"No man can struggle with advantage against the spirit of his age and country, and however powerful a man may be, it is hard for him to make his contemporaries share feelings and ideas which run counter to the general run of their hopes and desires." (Alexis de Tocqueville, in Democracy in America). Indeed, the court-martial of Webster Smith tapped into a deep reservoir of anger and resentment that Wisniewski had appealed to.

A house divided against its’ self cannot stand.

As the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, this is what you must do. You must re-take the moral high ground. You have lost the moral high ground. You have an albatross around your neck. You command America’s Humanitarian Service, the Coast Guard. Speak up. Make your thoughts and feelings known. Set the tone. Define the cadence. Plot the course. Lead, and we will follow. Speak Truth to action.

Until you act decisively, Admiral Allen, you will continue to be a part of the problem. I want you to become a major part of the solution. You are the tip of the spear. It all starts with you. You specialize in managing events that have no precedent. You never get angry. You never get emotionally involved.

However, you do not control the System, but you are in the driver’s seat. Just as a car does not drive its’ self, the Coast Guard does not drive its self. It must be driven. It must be guided from point A to B; or, at least, pointed in the right direction. That is what leaders do. They speak TRUTH to action. That is what I am asking you to do now. Speak Truth to action. Please, take the lead. You must order The Court of Military Review and the Office of Civil Rights to take immediate steps to decide the criminal and the civil rights appeals in the Webster Smith case in their respective offices. Order them to make the right decision.

At the Academy on 8 September 2006, you did not mention the Webster Smith Case; but, while talking with reporters, you said THE PROCESS used to deal with the issue worked as it should have. No, Admiral, it did not. It should be obvious to every reasonable person today that the Process has run amok. It has not worked as it should have. We are sinking deeper and deeper into a cess pool of racial bigotry. People in positions of power, are using their positions of public trust to impliment policies rooted in their own personal bias. We must act now to root out racism.

It is not too late. Your house is coming apart. Do something. We are with you. We look to you, The Correct Answer Man, the correct answer. I am asking you again, let the healing begin.

From Clove Hitch to Hangman's Noose.

Knot tying is a part of the seamanship nomenclature taught onboard the CGC Eagle.It is part of the practice of marlinespike seamanship - the general knowledge of knots and the care of rope. The ability to tie knots, bends and hitches, splice rope and use lines properly sets the trained boater apart from the landlubber. Someone onboard the Eagle went from a Clove Hitch to a Hangman's Noose. That person might make a good sailor, but he would not make a good Coast Guard officer.



WE INTERUPT THIS BLOG TO BRING YOU A LATE BREAKING DEVELOPMENT FROM THE ACADEMY:
Now that the cat is out of the bag, the Academy had started to release bits and pieces of information about the cadet noose incidents. Hopefully this will keep New London from being inundated with a wave unwelcome guests from Jena, Louisiana returning from that noose incident.
Congressman Elijah E. Cummings asked the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen on Tuesday, 25 September, to investigate two racially charged incidents where a noose was left in a Coast Guard Academy cadet's personal belongings and in a staff member's office.
“Whenever I see racism raising its ugly head, I'm going to address it,” said U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the House subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
Shortly after Cummings publicized his request to Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen, the superintendent of the academy said he asked the Coast Guard Investigative Service to investigate the incidents.
“I am not satisfied we have done enough to address these heinous acts,” Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe said in a statement. “I want to do everything within my power to send a clear message to the academy, our community and our service that hateful acts such as these will not be tolerated here.”
But Cummings said Burhoe should have made this request sooner.
“It seems to me the superintendent's sensitivity to this issue should have been one to call for an investigation immediately,” he said.
On July 22, a third-class cadet, or sophomore, who is Black, found a six-inch piece of string tied into a noose in his personal belongings on the Coast Guard barque Eagle, the academy's training vessel. This incident was first reported in The Day on Saturday, 22 September. (That is about 2 weeks after it was first reported on this cgachasehall.blogspot.com blog on on 6 September.) The Academy had been sitting on it for over 2 months.
Capt. J. Christopher Sinnett, commanding officer of the Eagle, conducted a full investigation into the incident but was unable to identify the person responsible, according to the Academy. That was not the type of trained initiative and leadership that the American people should have to rely on. It appears to lack conviction. Even the cadets could have done a better job. Perhaps the CGIS should make deputies of some of the cadet leaders. There is one in Texas, who seems to have significantly narrowed down the list of suspects. He cared enough to write this:
From An Informed Party in Houston, Tx : Funny. The academy went on an all out man hunt to find who wrote the name "Webster Smith" on the Admiral's farewell flag when he "resigned" his post, last year, but they can't find out who put a noose in a bag on a ship with less than a quarter of the amount of eligible suspects and nowhere for that suspect to hide? Quickly, I can narrow it down some more. It was a male victim, no female is likely to walk unwelcomed into a male birthing area. The victim was a cadet, no enlisted crew member will walk into the cadets birthing area...there is separate birthing on the Barque Eagle. We can even bet that the person knew the watch rotation and when the Black cadet wouldn't be in the room. Despite what happened in other Coast Guard incidents, I'd be surprised if an actual officer would stoop so low as to perform a racist act. Yep, the young white future officer is smiling in exasperation right now. He is off the hook.
Informed Party
Houston, Texas

The Academy held race relations training for all the cadets in response. But then the assistant civil rights officer, a white active duty junior officer who was conducting the training, found a small noose on her office floor.
“We are preparing officers at the taxpayers' expense to go out and command troops who will be diverse and we want to make sure they appreciate diversity,” Cummings said. “The last thing we want is for an officer to be leaving something like a noose in a bag belonging to a cadet and or an officer. That's ridiculous.”
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, called the incidents detestable, and praised the academy for calling for an investigation. Cummings said he still wants Allen to visit the academy to make it clear that this conduct will not be tolerated.
Angela Hirsch, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said the commandant is "NOT" currently planning to go to the academy, but that headquarters staff would provide support to Burhoe. When asked about the delay in contacting CGIS, Hirsch said the initial investigation on the Eagle was “a robust response.”

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO BRING YOU THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT: THIS JUST IN:
Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen has changed his mind. He has changed his travel plans and is now scheduled to visit the academy Oct 4th 2007 to address the cadets at the Academy in response to two racially charged hangman's noose incidents.
U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., asked Allen to visit the academy to make it clear that such conduct will not be tolerated.
“I am very pleased to be accompanying (Allen) next week when he addresses the entire student body to convey the message that hateful, threatening behavior such as placing nooses among the personal effects of students and officers is both unacceptable and intolerable,” Cummings, chairman of the House subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, said in a statement Wednesday, 26 Sept.
Cmdr. Brendan C. McPherson, Allen's press secretary, said “Given the latest reports and Chairman Cummings' interest in visiting the academy, the commandant firmed things up for his plans this afternoon and extended the invitation for Chairman Cummings to join him,” and . "Allen plans to bring Terri Dickerson, head of the Coast Guard's Office of Civil Rights, on the trip."

“This is another step in the investigation, with CGIS becoming involved,” she said. “We are taking every step we can to make sure the overall climate is free of bigotry at the Coast Guard Academy and throughout the service.”
James Sloan, assistant commandant for intelligence and criminal investigations, said that CGIS agents will “diligently work to track down anyone involved with these acts.”
Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe, superintendent of the academy, said the commandant's visit will be “a clear symbol of the Coast Guard's commitment to eliminating discriminatory barriers here and throughout our service.”
“We are buoyed by the support our commandant has provided us as we address the hateful actions that occurred here at the academy,” Burhoe said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who spoke to Allen on Wednesday about the investigation, said he was convinced that the Coast Guard is taking the matter seriously.
“They're going to treat it as a criminal investigation,” Courtney said. “It really comes very close to a hate-crime type of incident, so I'm all for that. I think that people really have got to realize that this is not something like a prank.”

Burhoe said if the individuals are found, the academy will take action, including possible proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (Perhaps he will get a chance to court-martial another cadet.)
“There is absolutely no place for racism in our service or in our academy,” he said.

The Navy Times reported on 26 September that the Coast Guard is launching a criminal investigation into the discovery this summer of two nooses, one in the seabag of a Black Coast Guard Academy cadet and one in the office of a white faculty member at the Academy.
On July 22, a Black third class cadet aboard the training barque Eagle found a noose inside his seabag. On Aug. 2, a female diversity instructor found a noose on the floor of her Academy office during a break in instruction.
The incidents were first reported in The Day newspaper of New London on 22 September, about 2 weeks after they were reported on the cgachasehall.blogspot.com, and 2 months after the first incident occurred. They were not disclosed by the Coast Guard when they occurred. The were disclosed after a massive Civil Rights style protest demonstration in Jena, Louisiana.
Coast Guard officials initially said the incident on board Eagle occurred July 15. The service announced Tuesday that the actual date the incident occurred was July 22.
On July 14, a week before the third classman found the six-inch-long noose, made of string, two members of the Eagle’s crew — a white third class female cadet and a Black enlisted crew member — were allegedly assaulted while on liberty together in Veracruz, Mexico. The Eagle later sailed without them onboard. We have yet to get the Full Story on why the Eagle sailed so suddenly and why she left the female cadet and the enlisted man in Veracruz, Mexico.
An Academy spokesman said the subsequent administrative investigation did not determine a link between the two incidents.
Immediately following the noose incident, Eagle skipper Capt. Christopher Sinnett conducted race-relations workshops aboard the ship.
At the same time, diversity training was ramped up at the Academy; it was during a break in that training Aug. 2 that the female staff instructor found the second noose — another six-inch-long one made of string — near her desk.
When the second noose was found, the Eagle was at sea and had not yet returned to New London from its summer tour.
However, a number of personnel who were on the Eagle on July 22 may have been at the Academy Aug. 2, when the second incident occurred.
The ship had a “phase change” in late July in Miami, with some cadets heading home, or to the Academy, for summer liberty.
It is not clear what charges could be brought against any suspects if they are found.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, no specific crimes are listed as “hate crimes,” although evidence that links any motivation to race, color, gender or sexual orientation may be considered by military judges or court members in meting out sentences, explained Brent Harvey, an attorney with the Washington D.C.-based firm Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer and Fidell.
“In and of itself, it’s not a crime, but I can certainly see — and I won’t speculate in this specific case — instances where this type of action might be part of a criminal case,” Harvey said.
The discoveries follow nearly two years of racial unease at the Coast Guard Academy that began in December 2005 with the investigation and subsequent court-martial of, Cadet Webster Smith, a Black cadet.
Former 1st Class Cadet Webster Smith, a 22-year-old from Houston, Texas, became the first cadet ever court-martialed at the 130-year-old school.
His accusers were all white female cadets.
During his criminal proceedings, Smith filed a civil rights complaint against the Coast Guard and several academy officers, saying he was treated differently during the investigation than others who had committed similar offenses because he is Black.
The Department of Homeland Security notified Smith on Aug. 20 that his complaint had been denied.
Smith has appealed his criminal conviction, and that process is ongoing.
As a result of the court-martial and its aftermath, which included the reassignment of then-academy superintendent Rear Adm. James Van Sice for issues allegedly unrelated to the Smith case, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen convened a task force to study leadership, culture and climate at the school.
That group made several recommendations regarding increasing minority recruitment at the school and improving diversity training.
Blacks account for roughly 4 percent of the Coast Guard Academy’s student body of 1,000 students.
Overall, the Coast Guard has 2,498 Black personnel out of 40,699 active-duty members.
On Tuesday, 25 September, Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Coast Guard and maritime transportation subcommittee, asked Allen to examine the incidents thoroughly.
“I was utterly shocked when I heard about these implicit threats on both a student and an officer,” Cummings said through a press release. “Racial discrimination and intolerance have no place in either the Academy or the Coast Guard, and these incidents run directly against the efforts being made to increase diversity throughout the Coast Guard.”
Former Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Vincent Patton, the Coast Guard’s top enlisted member from 1998 to 2002, said the service faces a tough road in recruiting black Americans but praised its current diversity programs.
He recalled one of his first duty stations in Cheboygan, Mich., where he was the first Black person many area residents had ever seen.
“We have units that are located in areas that have little and sometimes no minority population. That’s not to say that minorities can’t do well there, but the challenge is that young African American men and women, especially from urban areas, want to be welcomed in and happily know they will end up where they are not alone,” Patton said.


