WASHINGTON — One of the Coast Guard’s most senior African American female officers added another accolade to an already accomplished career when she was honored as one of six people recognized at the ESPN’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference/Southwestern Athletic Conference Challenge Legends Reception in Orlando, Fla., Saturday.

Lt. Cmdr. Zeita Merchant, a Coast Guard congressional fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives, joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Mel Blount, Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams, author Omar Tyree, Kellogg’s senior vice president of Global Nutrition/Corporate Affairs Celeste Clark, and former NFL linebacker and seven-time Pro Bowl player Robert Brazile at the annual reception that honors individuals who graduated from a Historically Black College or University. Each honoree received an HBCU Trailblazer Award in recognition of the impact made in his or her respective career and community.

“It was truly a blessing and humbling experience to be selected as a trailblazer and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some true legends,” said Merchant, a graduate of Jackson, Mississippi’s Tougaloo College. “I think it is an honor to be personally recognized for my accomplishments; furthermore, it is a great opportunity to showcase the Coast Guard, our missions and the diversity of the service.”

Merchant, who completed her undergraduate schooling by way of the Coast Guard’s College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative scholarship program, participates in ongoing and extensive outreach with HBCUs. Most notably, her work as a CSPI Ambassador at Spelman College, helped the Coast Guard received its first HBCU Top Supporter Award in 2010.

A community leader and volunteer, Merchant has organized numerous community service initiatives such as the RIPPLE Institute, whose mission is to offer youth an opportunity to learn the skills needed to compete in the 21st-century workforce.  She also serves on the executive boards of the National Council of Negro Women’s Women of Defense and the National Association of African Americans in the Department of Homeland Security. She is an active participant in the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Coast Guard Commandant’s Diversity Advisory Council.

Merchant has earned both a Master of Quality Systems Management from the National Graduate School and a Master of Public Administration in Environmental and Emergency Management from George Washington University here.  She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Business Administration and is on track to earn the Ph.D. in summer 2011.

“My dictum is ‘true leadership is servanthood,’” said Merchant. “My true passion is to educate and help others. This was a unique opportunity where I got recognized for doing what I love. It is a humbling experience and truly a blessing.”

A Coast Guard team is scheduled to leave for the East Coast of Greenland Aug. 27 to investigate the suspected crash site of a World War II air rescue crew.

Coast Guard Lt. John Pritchard, Petty Officer 1st Class Benjamin Bottoms and Army Air Force Cpl. Loren Howarth have been missing since their plane crashed during a rescue attempt Nov. 29, 1942.

The crash site has long since been covered by snow and ice but ground-penetrating radar scans have located an anomaly entombed in the ice inside the probable area of the crash.

The Coast Guard has contracted with North South Polar, Inc., to help investigate the site. The combined team will conduct another GPR assay and, pending the results of the scan, may melt down to the anomaly to investigate its makeup.

Pritchard and Bottoms crewed a J2F-4 Grumman Duck, an amphibious rescue plane, attached to Coast Guard Cutter Northland. The day before the crash they volunteered to rescue the crew of a downed Army Air Force B-17 on the treacherous Greenland ice cap.

After making a successful landing on the ice cap Nov. 28, 1942, they safely returned to Northland with two injured survivors. They volunteered to return to the B-17 again the next day to retrieve more survivors. After bringing Howarth aboard they departed for Northland but were overtaken by a storm and crashed near Koge Bay.

The wreckage was spotted a week later but rescuers were never able to reach the site. The remaining crew of the B-17 survived the brutal Greenland winter using airdropped supplies. They were rescued the following spring.

Pritchard and Bottoms posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Army records from the time indicate they were also recommended for the Medal of Honor.

Photos and video from the upcoming expedition will be available upon the team's return from Greenland in early September.

*** Media interested in covering the expedition contact Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Bender, (202)372-4616, daniel.s.bender@uscg.mil.***

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Coast Guard is reviewing a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation Wednesday that the service develop policies on the use of cellular phones on Coast Guard vessels as well as issue a safety advisory to the marine industry on the possible dangers of crewmember use of electronic communications devices such as cell phones, smart phones and personal data assistants. 

The Coast Guard issued guidance July 16, 2010 to its personnel prohibiting the use of these devices by operators of Coast Guard boats and also restricted their use by other crewmembers.

"While cell phones and texting devices have become ubiquitous in everyday life, the internal Coast Guard policy issued in July prohibits their use on Coast Guard boats without the permission of the coxswain, said Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil, a Coast Guard spokesman. "The policy also strictly prohibits the use of these devices by the coxswain, or the operator, of a Coast Guard boat."

