The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Maple follows the crew of Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker Terry Fox through the icy waters of Franklin Strait, in Nunavut Canada, August 11, 2017. The Canadian Coast Guard assisted Maple's crew by breaking and helping navigate through ice during several days of Maple's 2017 Northwest Passage transit. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn.

Allies in the Arctic

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Maple arrived to Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland, Tuesday, after a journey of more than 7,000 miles through the Arctic from Sitka, Alaska.

Cutter Maple spent 27 days above the Arctic Circle, first navigating Alaskan waters then through the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean. Coincidently, the summer of 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the Coast Guard’s first Northwest Passage expedition that departed Seattle, Washington, July 1, 1957.


Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Harris, a member of a joint Coast Guard-Navy dive team deployed aboard Coast Guard Cutter Healy, holds a Coast Guard ensign during a cold water ice dive off a Healy small boat in the Arctic, July 29, 2017. The joint dive team successfully completed the first shipboard Coast Guard dive operations in the Arctic in 11 years. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class David Bradbury.

Diving in: A new chapter at the top of the world

For the first time in 11 years, after the tragic deaths of Lt. Jessica Hill and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque, divers returned to the icy Arctic waters in support of the 2017 Coast Guard Research and Development Center Arctic patrol of Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

During the patrol, the team conducted cold water ice dive operations from both the small boat and a dive platform that was lowered from the Healy. A total of 18 dives were performed with a maximum depth of 38 feet and subsurface time of 18 minutes.


Petty Officer 2nd Class Christine Parham, a health services technician at Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, is one of the few paramedics in the Coast Guard. After joining in 2013 and training in Cape May, New Jersey, Parham begged to come to Kodiak to be an Aviation Mission Specialist. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Meredith Manning and Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Steenson

Coast Guard flight paramedic provides higher level of care in Alaska

Wearing a bright orange drysuit and large blue helmet while carrying gear that looks to weigh twice as much as she does, a small-framed, 5-foot coastguardsman rushes to the waiting helicopter. She throws her gear in and takes her seat amongst the rest of the crew. Though not in her job description, she prepares to take flight on a search and rescue case in the last frontier.


Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco: Key West to Ketchikan

The Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco will be the second 154-foot Fast Response Cutter homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska. The crew traveled 6,200 miles from Key West, Florida, to bring the cutter to its new homeport. The Barco is scheduled to be commissioned in Juneau, June 14, 2017.


National Safe Boating week is the launch of the 2017 North American Safe Boating Campaign. This yearlong campaign promotes safe and responsible boating and the value of voluntary, consistent life jacket wear by recreational boaters through the national theme, Wear It!

Wind down from National Safe Boating Week; Gear up for summer fun!

As National Safe Boating Week winds down, we are gearing up for summer fun! As the summer months bring in warmer weather, maritime activity on the water increases exponentially. With more boaters on the water, the chance for maritime accidents, or boaters in distress, rises. These accidents can happen at a moment’s notice and the best way to make sure you, your friends and family, have an enjoyable time on the water is through the proactive mindset of boating safety knowledge and preparation.


Emily Sabo is the ombudsman for Marine Safety Unit Valdez, Sector Field Office Valdez and Engineering Service Division Valdez. Mrs. Sabo orchestrated a Coast Guard Welcome Aboard event for newly reported personnel in assignment year 2016 and invited representatives from the Valdez School District, Valdez Parks and Recreation as well as 17th District's Work Life office.

2017 Ombudsmen Appreciation

March 26th marked Ombudsmen Appreciation Day – a day to honor the service of our dedicated Coast Guard ombudsmen. From the largest unit to the smallest, Coast Guard ombudsmen strive to make life easier for Coast Guard members and their families. 2017 is the 30th year of the ombudsman program and the 17th District would like to extend a huge thanks to all of its units’ ombudsmen.


Crewmembers from Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore work on an aid to navigation buoy during an Arctic deployment, Oct. 8, 2015. During the patrol, the crew strengthened Arctic partnerships in the Yakutata, Hooper Bay and Point Hope villages, serviced aids to navigation beyond their normal area of responsibility and provided a Coast Guard presence in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. U.S. Coast Guard photo

Coast Guard Foundation Alaska Award: Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore received the Coast Guard Foundation Alaska Award at the Alaska Coast Guard Foundation Dinner in Anchorage, Alaska, Aug. 10, 2016. Cmdr. James Jarnac, Chief Warrant Officer Joshua Clegg, Chief Warrant Officer Jason Scott and Seaman Tyrell Miranda received the award on behalf of the Sycamore crew.


Petty Officer 3rd Class Abel Marquez, a crewmember at Coast Guard Sector Anchorage, Alaska, participates in firearms training on an Army simulator at Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson. The laser-based simulator provides the marksman with an approximation of the weapon’s sound, weight and recoil. U.S. Coast Guard photo illustration by Petty Officer 3rd Class Meredith Manning

Coast Guard sights in on Army’s firearms simulator

Crewmembers from Coast Guard Sector Anchorage, Alaska, had the opportunity to conduct training at the Army’s firearms simulator at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Although Coast Guard members participate in similar training upon joining the Coast Guard, most units solely use live-fire ranges to practice and qualify as marksmen.


Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob Warner, a rescue swimmer at Air Station Kodiak, performs an ice rescue during training at Upper 6 Mile Lake on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, March 17, 2016. During the training, members from Air Station Kodiak, Sector Anchorage and the National Ice Rescue School in Essexville, Michigan, worked together to perform ice rescues from an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Meredith Manning

Coast Guard rescuers train on thin ice

While ice rescue training is not unfamiliar to Coast Guard members in cold climates like Alaska, incorporating air rescue added a new element for these crews. Members from Air Station Kodiak, Sector Anchorage and the National Ice Rescue School in Essexville, Michigan, teamed up to perform ice rescues from an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter at Upper 6 Mile Lake on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. For the participating members it was an experience that brought new elements into their normal training evolutions.


Petty Officer 3rd Class Sarabeth Duke and Petty Officer 3rd Class Hamilton Cleverdon sit with students after a Kids Don't Float demonstration at Diomede School in Little Diomede, Alaska, February 19, 2016. Kids Don't Float is a Coast Guard and Alaska Office of Boating Safety program that teaches children about safety on the water. U.S. Coast Guard photo

Kids Don’t Float teaches children lessons for life

When seven-year-old Sam Fredrickson plunged into the water during a hunting trip with his father, Walter Washington Sr., and a family friend, near Angoon, Alaska, it was Sam’s quick thinking and use of boating safety equipment that ultimately saved their lives.


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