Thurgood Marshall did more to improve the life of the damned, the dispossessed, and the downtroddened than any other attorney in the 20th century. He fought for the underdog in American society as an attorney and as a justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. As chief counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund for over 25 years, he fought Jim Crow segregation in the snake pits and hell holes of the solid South. He won 29 of 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court; and, he should have won all of them. In a perfect and just world, he would have. His record of successful cases before the high court stands today unparalleled in American judicial history. President Lyndon baines Johnson appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1967 where he served for 34 years.

When he traveled in the South, Thurgood Marshall never confronted "Jim Crow" headon; that is, he never sat in railway stations or lunch counters reserved "for whites only". However, in forays down South he could not always avoid person danger. In 1946 in Columbia, Tennessee, along with other defense counsels, he drove 200 miles round-trip daily from Nashville,TN to the trial in Colunbia,TN. There was no safe place for a Black lawyer to stay in Columbia, TN. At one point police officers picked him up and took him alone in their car, and charged him with drunk driving. Carl Rowan wrote a detailed newspaper article about how the police tried to lead Thurgood to the banks of a nearby river where a lynch mob had a rope hanging from a tree, ready for him. Brave armed Black citizens came to his rescue. a courageous white magistrate smelled his breath and proclaimed him sober and he was able to return to Nashvill. (Crusaders in the Courts, by Jack Greenberg, 1994, Basic Books, Harper Collins, p. 31,32)

In the Jim Crow segregated South, he was so revered in Black America that people mostly spoke of him in whispered tones. He is easily the most important American of this century. He rose from an humble birth to a position higher than any Black American before him. He built his reputation slowly in jerkwater southern towns where he was outnumbered but never outmatched and never outgunned in the legal arena. In virtually every case he was fighting for the right against a twisted white justice system administered by southern judges and sheriffs who had few second thoughts about beating in black heads.

Thurgood Marshall was the only Black leader in America during the Civil Rights era who could say that he defeated segregation where it really counted; that was, in the courts. He legal strategy was based on the U. S. Constitution. He forced civil and constitutional rights to be extended equally to the poorest and blackest American citizens as well as poor whites. The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King would never have won his first victory, the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, if Thurgood Marshall and his legal team had not first won a Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation on the city buses. Battles were fought in the streets, but the victories were won in the courts.

Also, it was Thurgood Marshall who argued the case of Brown v. Bd of Education before the Supreme Court. This case ended segregation in public schools.

Thomas G. Krattenmaker, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said it best. He said, "when I think of great American lawyers, I think of Thurgood Marshall,, Abe Lincoln and Daniel Webster. In the 20th Century only Earl Warren approaches Thurgood Marshall. Marshall is certainly the most important American lawyer of the 20th Century."

Drew Days, a former law professor at Yale University Law School, said that "Thurgood Marshall was the living embodiment of how far we as Americans have come on the major concern in our history-race- and how far we still have to go. He was the conscience of this nation. In the law, he remains our supreme conscience."
(Thurgood Marshall, Justice For All, by R. Goldman and D. Gallen, 1992 bt Caroll & Graf Publishers, Inc, NY,NY, 141,142.)

Russians Plant Flag on North Pole Seabed.

In the Arctic, unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes. America is not the lead dog in the Arctic rush for resources. The Russians are not just coming; they have come and gone. We are breathing their exhaust fumes and eating their dust. America does not have an Arctic Policy, and we have not ratified the Law of the Sea Treaty.
America might be a big dog, but in the Arctic she has lost her bite. So far, she does not have much of a bark either. I am not kicking the dog when I say that the Russians are leading in the rush for resources in the Arctic.
America, through the U S Coast Guard is suffering from "whipped dog syndrome". When the Coast Guard's diving program was shelved because of the death of Lt. Jessica Hill on a routine familiarization dive, it handicapped the American Arctic program, such as it was. It was not much more than research, and Search and Rescue; but, it had direction and purpose. For want of senior male officer leadership, a female diver was lost, and a national dive program was disabled, America's ability to compete for the natural resources in the Arctic was dealt a death blow, and the citizens of America will not get an equal chance to claim any of the oil or gas beneath the Arctic.
Now, rather than playing a leading role, the Coast Guard is planning to build a seasonal search and rescue station at Point Barrow on the North Slope. Directing ship traffic and Search and Rescue on a seasonal basis is unseemly of the purported Big Dog. America is the only Hyper-power on the planet, but she is foundering and losing her way.
The Coast Guard is an old dog in Alaska. Can this old dog be taught any new tricks? When Seward's Folley was purchased from Russia, it was a Coast Guard ship (Revenue Cutter BEAR, skippered by Captain Mike Healy) that was sent to scout and to survey the territory. The Alaska Purchase by the United States from the Russian Empire occurred in 1867 at the behest of Secretary of State William Seward. Now, almost a century and a half later, we are still doing nothing more than taking surveys. We are using newer and more high tech equipment, but our manpower resources have not kept pace with the technology. We are sending our daughters to do a man's work in a cold,harsh, and cruel environment. When our daughters do not measure up, we blame their shortcomings on them. We blamed Lt Jessica Hill for her own death, absolved all the senior male leaders, and scrapped the diving program.
Who will plant the American flag on the Arctic sea bed? Or, who will devise a new criteria for asserting ownership rights to the natural resources lying in disputed international waters? It is said that in International Law, might makes right. Even without massive military resources, more and more smaller nations are acquiring the technology to exploit the vast resources that are available in the ocean depths. America claims a 3 mile Territorial Sea, a 12 mile Contiguous Zone, and a 200 mile Economic Resource Zone. Lt Jessica Hill's 20 foot dive would not have made it out into the deep water where the Big Boys are playing; and they are playing for "keeps".
With our emphasis on more female cadets and officers, and our increased responsibilities since 9/11, can the Coast Guard still run with the pack? Are we going to simply hide behind a dead female diver's skirts? Or, are we going to get back into the water? Building a seasonal rescue station at Point Barrow is nice, but we must be prepared to do more than rescue a few fat cats who can afford to party in the Arctic. The average working stiff with a gas gozzling SUV trying to make ends meet buying $3.50 per gallon gas, can expect nothing from a national energy program content to play catch-up with the Russians, Canadians, Finns, and Danes. Whose interests are being served by America's primary National Arctic Resourse Agency without a diving program, with three icebreakers used to survey the terrian, planning only a part-time seasonal presence in the hottest real estate market on the planet? Admiral, that dog won't hunt!


M/V KELDYSH




The Russian diver who planted the Russian flag in the Arctic sea bed at the North Pole come to Los Angeles on 27 September 2007. He is Doctor Anatoly M. Sagalevich. He was the first human to visit the Arctic floor of the ocean at 14,000' at the North Pole. He come to speak at the Los Angeles Adventurers Club.

Bob Silver, #728, and Ralph White, #942, and Friends at the Annual Adventurers Club "Night Of High Adventure 2006"


Accompanied by Ralph White, Adventurers Club Member #942, he led the expeditions to the ocean floor to be the first human eyes to see the wreck of RMS Titanic, the Bismarck, and the discovery of the "black smoker" vents that proved the proposal of plate tectonics. He has made hundreds of dives to the ocean floor all over the world and has taken the Mir-1 and Mir-2 to depths reaching 20,000'. Anatoly has published a book that details the evolution of deep sea submersibles and his involvement in it. The greatly anticipated English version will be coming out in 2008.
Doctor Anatoly Mikhailovich Sagalevitch (Member #1021) is a member of the Los Angeles Adventurers Club. As Head of the Laboratory of Manned Submersibles, he directs all of the deep dive submersibles of the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. He has participated in over 30 World Wide Expeditions and has more than 2000 hours in various research submersibles. He piloted five dives to the Wreck of the RMS TITANIC, and he was one of the six men to set The Deep Diving Submersible RENDEZVOUS World's Record at 17,768 feet in 1989. He has written six books and 200 Scientific Articles.

It can only happen once in all of history:
on Thursday, August 2, 2007, at 8 o’clock GMT, Anatoly Sagalevitch, piloting the Russian deep submersible MIR-1, was the first human to reach the ocean bottom at the geographic North Pole, where he planted a titanium flag of the Russian Federation. With him inside MIR-1, he carried an official Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles Expedition Flag, which he will return to the Club with appropriate endorsements in due course.

It all started back in 2005 – at least officially. Anatoly has long been the brains and the muscle behind the PP Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, the guys who own and operate the world’s deepest diving submersibles, MIR-1 and MIR-2. This ownership includes, of course the submersibles’ mothership, RV Akademik Keldysh, a fleet of support craft and equipment, and a host of people to maintain and operate them.

The Shirshov Institute has been Anatoly’s baby since before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and since that time, he has built it into one of the world’s premier oceanographic research institutes.

RV Keldysh is one of the largest oceanographic support vessels in the World. She is equipped with a range of laboratories, and is the only vessel in the world capable of supporting the operation of two deep-diving submersibles simultaneously. Keldysh can accommodate a total of 130 personnel, and up to 35 of these berths are allocated to visiting scientists, filmmakers or other charter groups.

The world of research oceanography is not always capable of utilizing the total available oceanographic support systems. When these systems lie idle, they lose money, and in the world of research, that is nothing but bad.

During the late 1990s, Australian Adventurer Mike McDowell developed "High Adventure – High-Dollar Travel Expeditions," taking well-heeled clients up Everest, and renting Russian icebreakers in the off season to take adventurers to the North Pole – for a price. Club member Ralph White met McDowell, and introduced him to Anatoly and his research fleet. They reasoned that well-heeled paying customers could underwrite operations during slack periods. This would allow Anatoly to keep his ships, submersibles, support equipment, and personnel in peak condition, and even underwrite some of the oceanographic research. White suggested Titanic, and the rest, he says, "is history."

Together with McDowell and Club member Don Walsh, pilot of the Trieste on its historic dive to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, Anatoly created Deep Ocean Expeditions (DOE) in 2005. They set out to take paying passengers to the Titanic, to the Bismark, to the undersea volcanos near the Azores, and to the ocean bottom at the North Pole.

On June 28, 2006, DOE formally announced the launch of the Deep Frontier Expedition project, an ambitious and exciting multi-year, multi-ocean expedition aboard the RV Keldysh, and utilizing the twin Mir submersibles.

Project Manager Rob McCallum said: "The combination of a large oceanographic vessel with the unique abilities the twin extreme depth submersibles and a world class side-scan sonar system, will provide us with an amazing exploration capability. The Deep Frontier Expedition will involve private adventurers, scientists, filmmakers and those interested in conducting operations at extreme depth. It’s a unique opportunity for anyone wishing to accomplish something in the deep ocean."

The Deep Frontier Expedition was designed to be a multi-year voyage that will see RV Keldysh visit five oceans. Her anticipated voyage plan would see her undertake a range of exciting projects in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern Oceans. According to DOE Project scientist Peter Batson: "The expedition will see Keldysh accomplish many dives in areas previously unseen by humans, so I guess it’s inevitable that we will see things that have never been seen before. It’s a chance to gather data about the deep sea that can be used to help us better understand and manage the oceans that surround us."

RV Keldysh was expected to visit hydrothermal vents, seamounts, historical shipwrecks, sites of special geological and biological interest and to conduct some of the first submersible dives in the Arctic and Antarctic waters. Her twin Mir submersibles, each capable of reaching depths of 20,000 feet, were expected to conduct hundreds of dives during the course of the voyage, many of them aided by a powerful sonar system made available by John Cameron that will be deployed to search large areas of the ocean.

On April 16, 2006, the well-laid plans of DOE came against the political will of the Russian Parliament, since the only way they could reach the North Pole with the ships and support equipment that they needed was with the immediate support of the icebreaker RV Akademik Fedorov and the nuclear powered icebreaker NS Rossiya. And guess who controlled these vessels?

The 2006 plans were put on hold while Anatoly worked out an acceptable compromise with none other than his old colleague, Dr. Artur Chilingarov, Hero of the Soviet Union, and Deputy Chairman of the Third State Duma – the Russian Parliament, a position similar to the U.S. Speaker of the House.

Under the terms of this compromise, Dr. Chilingarov (who is a well-known and respected polar scientist) would be the titular head of the expedition, and would be a passenger on MIR-1 along with fellow Duma member Vladimir Gruzdev. Furthermore, the focus of the expedition was changed so that it became a quest to place the Russian flag on the ocean bottom at the North Pole, and to stake out a territorial claim to this "land." Presumably, the reason for this effort was to fortify Russia’s claim to a substantial portion of the Arctic ocean, because of vast reserves of oil and gas that probably lie there.
By early 2007, the new or Real North Pole Expedition was set to happen. Scandinavian business tycoon Frederik Paulson and New Zealand marine biologist Peter Batson joined DOE president McDowell, and cofounder Anatoly. The expedition was billed as Russia’s contribution to the 2007/2008 International Polar Year.

The expedition officially departed Murmansk on July 24, 2007. RV Keldysh developed engine problems off Franz Joseph Land in the Berents Sea, but the crew fixed the problem in time for Anatoly and team to test-dive both MIRs successfully in the frigid ice-filled arctic water off Franz Joseph Land. Along the way to the Pole, the Russian scientists mapped part of the Lomonosov ridge, a 1,240-mile underwater mountain range that crosses the polar region. The ridge was discovered by the Soviets in 1948 and named after a famed 18th-century Russian scientist, Mikhail Lomonosov.

In December 2001, Moscow claimed that the ridge was an extension of the Eurasian continent, and therefore part of Russia’s continental shelf under international law. The U.N. rejected Moscow’s application, citing lack of evidence, but Russia is set to resubmit it in 2009. Dr. Chilingarov’s hope was that these measurements would help.

Denmark hopes to prove that the Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of the Danish territory of Greenland, not Russia. Canada, meanwhile, plans to spend $7 billion to build and operate up to eight Arctic patrol ships in a bid to help protect its sovereignty.

The U.S. Congress is considering an $8.7 billion budget reauthorization bill for the U.S. Coast Guard that includes $72.96 million to operate and maintain the nation’s three existing polar icebreakers. The bill also authorizes the Coast Guard to construct two new vessels.

Ten crew members flew ahead by helicopter to the Pole on Thursday, to scout out the best way for Fedorov and Rossiya to clear out a section of ice for the dives. Once RV Keldysh arrived, it was not long before the MIRs were ready for launch.

At 5:30 GMT, MIR-1 commenced her trip to the bottom, piloted by Anatoly, and carrying Dr. Chilingarov and Gruzdev. MIR-2 followed shortly thereafter, piloted by Genya Cherniaev with McDowell and Paulsen as passengers.

Two and a half hours later, at 8:00 GMT, Anatoly planted the flag on the seabed, and thirty minutes later MIR-2 arrived at the bottom. Both submersibles spent about forty minutes on the bottom, taking samples and generally exploring, before returning to the surface some nine and a half hours after they departed.

"It was difficult," said Dr. Chilingarov.

"We are happy and relived to be safely back aboard," said McDowell when MIR-2 returned more than an hour after MIR-1.

Russia was jubilant – it’s been a long dry spell for the Russian spirit of exploration. President Putin personally greeted the explorers upon their return.

"It’s like putting a flag on the moon," said Sergei Balyasnikov, a spokesman for Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Institute. "For the first time in history, humans have reached the ocean floor under the North Pole."

With a swagger not unlike a typical American, Muscovite Yevgeny Gaziyev told a reporter, "Russia is a great power which needs resources, territories."

U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey, said the Russian government was entitled to submit its claim "as members of the Law of the Sea convention." But he dismissed the significance of planting a flag in the North Pole seabed.

Peter Mackay, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, dismissed the event as "just a show."

"Look," he said, "this isn’t the 15th century. You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say ‘We’re claiming this territory."’

Canada’s own claims to the Arctic, he said, were "well-established."

In the coming weeks, Russian expedition researchers plan to set up an Arctic research camp near the pole, called a "drift station" because it will drift with the shifting ice pack in the polar sea, to carry out long-range climate studies. RV Akademik Fedorov is expected to remain in the region until mid-September.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Leslie Phillips said, "We wish the Russian scientists a safe expedition."





THE ADVENTURERS CLUB

Website: http://www.adventurersclub.org
323-223-3948

"Members and Guests at the Annual Night of High Adventure"













RECENT PROGRAMS:



Adventurer Glen Heggstad has recently returned from a multiyear, solo motorcycle ride over some of the toughest terrain on earth. This former international martial competitor has created a dazzling multimedia show chronicling his experiences through fifty-seven developing nations beginning from a harrowing ordeal his first month on the road in South America when taken prisoner by Colombian Marxist rebels.

Two years later, riding a borrowed motorcycle from Southern California BMW dealers, he continued his incredible odyssey across Russia from Vladivostok, Siberia and into Mongolia. A two thousand kilometer off-road loop over the Gobi Desert was followed by a sprint across Eastern Europe directly into the Middle East via Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories. After a weeklong interview with Israeli military commanders, Glen was even granted a special permit to enter Gaza via Erez Checkpoint, on foot and alone.

Denied visas for Iran and Saudi Arabia, air-freighting from Amman was the only way to reach Karachi and a zigzag to Islamabad for an uneasy confrontation at the Afghan border. India was as dazzling as ever and led to a ride through Nepal up to the Tibetan border. Rolling from Bangkok, the path snaked down across Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and into Indonesia.

Fed and sheltered by friendly Dayak tribes of Kalimantan, Glen set a world’s record as the first man to completely loop Borneo on two wheels. The journey continued from Medan, Sumatra, north into Banda Ache shortly after the devastating Tsunami. Island-hopping through Java into Bali and onto Cape Town, made for a grand finale of traversing Africa up to Ethiopia.

More information is available at www.strikingviking.net Glen’s book about the South American leg, Two Wheels Through Terror, is in fourth printing and soon to be seen as a National Geographic Channel docu-drama. This will be his twentieth and final show for 2007.




Russian divers go deeper, but Academy men stay in longer

Judge London Steverson
London Eugene Livingston Steverson (born March 13, 1947) was one of the first two African Americans to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. Later, as chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), he was charged with desegregating the Coast Guard Academy by recruiting minority candidates. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1988 and in 1990 was appointed to the bench as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration.

Early Life and Education
Steverson was born and raised in Millington, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Jerome and Ruby Steverson. At the age of 5 he was enrolled in the E. A. Harrold elementary school in a segregated school system. He later attended the all black Woodstock High School in Memphis, Tennessee, graduating valedictorian.
A Presidential Executive Order issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces in 1948,[1] but the service academies were lagging in officer recruiting. President Kennedy specifically challenged the United States Coast Guard Academy to tender appointments to Black high school students. London Steverson was one of the Black student to be offered such an appointment, and when he accepted the opportunity to be part of the class of 1968, he became the second African American to enter the previously all-white military academy. On June 4, 1968 Steverson graduated from the Coast Guard Academy with a BS degree in Engineering and a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1974, while still a member of the Coast Guard, Steverson entered The National Law Center of The George Washington University and graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor of Laws Degree.

USCG Assignments.
Steverson's first duty assignment out of the Academy was in Antarctic research logistical support. In July 1968 he reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Glacier [2] (WAGB-4), an icebreaker operating under the control of the U.S. Navy, and served as a deck watch officer and head of the Marine Science Department. He traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station. During the 1969 patrol the CGC Glacier responded to an international distress call from the Argentine icebreaker General SanMartin, which they freed.
He received another military assignment from 1970 to 1972 in Juneau, Alaska as a Search and Rescue Officer. Before being certified as an Operations Duty Officer, it was necessary to become thoroughly familiar with the geography and topography of the Alaskan remote sites. Along with his office mate, Ltjg Herbert Claiborne "Bertie" Pell, the son of Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, Steverson was sent on a familiarization tour of Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force bases. The bases visited were Base Kodiak, Base Adak Island, and Attu Island, in the Aleutian Islands.[3]
Steverson was the Duty Officer on September 4, 1971 when an emergency call was received that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 airline passenger plane was overdue at Juneau airport. This was a Saturday and the weather was foggy with drizzling rain. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile. The 727 was en route to Seattle, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska with a scheduled stop in Juneau. There were 109 people on board and there were no survivors. Steverson received the initial alert message and began the coordination of the search and rescue effort. In a matter of hours the wreckage from the plane, with no survivors, was located on the side of a mountain about five miles from the airport. For several weeks the body parts were collected and reassembled in a staging area in the National Guard Armory only a few blocks from the Search and Rescue Center where Steverson first received the distress broadcast.[4]. Later a full investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was equipment failure.[5]
Another noteworthy item is Steverson's involvement as an Operations Officer during the seizure of two Russian fishing vessels, the Kolevan and the Lamut for violating an international agreement prohibiting foreign vessels from fishing in United States territorial waters. The initial attempts at seizing the Russian vessels almost precipitated an international incident when the Russian vessels refused to proceed to a U. S. port, and instead sailed toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian MIG fighter planes were scrambled, as well as American fighter planes from Elmendorf Air Force Base before the Russian vessels changed course and steamed back

Read More

The Second Coming of Doug Wisniewski.

On Sept 24 a Suppl RDML Selection Board will convene. Doug Wisniewski is at the bottom of the List. He is the "anchor man" on the Rear Admiral's Selection List. That is a List, I am sure, Doug does not care about being at the bottom of. After all, that is the only reason he is still hanging around. He wants to see if the wind has shifted. He thinks that enough bigots and twisted souls will be on the Selection Board to promote him to the rarified level of "Assistant God".
In point of fact, The Architect of the Webster Smith Travesty is not really the Anchor Man on the List. The List is arranged alphabetically. He is really somewhere around #18 on the List.
He assumes that there must be someone out there who thinks his tour at the Academy was the Academy's Finest Hour. After all, what did he do that they would not have done, if they had been in his position? All he did was frame a Black senior cadet, suborn perjury, publicly lambaste an innocent man before the entire Corps of Cadets, flagrantly disregard the Uniform Code of Military Justice, coordinate a kangaroo court, ruin the reputation of the Coast Guard Academy, violate the civil and constitutional rights of an innocent cadet, taint the reputations of several female graduates, drag the Academy through the mud, upset the Alumni, give the news media the impression that all Coast Guard officers are jerks, and get the Superintendent fired. That's not a bad piece of work for a man who wants to be Commandant. What about it, Admiral Thad Allen, are you prepared to hand the reins of "absolute power" to Doug Wisniewski? Or is there a female (VC)(Vice-Commandant, Vivien Crea) more deserving? Afterall, the torch has been passed to a new gender! No?

There are 200 names on the List, from Dan Abel to Doug Wisniewski. Only 4 will be selected. Many are called, but few are chosen. Wow!!
Capt. James Hubbard was the commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City. He retired 17 August 2007 after 26 years of service. He is a CGA grad in the Class of 1981. He is #81 on the RADM Selection Board List. The List is getting shorter. Now, if only 195 more drop out, then Doug Wisniewski will be assured of being selected because there will be only 4 left on the List. The "Precept" says "You will select 4!".


Christine D. Balboni is number 5 on the List. She is a living and breathing symbol that the System works, sometimes. She won her case. She was vendicated. She was redeemed. (For details see Balboni's Tale of Sexual Harrassment on CG "Love Boat", on this Blog)
There are 8, possibly 9, women on the List. Considering what Doug Wisniewski has done for women, I am sure he would not mind being passed over a second time so a deserving women can be promoted to Rear Admiral.
However, can you imagine a fully qualified male captain, or even "Best Qualified" captain being passed over so Wisniewski can be promoted to RADM? All those guys and gals with perfect records, who never once caused a flap or a public embarrassment for the Coast Guard, are wondering if Doug may still be rewarded for the excellent work he did in the Webster Smith case. If Doug is promoted, every single one of the 194 captains who got passed over, should immediate resign their commission in protest. After all, they would have just been given the greatest insult one could ever imagine, and they would have received the greatest "no confidence" vote in the history of the Coast Guard. Or, if they are in a position to do so, they should all go out and find a Black cadet to court-martial. Maybe that would improve their chances for selection the next time around. Doug will have proven that patience is a virtue, and that "stuff" not only happens, but it always rises to the top, in this man's outfit.



R 241425Z AUG 07
FM COMCOGARD PERSCOM ARLINGTON VA//OPM//
TO ALCGOFF
BT
UNCLAS //N01401//
ALCGOFF 132/07
SUBJ: PY08 SUPPLEMENTAL RDML SELECTION BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT MESSAGE
A. CG-1 MEMO 5200 OF 22 AUG 07
B. COMCOGARD PERSCOM ARLINGTON VA 081157Z JUN 07/ALCGOFF 059/07
C. PERSONNEL MANUAL, COMDTINST M1000.6A
1. IN ACCORDANCE WITH REF A AND TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE SERVICE, A
RDML SELECTION BOARD WILL CONVENE ON 24 SEP 07. THE BOARD MAY
RECOMMEND FOUR OF THOSE ELIGIBLE. PER REF B, ALL CAPTAINS WITH
DATES OF RANK OF 1 JUL 05 OR EARLIER ARE ELIGIBLE, FROM CAPT DAVID
S. BRIMBLECOM, SIGNO 52, AND THOSE CAPTAINS JUNIOR THERETO ON THE
ADPL, TO AND INCLUDING CAPT SAM M. NEILL, SIGNO 303. THE BELOW LIST
OF ELIGIBLE OFFICERS IS SORTED ALPHABETICALLY BY LAST NAME.
NO. RANK NAME UNIT NAME
1 CAPT ABEL, DANIEL B. CG AIRSTA CAPE COD
2 CAPT ALEXANDER, ELMO L. CGC MIDGETT
3 CAPT ANSLEY, RODERICK M. COMDT (CG-513)
4 CAPT ATKINS, VINCENT B. CG SEC HONOLULU
5 CAPT BALBONI, CHRISTINE D. CG ISC MIAMI
6 CAPT BALDESSARI, KARL R. CGD THIRTEEN
7 CAPT BARDO, LANCE L. CGC WAESCHE
8 CAPT BELMONDO, WILLIAM J. CG ISC SEATTLE
9 CAPT BENNETT, CAROL C. COMDT (CG-83)
10 CAPT BENTON, LANCE O. CG AIRSTA NORTH BEND
11 CAPT BERGERON, PETER J. CGC RUSH
12 CAPT BERGHORN, ANDREW J. CG AIRSTA KODIAK
13 CAPT BIBEAU, SUSAN D. CG ACADEMY
14 CAPT BJOSTAD, JAMES D. DD - DNI
15 CAPT BLACKALL, DENNIS D. CG MLCLANT
16 CAPT BLAIR, MICHAEL L. COMDT (3-PSO)
17 CAPT BLIVEN, MATHEW D. CGC SHERMAN
18 CAPT BLIZARD, MATTHEW M. CG NAVCEN
19 CAPT BRANHAM, BRUCE D. CG MSC WASHINGTON DC
20 CAPT BRIMBLECOM, DAVID S. CG ACADEMY
21 CAPT BUSCHMAN, NEIL O. CGD FIVE
22 CAPT BUTT, MARK E. CG AIRSTA HUMBOLDT BAY
23 CAPT CAHILL, THOMAS R. CG MLCLANT
24 CAPT CALLAHAN, DAVID R. CG ATC MOBILE
25 CAPT CALVO, KARL H. CG ISC KETCHIKAN
26 CAPT CAMPBELL, MARK M. CGD ONE
27 CAPT CASTILLO, JOSEPH R. CGD NINE
28 CAPT CAVANAUGH, KEVIN J. CGD ELEVEN
29 CAPT CLOSE, TIMOTHY M. CGD EIGHT
30 CAPT CONKLIN, CHRISTOPHER J. CGD FOURTEEN
31 CAPT COSENZA, MICHAEL C. COMDT (CG-122)
32 CAPT CRISSY, PAUL H. DD - NCTC
33 CAPT CULLEN, THOMAS M. CGD ELEVEN
34 CAPT CUNNINGHAM, EUGENE F. CGD ONE
35 CAPT CUSTARD, NORMAN L. CG LANTAREA
36 CAPT CUTTS, MATTHEW E. CG PACAREA
37 CAPT DAHMEN, GARY E. CG LANTAREA
38 CAPT DANDREA, MARK J. CGD THIRTEEN
39 CAPT DANIELS, EDWIN H. CGD SEVEN
40 CAPT DAY, ROBERT E. CG MLCPAC
41 CAPT DESH, ROBERT L. CGD NINE
42 CAPT DEVEREAUX, WILLIAM T. CGD THIRTEEN
43 CAPT DEVOE, KURT W. DD - US NORTHCOM
44 CAPT DEVRIES, MARK R. CG MSO ANCHORAGE
45 CAPT DIAZ, CHARLEY L. COMDT (CG-00I)
46 CAPT DIEHL, WILLIAM J. CG SEC HOU/GALVESTON
47 CAPT DONNELLY, GAIL A. CG ATTC
48 CAPT DUBAY, CURTIS L. COMDT (CG-522)
49 CAPT DUCA, STEPHEN C. CG YARD
50 CAPT DUMAS, WAYNE C. COMDT (CG-3RPE)
51 CAPT DURFEY, ROBERT W. CGD ONE
52 CAPT DUTCH, FRANCIS A. COMDT (CG-43)
53 CAPT EGLI, DANE S. DD - US NORTHCOM
54 CAPT ELY, DAVID C. CG MLCPAC
55 CAPT FARRELL, MICHAEL P. CG ATTACHE MEXICO CITY
56 CAPT FAUX, EKUNDAYO G. COMDT (CG-85)
57 CAPT FELICETTI, GARY E. COMDT (CG-0948)
58 CAPT FELKER, JOHN M. DD - FORT MEADE
59 CAPT FERGUSON, SCOTT J. CG SEC BUFFALO
60 CAPT GENOVESE, SCOTT D. COMDT (CG-3RPL)
61 CAPT GENTILE, TODD CGD EIGHT
62 CAPT GERRITY, PATRICK G. CG SEC PORTLAND
63 CAPT GILBREATH, TERRY D. CGD EIGHT
64 CAPT GRAHAM, SCOT S. CG SEC NEW YORK
65 CAPT GRANT, DONALD C. COMDT (CG-3PCE-2)
66 CAPT GRAY, EUGENE COMDT (CG-3RPD)
67 CAPT GREINER, EDWARD W. CG HITRON JACKSONVILLE
68 CAPT GROMLICH, RICHARD T. COMDT (CG-44)
69 CAPT GUGG, PAUL M. CG PACAREA
70 CAPT GUILLORY, MARK S. CG SEC JUNEAU
71 CAPT GUTH, KURTIS J. COMDT (CG-939)
72 CAPT HALE, THOMAS R. NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIV
73 CAPT HAMEL, MICHAEL A. CGC MELLON
74 CAPT HASKOVEC, WARREN L. COMDT (CG-1B3)
75 CAPT HEINTZ, GEORGE H. CG AIRSTA SACRAMENTO
76 CAPT HIGGINS, MARK R. CGD SEVEN
77 CAPT HILL, DAVID L. COMDT (CG-84)
78 CAPT HOLTZMANBELL, VIRGINIA K. CG MLCPAC
79 CAPT HOOPER, THOMAS D. CGD EIGHT
80 CAPT HOWE, JAMES C. COMDT (CG-0921)
81 CAPT HUBBARD, JAMES T. CG AIRSTA ATLANTIC CTY
82 CAPT HUDSON, MICHAEL D. CG ISC CLEVELAND
83 CAPT HUDSON, STEVEN L. CGD SEVENTEEN
84 CAPT HURST, ROBERT L. DD - CGLO USSOUTHCOM
85 CAPT INMAN, MICHAEL D. CGD SEVENTEEN
86 CAPT JACOBS, BRADLEY M. CGD FIVE
87 CAPT JOHNSON, CHARLES S. COMDT (CG-6)
88 CAPT JONES, BRUCE C. CG SEC LAKE MICHIGAN
89 CAPT KAHLER, EVAN Q. CGD FIVE
90 CAPT KAPLAN, JOHN F. CG YARD
91 CAPT KASER, RICHARD M. CG LANTAREA
92 CAPT KAYSER, JEFFREY A. CG C2CEN
93 CAPT KEENE, JONATHAN S. CG ISC BOSTON
94 CAPT KEENE, JUDITH E. CG ACADEMY
95 CAPT KELLEY, BRIAN D. CG SEC BALTIMORE
96 CAPT KELLEY, MICHAEL R. DD - CGLO USSOCOM SCSO
97 CAPT KENNEY, FREDERICK J. CGD ONE
98 CAPT KORN, JOHN H. CGD EIGHT
99 CAPT LALIBERTE, DANIEL A. CG MIFC-LANT
100 CAPT LANDRY, MARK H. CGD ONE
101 CAPT LAROCHELLE, SCOTT P. COMDT (CG-3RPR)
102 CAPT LEE, JEFFREY S. CGC HAMILTON
103 CAPT LEE, WILLIAM D. CG SEC NORTH CAROLINA
104 CAPT LERSCH, DAVID L. CGD FIVE
105 CAPT LINDSTROM, TEDRIC R. CGC HEALY
106 CAPT LONG, JOHN E. CGD ELEVEN
107 CAPT LOUTTIT, JAMES K. CG MLCLANT
108 CAPT LYTLE, MARSHALL B. CG TISCOM
109 CAPT MACALUSO, JOHN J. COMDT (CG-926)
110 CAPT MACLEOD, DANIEL R. COMDT (CG-1)
111 CAPT MAES, DAVID A. CG ATTACHE MEXICO CITY
112 CAPT MANIK, JAY G. COMDT (CG-43)
113 CAPT MARHOFFER, WILLIAM R. CG SEC GUAM
114 CAPT MARVIN, BRIAN J. CG TRACEN PETALUMA
115 CAPT MATHIEU, CHARLES A. COMDT (CG-37RCC)
116 CAPT MAY, DANIEL R. CG ACADEMY
117 CAPT MCCAFFREY, JOANNE CG FDCC ATLANTIC
118 CAPT MCCLELLAN, DANIEL J. COMDT (CG-13)
119 CAPT MCDONALD, JAMES L. CG SEC BOSTON
120 CAPT MCGOUGH, BRET K. CG MLCLANT
121 CAPT MCPHERSON, JAMES B. CGD ONE
122 CAPT MEHLING, STEPHEN E. CG AIRSTA MIAMI
123 CAPT METRUCK, STEPHEN P. CG SEC SEATTLE
124 CAPT MIDGETTE, FRED M. DD - US NORTHCOM
125 CAPT MIHELIC, JOSEPH E. CG ATTC
126 CAPT MILLS, CHRISTOPHER D. CG HSC
127 CAPT MONAGHAN, JAMES X. COMDT (CG-37RCU)
128 CAPT MUELLER, ROBERT G. CG SEC NEW ORLEANS
129 CAPT MURPHY, RICHARD K. COMDT (CG-936)
130 CAPT NAGLE, EDWARD P. COMDT (CG-4)
131 CAPT NASH, ROY A. CG SEC SE NEW ENGLAND
132 CAPT NEFFENGER, PETER V. COMDT (CG-82)
133 CAPT NEILL, SAM M. COMDT (CG-511)
134 CAPT NEMETH, PATRICK J. CG ICC
135 CAPT NEUSSL, MICHAEL A. CGD SEVENTEEN
136 CAPT NUTTING, ROBERT W. CG LANTAREA
137 CAPT O'BRIEN JR, ROBERT R. CG SEC NEW YORK
138 CAPT O'DAY, KEVIN M. CGC MORGENTHAU
139 CAPT ODELL, JOHN C. CGD THIRTEEN
140 CAPT OMALLEY, MARK P. COMDT (CG-3PCP)
141 CAPT PARKS, MICHAEL N. CGD NINE
142 CAPT PASKEWICH, FRANK M. CG SEC NEW ORLEANS
143 CAPT PETTITT, JEFFREY R. CGLO PENSACOLA
144 CAPT PORVAZNIK, MARK L. COMDT (CG-937)
145 CAPT PREUSSE, PAUL A. CG ISC CLEVELAND
146 CAPT PYLE, ROBERT M. CG ELC
147 CAPT QUEDENS, CHRISTINE J. CG LANTAREA
148 CAPT QUIGLEY, KEVIN G. CG LANTAREA
149 CAPT RAND, MICHAEL P. COMDT (CG-3PCA)
150 CAPT RAY, CHARLES W. CGD FOURTEEN
151 CAPT REGER, WALTER J. CGD EIGHT
152 CAPT RENDON, JAMES E. CG SEC N NEW ENGLAND
153 CAPT RITTER, LEONARD L. COMDT (CG-62)
154 CAPT ROBERT, SCOTT W. COMDT (CG-37RCB)
155 CAPT RODEN, PAUL J. CG ELC
156 CAPT RODRIGUEZ, JOSEPH F. CGD THIRTEEN
157 CAPT ROSE, MARK A. CG SPRTCN ECITY
158 CAPT ROSS, KEVIN G. CG LANTAREA
159 CAPT RUSSELL, GEORGE A. CGD SEVEN
160 CAPT RUSSELL, PAMELA A. CG ISC ALAMEDA
161 CAPT SCHULTZ, KARL L. CG SEC MIAMI
162 CAPT SCOTT, DAVID L. CG SEC DELAWARE BAY
163 CAPT SERVIDIO, JOSEPH A. CG SEC TAMPA-ST PETE
164 CAPT SIMONS, PETER S. CG SEC CORPUS CHRISTI
165 CAPT SINNETT, JOSEPH C. CGC EAGLE
166 CAPT SISSON, MATTHEW J. COMDT (CG-931)
167 CAPT SKUBY, TIMOTHY V. CGD ONE
168 CAPT SLEIN, LIAM J. CGD ONE
169 CAPT SMIALEK, GARY M. CGD FOURTEEN
170 CAPT SMITH, BARRY P. COMDT (CG-3PCX)
171 CAPT SMITH, JACK R. CG HSC
172 CAPT SPARKS, THOMAS M. CG MSU PORT ARTHUR
173 CAPT SPRINGER, CURTIS A. CGPC
174 CAPT STADT, PATRICK H. CGC BERTHOLF
175 CAPT STANTON, EDWIN M. CG SEC MOBILE
176 CAPT STOSZ, SANDRA L. CG TRACEN CAPE MAY
177 CAPT STRANGFELD, CHARLES V. SEC SAN DIEGO
178 CAPT STROH, LINCOLN D. CG SEC NEW ORLEANS
179 CAPT STURM, FRANCIS J. COMDT (CG-3PC)
180 CAPT SULLIVAN, MICHAEL E. COMDT (CG-3RPD)
181 CAPT SWANSON, GERALD M. CG ACTIVITIES FAR EAST
182 CAPT SWATLAND, DAVID J. CG SEC SAN FRANCISCO
183 CAPT TAYLOR, STEVEN C. DD - CG REP TO DHS
184 CAPT TEKESKY, MICHAEL A. COMDT (CG-37RCD)
185 CAPT THIEDEMAN, EDWIN B. COMDT (CG-64)
186 CAPT THOMAS, LORNE W. CGD NINE
187 CAPT TONEY, BRUCE L. CGC POLAR SEA
188 CAPT TRAPP, PATRICK B. CG SEC HAMPTON ROADS
189 CAPT TUCHER, FREDERICK W. CGD FOURTEEN
190 CAPT TUNSTALL, JAMES E. CG SEC SAN JUAN
191 CAPT UBERTI, WILLIAM J. CG SEC SAN FRANCISCO
192 CAPT VANCE, GEORGE P. COMDT (CG-523)
193 CAPT VANDERPLAS, STEVEN E. CGRC
194 CAPT VIEKMAN, BRUCE E. CGPC
195 CAPT VITULLO, THOMAS J. DD - PENTAGON
196 CAPT WADE, THOMAS D. CG AIRSTA BORINQUEN
197 CAPT WARE, DANA E. DD - USPACOM CMP SMITH
198 CAPT WHITE, LARRY R. CG FINCEN
199 CAPT WIEDENHOEFT, PAUL E. CG SEC LA/LB
200 CAPT WISNIEWSKI, DOUGLAS J. COMDT (CG-3R)
2. ELIGIBLE CAPTAINS WHO HAVE SUBMITTED VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT
LETTERS AND DESIRE TO PULL THEM PRIOR TO THE BOARD CONVENING ARE
REQUESTED TO CONTACT THEIR ASSIGNMENT OFFICERS, CAPT SPRINGER AT
202-493-1601, OR CAPT THROOP AT 202-493-1602.
3. OFFICERS DESIRING TO SUBMIT COMMUNICATIONS TO THE BOARD MUST
FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES PROVIDED IN SECTION 5.A.4.E OF REF C.
4. ALL OFFICERS UNDER CONSIDERATION ARE ENCOURAGED TO REVIEW THEIR
OFFICIAL RECORD BY EITHER VISITING THE PERSONNEL COMMAND, CGPC-
ADM-3, 4200 WILSON BLVD, SUITE 1100, ARLINGTON, VA 22203, PH
(202)493-1680, OR BY WRITING TO REQUEST A COPY.
5. IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR SELECTION
BY THIS BOARD BUT YOUR NAME DOES NOT APPEAR ON THE ABOVE LIST
CONTACT LCDR CORNELL PERRY AT (202)493-1612.
6. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.
BT

Not even yet the first day of November, and already the flag & SES assignments are out for this coming summer.
This early release of flag assignments is good as it will allow for the various change efforts to move forward and allow for adequate transition planning (something which is often quite inadequate due to the short time between the announcement and the execution of orders).

R 291732Z OCT 07 ZUI ASN-A00304000019
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-00//
TO ALCOAST
BT
UNCLAS //N01426//
ALCOAST 507/07
COMDTNOTE 1426
SUBJ: 2008 FLAG ASSIGNMENT AND SENIOR LEADER MESSAGE
1. THE SECRETARY HAS APPROVED AND FORWARDED TO THE PRESIDENT THE
NOMINATIONS OF VICE ADMIRAL ROBERT J. PAPP, JR AS COMMANDER,
ATLANTIC AREA, REAR ADMIRAL CLIFFORD I. PEARSON FOR PROMOTION TO
VADM AND ASSIGNMENT AS COAST GUARD CHIEF OF STAFF, AND REAR ADMIRAL
DAVID P. PEKOSKE FOR PROMOTION TO VADM AND ASSIGNMENT AS COMMANDER,
PACIFIC AREA. APPOINTMENT TO THESE BILLETS AND PROMOTION AS
APPROPRIATE WILL OCCUR FOLLOWING CONFIRMATION BY THE SENATE.
2. WE HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE TO HAVE THE SERVICE OF VADM D. BRIAN
PETERMAN, OUR CURRENT ATLANTIC AREA COMMANDER AND VADM CHARLES D.
WURSTER, OUR CURRENT PACIFIC AREA COMMANDER. BOTH HAVE MADE
ENORMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR SERVICE THROUGOUT THEIR CAREERS AND
MOST RECENTLY AS MEMBERS OF THE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL SINCE MAY 2006.
THEIR EFFORTS HAVE BEEN ESSENTIAL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDING
CONCEPTS FOR THE COAST GUARD'S NEW MISSION EXECUTION AND MISSION
SUPPORT STRUCTURE. WE HONOR THEIR SERVICE TO THE COAST GUARD AND
OUR NATION.
3. SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION BY THE SENATE FOR ASSIGNMENT TO THE
VICE ADMIRAL BILLETS DISCUSSED IN PARA (1) AND FOR THE RDMLS
(SELECT) LISTED BELOW, THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENTS ARE APPROVED.
4. TOGETHER WITH THE TALENTED SENIOR CIVILIANS WHO COMPRISE THE
COAST GUARD'S SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE (SES), THIS LISTING REFLECTS
THE COAST GUARD'S CURRENT SENIOR LEADERSHIP INCLUDING INCUMBENTS
REMAINING IN CURRENT ASSIGNMENTS.
5. THESE ASSIGNMENTS ARE BASED ON OUR CURRENT BILLET STRUCTURE.
IT IS MY INTENT TO TRANSITION TO OUR NEW MISSION EXECUTION AND
MISSION SUPPORT STRUCTURE WHEN THE NEW SENIOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
ARE APPROVED AS PROVIDED IN AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION CURRENTLY BEING
CONSIDERED BY THE CONGRESS.
VICE ADMIRALS:
CG-09 VICE COMMANDANT VADM Vivian S. CREA
CG-01 CHIEF OF STAFF VADM (SEL) C. I. PEARSON
LANTAREA VADM R. J. PAPP, JR
PACAREA VADM (SEL) D. P. PEKOSKE
REAR ADMIRALS:
DISTRICT COMMANDS
FIRST DISTRICT RADM D. G. GABEL
FIFTH DISTRICT RADM F. M. ROSA
SEVENTH DISTRICT RADM R. S. BRANHAM
EIGHTH DISTRICT RADM J. R. WHITEHEAD
NINTH DISTRICT RDML (SEL) P.V. NEFFENGER
ELEVENTH DISTRICT RADM C. E. BONE
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT RADM J. P. CURRIER
FOURTEENTH DISTRICT RDML Manson K. BROWN
SEVENTEENTH DISTRICT RADM A. E. BROOKS
MAINTENANCE AND LOGISTICS COMMANDS
MLC LANT RADM R. T. HEWITT
MLC PAC RADM T. S. SULLIVAN
AREA SENIOR RESERVE OFFICERS
SR. RESERVE OFFICER LANTAREA RDML (SEL) S. E. DAY
SR. RESERVE OFFICER PACAREA RADM (SEL) M. R. SEWARD
COMBATANT COMMANDS
DEPUTY J3 U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND RDML C. C. COLVIN
DEPUTY J3 U.S. SOUTHERN COMMAND RDML R. C. PARKER
JOINT INTERAGENCY TASK FORCES
DIRECTOR, JIATF SOUTH RADM J. L. NIMMICH
DIRECTOR, JIATF WEST RDML P. F. ZUKUNFT
TO REMAIN IN CURRENT BILLET PENDING FURTHER ASSIGNMENT:
LANT LANTAREA CHIEF OF STAFF RDML (SEL) S. H. RATTI
D14 D14 CHIEF OF STAFF RDML (SEL) C. W. RAY
HEADQUARTERS UNITS
ACADEMY SUPERINTENDENT RADM J. S. BURHOE
NPFC DIRECTOR NAT'L POLLUTION FUND CENTER TBD,
HEADQUARTERS STAFF
CG-00H DIRECTOR, CIVIL RIGHTS STAFF MS. T. A. DICKERSONCG-00J CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE HON J. N. INGOLIA
CG-01T DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION RADM Jody A. BRECKENRIDGE
CG-092 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS RDML M. E. LANDRY
CG-094 JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL RDML W. D. BAUMGARTNER
CG-094D DEPUTY JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL MR. C. M. LEDERER
CG-1 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR HUMAN RESOURCES RADM Jody A.BRECKENRIDGE
CG-11 DIRECTOR OF HEALTH AND SAFETY RADM M. J. TEDESCO
CG-12 DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT RDML(SEL) D. A.NEPTUN
CG-12D DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT MR. C. B. ODOM
CG-13 DIRECTOR OF RESERVE AND TRAINING RDML (SEL) D. R. MAY
CG-2 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR INTELLIGENCE AND INVESTIGATIONS MR. J. F. SLOAN
CG-2D DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR INTELLIGENCE AND INVESTIGATIONS RDML C. A. COOGAN
CG-4 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR ENGINEERING AND LOGISTICS RDML(SEL)T.P. OSTEBO
CG-4D DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR ENGINEERING AND LOGISTICS MR. J. G. ORNER
ACO ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR OPERATIONS RADM S. BRICE-O'HARA
ACO-I INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR TBD
CG-ACO-O DIRECTOR OF INSPECTIONS AND COMPLIANCE RDML(SEL)K.S. COOK
CG-5 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR MARINE SAFETY, SECURITY, AND STEWARDSHIP RDML B. M. SALERNO
CG-51 DIRECTOR OF ASSESSMENT, INTEGRATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT TBD
CG-52 DIRECTOR OF COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS MR. J. G. LANTZ
CG-53 DIRECTOR OF RESPONSE POLICY RDML (SEL) J. R. CASTILLO
CG-54 DIRECTOR OF PREVENTION POLICY RDML(SEL)J.A. WATSON
CG-7 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR CAPABILITY RDML W. E. JUSTICE
DOG DEPLOYABLE OPERATIONS GROUP RDML T. F. ATKIN
CG-6 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR C4 AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RDML D. T. GLENN
CG-8 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR RESOURCES RDML(SEL)K.A. TAYLOR
CG-8D DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR RESOURCES MR. M. J. RAJK
CG-9 ASSISTANT COMMANDANT FOR ACQUISITION RADM G. T. BLORE
CG-91 SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECUTIVE AND HEAD OF CONTRACTING ACTIVITY MS. C. M. GRADY
CG-92 DEPUTY CHIEF ACQUISITIONS OFFICER AND DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITION SERVICES MR. M. F. TANGORA
CG-93 PROGRAM EXECUTIVE OFFICER RDML R. J. RABAGO
CG-93D DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITION PROGRAMS MS. G. L. PHAN
LIAISON/FIELD ASSIGNMENTS
DHS DHS MILITARY ADVISOR TO S-1 RDML D. B. LLOYD
GMII DIRECTOR, GLOBAL MARITIME INTEL INTEGRATION RADM R. R. KELLY
6. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.
7. ADM T. W. ALLEN, COMMANDANT, SENDS.
BT
NNNN

Webster Smith takes a hit.

(Feb 24, 2009)Independent Audit Finds USCG Office of Civil Rights Incompetent.
Carmen Walker issued the dumbest and the shortest decision in the history of the Civil Rights Office.
Employees in the Coast Guard’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) do not have the skills or up-to-date training to handle many of the service’s cases and formal discrimination complaints are not adequately handled, according to an independent report presented to the Coast Guard on February 5.

Terri Dickerson, the office’s director, requested an independent review April 25, 2008, less than one month after an investigation by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the FBI failed to determine who left nooses for a Black Coast Guard Academy cadet and an officer conducting race-relations training in the summer of 2007.

At the same time, an unofficial Coast Guard blog was posting regularly about the office and the director’s alleged inefficiencies, reducing morale among employees and casting OCR in a negative light, according to the report.

The findings are “deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable,” Cummings, D-Md., wrote in a letter to Commandant ADM Thad Allen. Cummings, the chairman of the House subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, said he plans to call a hearing in April to further discuss the report.

“The findings of this report demand decisive and comprehensive action to correct what appear to be a number of significant shortfalls in the administration,” he wrote.

The Coast Guard retained Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm with offices throughout the country, to review the entire civil rights program in September 2008, according to a letter from Dickerson to the Department of Homeland Security’s Equal Employment Opportunity Programs.

Coast Guard spokesman Cmdr. Ron LaBrec said the service is thankful for the feedback and is conducting a thorough review of the report and its recommendations.

“The [DHS] Office of Civil Rights and Liberties periodically conducts assessments on its civil rights components and the [OCR] director wanted to do this report now with the ongoing modernization initiative to look across the board and improve the practices in the office and address any allegations that were coming out of blogs or even internal discussions. We take allegations of mistreating [privacy issues] seriously,” LaBrec said.

According to the report, the Coast Guardsmen assigned to ORC often come in with little civil rights experience and serve two-year tours, and “often they leave their post just as they are becoming oriented to the position.” The other Coast Guardsmen in the office are on collateral duty, with the same limited backgrounds, according to the report.

Although training is available, the report said, many employees have not completed the legislatively mandated initial or refresher training. In some instances training was behind up to five years.

“Some staff members lack the requisite skills, abilities, and training to effectively perform the duties of their positions, thereby diminishing effectiveness of the divisions/teams,” according to the report.

LaBrec said the “decentralized” structure led to the delinquency in training and the Coast Guard is looking to “standardize” and “improve” its training program. There are 22 full-time positions within OCR, five of which are military, but that likely is not enough to sufficiently handle the additional responsibilities related to the increased caseload, according to the report.

Although Booz Allen acknowledges that some of the recommendations listed in the report cannot be accomplished with the office’s $788,459 budget, OCR’s Web site says the recommendations are under review and lists some that have either already been completed or can be accomplished in the near future.

Those include:

• Restructuring the office to “optimize the use of our military personnel” and take advantage of existing training and resources.

• Analyze the workload to ensure statutory and non-statutory obligations are being met.

LaBrec said it is too early to determine what recommendations would require additional funding or how much additional money would be needed to accomplish those goals.

“The review reaffirmed many positive aspects of the Coast Guard civil rights program. The report also makes clear there is work ahead,” Dickerson wrote in Thursday’s Alcoast. “Foremost, consistent with past similar studies, the BAH team found we must restructure the [equal employment opportunity] function, and secondarily, shore up our equal employment opportunity/equal opportunity product lines so that they more optimally support our civil rights service providers and work force.”

LaBrec also said the 58 formal civil rights complains OCR received in fiscal year 2007, roughly one per 1,000 people, shows the office is doing some things right, since several of the other DHS departments have a much higher number of civil rights complaints per capita.

Allen told Coast Guard Academy cadets and faculty in October 2007 that racial bigotry will not be accepted and goes against the service’s ethos and humanitarian mission. In August 2008, he released a service-wide message outlining plans to improve diversity throughout the service.

As part of the new initiative, every flag officer and senior executive service member is required to attend one diversity conference a year and they are expected to build relationships with minority-based “institutions of higher education.”

The first noose, which garnered national attention, was left in the bag of a Black cadet in July 2007 onboard the Coast Guard cutter Eagle. The second was found in August on the office floor of a white female officer who had been conducting race relations training.

Statement of
The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Chairman
Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
Hearing on
“Civil Rights Services and Diversity Initiatives in the Coast Guard”
April 1, 2009
We convene today to consider the state of the Coast Guard’s provision of civil rights services to its military and civilian workforce and to applicants for employment. We will also examine the initiatives being undertaken by the service to support expanded diversity among both its military and civilian personnel. As part of that examination, we will assess what the service has done to benchmark its diversity-related initiatives following a hearing we held on this subject last year.
In April 2008, the Director of the Coast Guard’s Office of Civil Rights asked the Department of Homeland Security to commission and supervise an independent assessment of the Office and of civil rights programs within the Coast Guard. The proximate motivation for this request was the posting of derogatory blog entries on the web. However, as the Subcommittee has come to learn, there have long existed challenges far more central to the provision of effective civil rights services within the Coast Guard than those discussed in recent blog comments.
In February 2009, Booz|Allen|Hamilton, the firm ultimately commissioned to undertake the study of the Coast Guard Office of Civil Rights, issued its report to the Coast Guard, which subsequently released it to the public. I note that the Subcommittee invited Booz|Allen|Hamilton to testify today and also invited its representatives to meet privately with staff; they declined both offers citing their duty of confidentiality to their client and, rather perplexingly, their internal policy against lobbying. Despite Booz|Allen|Hamilton’s total unresponsiveness to the Subcommittee’s inquiries about a report it prepared on a federal agency and for which it received compensation from U.S. taxpayer funding, the firm’s report speaks for itself.
Among other findings, the Booz|Allen|Hamilton team’s review identified at the Coast Guard a civil rights program that does not fully protect confidential personal information, that does not conduct thorough analyses of barriers to equal opportunity in employment or develop specific plans to break these barriers down, and that has a number of inadequately trained service providers who cannot ensure implementation of a complaints management process that is in full compliance with regulatory requirements.
While these findings are obviously deeply troubling on their own, as the Subcommittee has learned in its extensive review of the Coast Guard’s civil rights programs, they are certainly not new. Previous reviews of the Coast Guard’s civil rights programs, and even the self-assessments the Coast Guard submits annually to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, repeatedly identify many of the same problems noted in the Booz|Allen|Hamilton report.
For example, a 2001 review conducted by KPMG found that:

complaints were not handled in an efficient manner;

individuals who provided civil rights services as a collateral duty showed “great variation in … quality;”

affirmative action-related reports were disseminated “but report interpretation and action is left up to the individual unit commands, who may or may not have the required time and knowledge to legally apply the affirmative action program as a factor in hiring and promoting;” and

equal opportunity reviews were being conducted, but there were “no measures or metrics . . . by which to evaluate local command’s program performance.”
A review conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers more than a decade ago concluded that the Coast Guard’s “current civil rights program is relatively ineffective at preventing civil rights complaints and the current program office at headquarters is inefficient in discharging their responsibilities.”
In May 2008, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sent a feedback letter to the Coast Guard identifying the trends it observed in the Coast Guard’s annual
self-reports from fiscal years 2004 through 2006. Again, the comments sound very familiar. EEOC stated that in its 2004 report, the Coast Guard admitted that “EEO officials did not have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to carry out the full duties and responsibilities of their positions.” In fiscal years 2005 and 2006, the service “reported that there was insufficient staff to conduct adequate analysis of civilian workforce data,” and in 2004, 2005, and 2006, the service noted it “has not implemented an adequate data collection and analysis system and had not tracked recruitment efforts.” The EEOC found that the Coast Guard’s recruitment practices for positions in the civilian workforce created “unintended barriers” to diversity.
Having read all this, what was perhaps most disappointing to me was not just the devastating nature of these individual findings, but the fact that the problems they describe have apparently persisted for nearly a decade. Put simply, the picture that emerges from the reports available to us shows that despite knowing that its equal opportunity programs did not ensure full compliance with U.S. law and regulations, the Coast Guard has taken little to no action to ensure full compliance. Further, there have apparently been no consequences for these failures – except perhaps the individual consequences that Coast Guard personnel may have borne, some of whom may have been denied the opportunity to effectively challenge what they may have felt was discriminatory treatment.
Discrimination is an evil that destroys the dignity of fellow human beings and robs them of the opportunity to achieve what their abilities would otherwise enable them to achieve. In this, the 21st Century, any agency that tolerates any failure in the implementation of effective equal employment opportunity processes or in the effective management of complaints is an agency that is willing to tolerate the possibility that discrimination may exist in its midst.
While I applaud the decision of the Director of the Office of Civil Rights to ask for an independent assessment of Coast Guard civil rights practices, it is also obvious that further study is not needed. Back in 2001, the KPMG team that assessed the Coast Guard’s civil rights program reported that the wide gaps between how the service’s equal employment opportunity program was described in manuals and how the program was actually
implemented “created a perception that the program is not necessarily a priority among senior leadership.” It is LONG PAST TIME that these gaps be closed.
Importantly, as the Booz|Allen|Hamilton report makes clear, successful implementation of the reforms needed to correct the gaps that their team found “will need to be openly endorsed at the highest level of the Coast Guard organization to ensure the cooperation of, and participation by, key stakeholders.” I know that the Coast Guard is undertaking a variety of initiatives to expand diversity, and I commend the written testimony of Admiral Breckenridge, which details these efforts. I also commend the individual efforts of Coast Guard personnel to support the service’s diversity goals. I note that Admiral Allen himself recently visited Morgan State University in my district and gave a very inspiring address to students at that Historically Black University.
What I didn’t find in Admiral Breckenridge’s testimony, however, was a statement that the MD-715 process will now be used as intended to identify all barriers to equal access and to inform the development of the plans that will eliminate these barriers, or that a similar process will be implemented on the military slide. While I appreciate discussion of an “upward glide slope,” progress cannot be measured until specific goals are in place – and to think that goals would need to be defined as “specific representational objectives” is simply to think too narrowly.
I also commend Director Dickerson’s testimony, and her decision to request the Booz|Allen|Hamilton review. I emphasize that I understand – as the Booz|Allen|Hamilton report indicates and the evidence clearly shows – that many of the problems with the Coast Guard’s civil rights program have long pre-dated her appointment.
That said, it is now our watch and the failures and deficiencies that exist with the Coast Guard’s civil rights programs CANNOT CONTINUE. For the Coast Guard to truly be “Semper Paratus” – always ready – it must take all necessary steps to ensure that it is not handicapped by discrimination in its ranks or the divisions that discrimination produces.
As I said when I addressed the Coast Guard Academy following the discovery of nooses there, “Diversity – and our mutual respect for each other – are our greatest strengths as a nation.” They must necessarily be the greatest strengths of those who defend this nation, but they can be so only when an agency makes the achievement of diversity and the provision of effective civil rights services a top priority, rather than what appears to be a second thought.




Webster Smith Took A Hit from CG Office of Civil Rights.
It took a long time for the Dept Homeland Security, Office of Civil Rights to make a decision on the Webster Smith Discrimination Complaint. Today, Webster Smith is on the ropes after receiving a sucker punch from Ms Carmen Walker, the Deputy Officer for EEO Programs in the Department of Homeland Security. The big question is will he be able to survive a "standing 8 count", or will this be the final round in his fight to get justice from the Coast Guard Academy and the Coast Guard?

Carmen H. Walker, Deputy Officer for EEO Programs, Office of Civil Rights and Liberties, in her 20 August 2007 letter says that because Webster Smith was court-martialed, he could not have been discriminated against, as a matter of law. Well, that is just flat out patently wrong. A court-martial does not bar a civil rights action. The court-martial was just one act in a chain of events, each of which constituted racial discrimination. The same set of facts can give rise to actionable relief in two different arenas, as here. The several discriminatory actions taken against Webster Smith before he was even charged under the UCMJ are completely separate and distinct from any possible legal errors that were committed during the course of the court-martial.
Only the legal and procedural errors committed by the prosecution at trial are the subject of the appeal to the Coast Guard Court of Military Revue. This decision by Ms Walker is the dumbest decision I have ever seen, and the shortest. There was more meat on the shadow of the chicken that died of starvation than in this Report. There are no Findings of Fact. There are no Conclusions. There is no Rationale, or any reasoning whatsoever. There is nothing in the Final Report to show how she arrived at her decision. No comparisons are made with any other cases or sets of facts. This was a pure anal extraction.

H. Jerry Jones, the Coast Guard’s director of the Office of Civil Rights in Washington D.C., authorized an inquiry Dec. 7 of last year into whether former cadet first class Webster Smith, who is Black, was treated differently during the investigation into his case than whites who had committed similar offenses.
After reviewing Smith's complaint, Jones dismissed 16 separate claims but authorized an investigation into the alleged inequity of treatment, headquarters spokesman Cmdr. Jeff Carter said Dec. 15.
The Coast Guard hired JDG Associates Inc., a San Antonio-based consultant company that specializes in equal opportunity and civil rights issues, to examine the complaint, Carter said.
Carter explained that the Coast Guard does not maintain a large Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff and needed to hire the firm to ensure fairness.

Consistent with 29CFR 1614.107(b) when an agency dismisses some but not all of the claims in a complaint, the dismissed claims will not be investigated and the dismissal is not immediately appealable. The Department of Homeland Security was supposed to review them together with the Report of Investigation when it prepared the Final Agency Decision (FAD) on the accepted claims. It does not appear that Ms Walker has done this. She does not appear to have followed the letter or the spirit of the regulation.

Webster Smith has the right to request reconsideration of the FAD, including the dismissal determination if it is sustained. It appears that Ms. Walker has done that by default. Even though the dismissed claims were not processed as discreet and separate claims, the information regarding the dismissed claims were required to be used as evidence during the investigation of the accepted claim. Ms. Walker certainly could not have done that. However, it is hard to tell just what Ms Walker did, if anything. She gives very few clues as to what she did, if she did anything. She could have flipped a coin, or rolled the dice for all we know. The FAD is brief and uninformative. It gives very little insight into the inner workings and hidden mechanisms of her mind.
Ms Carmen Walker was faced with a living room full of pink elephants. She chose to ignore all of them. She ignored what would have been obvious to even a child, and instead she grasped at two invisible straws. She chose to hang her hat on a technicality that will prove to be a gross embarassment to her and her Agency. She had a chance to be on the right side of History. She followed the path that leads into the woods, and she chose the most frequently traveled path. That might prove to make all the difference in the world.

It looks like Ms Walker has not looked at this complaint since it first arrived on her desk. She must have noticed that the First Anniversary of the filing of the complaint was fast approaching. On 5 September, it will be one whole year since the complaint was filed. Ms Walker was required by Agency Regulation to provide Webster Smith with a copy of the investigative file, to notify him in writing that he has a right to request a hearing and a decision from an administrative judge or may request an immediate final decision from the agency (29 CFR 1614.110). This Final Decision looks like nothing more than it really is, and that is, a half-hearted attempt to avoid letting the 360 day period run out without taking the required agency action.

Oscar Wilde said that the easiest way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Ms Walker obviously believes the easiest way to get rid of a complaint is to simply say that it does not state a claim for which relief can be granted.

In her decision no evidence was evaluated. Statements were taken by the Investigating Officer, but no Facts were deduced. There were two apparently implied facts: One, that Webster Smith had been in the military; and, Two, that he had been court-martialed. From those two apparently implied facts, Ms Walker concludes that Webster Smith's Discrimination Complaint fails to state a claim for which relief can be granted.

Is this woman a lawyer? Where did she go to law school? She said that Webster Smith cannot challenge the results of a court-martial through the employment discrimination complaint process. Well, Ms. Walker, we were well aware of that fact one year ago. If Webster Smith were trying to overturn his court martial conviction by filing a civil rights complaint, then he would not have filed an appeal to the Coast Guard Court of Military Review. That is a separate action. It is designed to remedy the errors committed during and after the court-martial conviction for disobeying an order and extorting sexual favors from Shelly Raudenbush.


The Court of Military Review has no jurisdiction to render a finding concerning whether Webster Smith was discriminated against when he was forcefully removed from Chase Hall at midnight in December 2005 by Coast Guard Intelligence, or when he was prevented from attending class, or when he was made to work on the boat docks in June 2006, or when he was forbidden to speak to any other classmates or cadets, or when he was forbidden to go within 100 yards of Chase Hall. Moreover, it was discrimination when a press release was distributed to the media with his photograph calling him a sexual predator and saying that his presence created an intimidating environment in Chase Hall. All of these prohibited actions occurred long before a charge sheet was drawn up, and well before a court-martial was convened and most certainly before a verdict was rendered. On these acts alone Webster Smith was discriminated against because of his race. These all occurred long before the court-martial and the other related acts occurred.


The Court of Military Review is a military forum and can only give a military remedy. It has no jurisdiction to give relief in the administrative, employment area. That is why there is a civil rights complaint procedure. It is designed to address those areas where one has been treated differently than others based on his race, or sex.

A comparison may be drawn between a civil court and a criminal court. O J Simpson was found not guilty in a Los Angeles criminal court of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. That did not prevent a civil court in Santa Monica using the exact same facts from finding him liable to the Goldman family for the wrongful death of Ron Goldman. By the same token, if O J Simpson had been found guilty in criminal court that would not have been a bar to trying him in civil court for damages.

The fact that Webster Smith was court-martialed and appealed the court-martial proceedings, in no way can lead to the unnatural conclusion that he is trying to overturn his criminal conviction by using a civil rights complaint. If he succeeds in his criminal appeal and is able to reverse the conviction, that still does not mean that he was not treated differently than Matt Bialuk, and John K. Miller, and about 12 other cadets whose cases were handled differently. Even if Webster Smith had not been court-martialed, he would still have a valid claim of discrimination. Just being removed from the cadet barracks at midnight in hand cups, and forced to work at hard labor on the boat docks, and not being allowed to continue going to class would constitute a case of disparate treatment.

Is it any wonder that Department of Homeland Security waited so long before responding to Hurricane Katrina? With this caliber of decision making, we should be surprised that they showed up at all. We are left scratching our heads at the range of inefficiency and ineffectivness that characterized the Department Homeland Security and FEMA’s behavior right before and after Katrina. The failure of initiative cost lives, prolonged suffering, and left all Americans justifiably concerned our government is not prepared to protect its people. It does not appear to be any more capable, or willing to defend our civil rights either. I sleep a little less securely just knowing who is in charge.

There is something else quite unusual about this Decision. It was sent Certified Mail Return Receipt Request and it was date stamped 20 August 2007. It had to be signed for, so we know exactly when it arrived. It did not arrive at the Smith residence until 4 September. That is more than two weeks. If we can send a man to the moon in a week, why did it take Ms Walker’s decision more than 2 weeks to go from Washington DC to Houston, Texas? This is yet another example of the sterling performance of the men and women on the front lines of Homeland Security. How can the American people sleep soundly at night with this caliber people on watch? If I were on a ship, I would sleep wearing my life preserver. We have some difficult days ahead.

It took this long to spin a lie that someone would believe. All history is spin. Some spin you can believe, some you cannot.
For example, we have been taught that Abe Lincoln freed the slaves; but the truth is before the outbreak of the Civil War, Lincoln believed in freeing slaves only on condition that they be immediately exported to Africa (Liberia). He once boasted: “I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, not of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people.

Also, we have been taught that Thomas Jefferson believed that all men are created equal ( except for Blacks, Native Americans, and men without property); but the truth is Jefferson was kept busy spinning how the author of the Declaration of Independence could also own slaves, let alone force one of them to sleep with him and bear him children.

Finally we have just been told that Webster Smith, Matt Bialuk, and John K. Miller were all treated the same; but the truth is that they were not. They were all cadets; they were all suspected of having committed sexually related offenses. But, only Webster Smith was taken out of Chase Hall, forced to work at hard labor at the boat docks, prevented from continuing with his academic classes, and prevented from coming within 100 yards of Chase Hall. They were most certainly treated very differently.

And, oh, by the way, on top of all that, Webster Smith was also court-martialed. He could have very easily been court-martialed without being discriminated against, but he was not. But, if it makes you feel any better, you can drop that one allegation from the civil rights complaint. He has already been found not guilty of rape, and he has already served his 6 months in the brig. And, his appellate lawyers have appealed the conviction to the appropriate forum. So, now all you have to do is deal with the discrimination complaint. Anyone who cannot see that has been promoted up to their level of incompetence. They are not capable of critical thinking. How many people have been irreparably harmed by this person's bad decisions and incompetent advice?

There is an old Sicilian Proverb that says “if you sit by the river long enough, you will see the bodies of your enemies float by”. How long will Webster Smith have to sit by the river before he sees the bodies of Van Sice, Wisniewski, Kristen Nicholson, Shelly Raudenbush, et al float by?

THIS JUST IN:
The Day was a day late and a dollar short. In an article written by Jennifer Grogan on 9/11/2007, The Day reported that “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ruled that Webster Smith was not discriminated against on the basis of his race when he was court-martialed for sexual assault last summer.” That is not true, nor is it correct.

She reported that “The Smiths declined to comment.” That is true; however, when they saw what she had written, they had plenty of comments. Mainly, they commented that Ms Grogan’s article was not correct. And they were right. The Day was forced to print a correction on 9/12/2207. As one might expect, the CORRECTION was not as conspicuous, nor as easy to locate as the first blatantly erroneous article. The damage had been done. As Webster Smith’s mother, Belinda, said”After the article has gone nationwide with the Associated Press, they quietly corrected the article but the damage is done.”
The Day, unlike the Navy Times, printed an article short on facts, but long on quotes from the people who had slandered Webster Smith, and who are trying to save face. The same people who tried to label Webster Smith as a sexual predator and released his private cadet photograph to the news media to be beamed around the world. At the Coast Guard Academy,” Chief Warrant Officer David M. French, an Academy spokesman, on Monday, 10 September, was quoted as saying “We feel the Department of Homeland Security's final decision on the civil rights complaint from Webster Smith validates the academy's actions in this matter as appropriate.”

The CORRECTION buried in the B Section of The Day simply said “The U.S. Department of Homeland Security denied a discrimination claim filed by Webster Smith, a black man expelled from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy following his court-martial for sexual assault. The department ruled that the complaint was not filed in the appropriate forum.”


To deny a complaint and then to give 30 days for one to appeal the denial, is a long ways from saying there was no discrimination. There has not yet been a decision on the ultimate issue of whether Webster Smith was a victum of racial discrimination.

Personally, I like The Day. I used to read it when it was named The New London Day. It and the New York Times were the only newspapers that I read for four years. They have a lot more coverage of the Coast Guard Academy now than then. I wonder why.

Beverly Herbert wrote on 3/31/2008: "I attended the Easter service at Connecticut College and was glad that I did. I was pleasantly surprised at the positive message by the former-Gov. John G. Rowland in which he spoke of his journey from the high to the low and how faith brought him through.
I know many people think of John Rowland as the worst governor ever. However, during his administration I remember writing to him and actually getting an answer and getting the issue addressed. Also, I remember when calling the governor's office that his staff was always courteous, gracious, knowledgeable and helpful.
Many people seem to want to make the former governor the poster boy for political corruption in Connecticut.
Making him the poster boy can no more solve the problem of political corruption in Connecticut than making Webster Smith the poster boy for all the sexual misconduct and abuse that had gone on at the Coast Guard Academy for years without anyone being held accountable."

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

450 E Street, Northwest

Washington, D.C. 20442-0001



SCHEDULED HEARINGS




United States v. Webster M. Smith, No. 08-0719/CG

(Appellee) (Appellant)



Counsel for Appellant: Ronald C. Machen, Esq.

Counsel for Appellee: LT Emily P. Reuter, USCG



Case Summary: GCM conviction of going from place of duty, attempting to disobey an order, sodomy, extortion, and indecent assault. Granted issue questions whether the military judge violated Appellant’s constitutional right to confront his accusers by limiting his cross-examination of [SR], the government’s only witness, on three of the five charges.



NOTE: Counsel for each side will be allotted 20 minutes to present oral argument in this case.

Judge London Steverson
London Eugene Livingston Steverson (born March 13, 1947) was one of the first two African Americans to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. Later, as chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), he was charged with desegregating the Coast Guard Academy by recruiting minority candidates. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1988 and in 1990 was appointed to the bench as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration.

Early Life and Education
Steverson was born and raised in Millington, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Jerome and Ruby Steverson. At the age of 5 he was enrolled in the E. A. Harrold elementary school in a segregated school system. He later attended the all black Woodstock High School in Memphis, Tennessee, graduating valedictorian.
A Presidential Executive Order issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces in 1948,[1] but the service academies were lagging in officer recruiting. President Kennedy specifically challenged the United States Coast Guard Academy to tender appointments to Black high school students. London Steverson was one of the Black student to be offered such an appointment, and when he accepted the opportunity to be part of the class of 1968, he became the second African American to enter the previously all-white military academy. On June 4, 1968 Steverson graduated from the Coast Guard Academy with a BS degree in Engineering and a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1974, while still a member of the Coast Guard, Steverson entered The National Law Center of The George Washington University and graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor of Laws Degree.

USCG Assignments.
Steverson's first duty assignment out of the Academy was in Antarctic research logistical support. In July 1968 he reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Glacier [2] (WAGB-4), an icebreaker operating under the control of the U.S. Navy, and served as a deck watch officer and head of the Marine Science Department. He traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station. During the 1969 patrol the CGC Glacier responded to an international distress call from the Argentine icebreaker General SanMartin, which they freed.
He received another military assignment from 1970 to 1972 in Juneau, Alaska as a Search and Rescue Officer. Before being certified as an Operations Duty Officer, it was necessary to become thoroughly familiar with the geography and topography of the Alaskan remote sites. Along with his office mate, Ltjg Herbert Claiborne "Bertie" Pell, the son of Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, Steverson was sent on a familiarization tour of Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force bases. The bases visited were Base Kodiak, Base Adak Island, and Attu Island, in the Aleutian Islands.[3]
Steverson was the Duty Officer on September 4, 1971 when an emergency call was received that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 airline passenger plane was overdue at Juneau airport. This was a Saturday and the weather was foggy with drizzling rain. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile. The 727 was en route to Seattle, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska with a scheduled stop in Juneau. There were 109 people on board and there were no survivors. Steverson received the initial alert message and began the coordination of the search and rescue effort. In a matter of hours the wreckage from the plane, with no survivors, was located on the side of a mountain about five miles from the airport. For several weeks the body parts were collected and reassembled in a staging area in the National Guard Armory only a few blocks from the Search and Rescue Center where Steverson first received the distress broadcast.[4]. Later a full investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was equipment failure.[5]
Another noteworthy item is Steverson's involvement as an Operations Officer during the seizure of two Russian fishing vessels, the Kolevan and the Lamut for violating an international agreement prohibiting foreign vessels from fishing in United States territorial waters. The initial attempts at seizing the Russian vessels almost precipitated an international incident when the Russian vessels refused to proceed to a U. S. port, and instead sailed toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian MIG fighter planes were scrambled, as well as American fighter planes from Elmendorf Air Force Base before the Russian vessels changed course and steamed back
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