Cell phones and texting devices may be useful communication tools if boats lose a marine radio signal or as alternate means of communication to a marine radio.

The Coast Guard takes the NTSB recommendations seriously and will provide a response to the letter upon a thorough review.

The NTSB recommendation comes amid investigations into two collisions involving Coast Guard boats but does not draw any conclusions that the use of electronic devices was a cause of those accidents.

NTSB and Coast Guard investigations into those two accidents are ongoing.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard celebrates 220 years of service to America Wednesday. 

From its genesis as the Revenue Marine, the Coast Guard has evolved to become the world’s premier multi-mission, maritime service, conducting operations around the globe to execute its 11 missions.   

“Coast Guardsmen are agile, adaptable and multi-missioned,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert J. Papp, Jr.  “Born as revenue cuttermen, lighthouse keepers, steamboat inspectors and surfmen, we have expanded to meet the maritime needs of our nation.  As Coast Guard men and women, we share a bond of pride in our rich heritage and a common purpose to uphold our honorable traditions.” 

The Coast Guard began its service to America in 1790 within the Treasury Department as the Revenue Marine, later renamed the Revenue Cutter Service.  The Revenue Cutter Service joined with the U.S. Lifesaving Service in 1915 to create the Coast Guard.  The U.S. Lighthouse Service was added to the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939, followed by the Steamboat Inspection Service in 1946.  The Coast Guard transferred from the Treasury Department to the Department of Transportation in 1967 and to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. 

“We are still keepers of the lights, but we also now patrol far more distant waters,” said Papp. “We readily go wherever there are important, difficult and dangerous maritime duties to be performed.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety released its Recreational Boating Statistics 2009 report Tuesday that reveals a 3.81 percent increase in boating accident deaths and a 0.81 percent increase in related injuries, even though the number of boating accidents decreased 1.23 percent.

The Coast Guard recorded 736 deaths, 3,358 injuries and approximately $36 million in property damage, stemming from 4,730 recreational boating accidents in 2009.

The fatality rate, a measure of the number of deaths against the number of registered recreational boats, increased from 5.6 in 2008 to 5.8 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational boats in 2009.   

Operator inattention, operator inexperience, excessive speed, improper lookout and alcohol consumption rank as the top five contributing factors to recreational boating accidents.  Alcohol consumption continues to be of major concern in fatal boating accidents and is listed as the leading contributing factor in 16 percent of deaths.  Eighty six percent of boating accident deaths occurred on boats where the operator reportedly had not received boating safety instruction.

“The data in the 2009 publication echoes the message that life jacket wear is critical,” said Rear Adm. Kevin Cook, the Coast Guard's Director of Prevention Policy.  “Nearly 75 percent of the 736 people who died in boating accidents in 2009 drowned, and 84 percent of those victims reportedly were not wearing a life jacket.   The two most important things boaters can do to prevent the loss of life is to wear a life jacket and take a boater education course.”

To view the Recreational Boating Statistics 2009 report, visit: http://www.uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_statistics.aspx.

For more information on boating responsibly, go to http://www.uscgboating.org/.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday an unexpected engine casualty aboard Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea, one of the service’s three polar icebreakers, will prohibit the icebreaker from getting underway for its fall 2010 Coast Guard Arctic patrol and will most likely keep the cutter from providing standby capability for Operation Deep Freeze to support the resupply of McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

Polar Sea will likely be in a maintenance status and unavailable for operations until at least January 2011.

The Coast Guard’s other heavy, polar icebreaker, the Polar Star, is in the process of being reactivated for service, but will not be ready until 2013.  The Coast Guard Cutter Healy, a medium polar icebreaker, remains operational.

Inspections of the Polar Sea’s main diesel engines revealed premature excessive wear in 33 cylinder assemblies.  A root cause failure analysis to determine the underlying cause of the excessive wear is underway and expected to be complete in August.

The Polar Sea was commissioned into service on Feb. 23, 1978, and has exceeded its intended 30-year life; in 2006 the Coast Guard completed a rehabilitation project that extended its service life to 2014.  The Polar Star was placed in a caretaker status in 2006 and is currently completing a seven to 10 year, service life, extension project that is expected to return it to an operational status in early 2013.

The Healy is capable of conducting a wide range of Coast Guard missions in the Polar Regions including supporting scientists working in the Arctic.  The Healy is the most technologically advanced polar icebreaker in the fleet.   

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard Federal on Scene Coordinator for the BP Deepwater Horizon response and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Thursday the signing of  a memorandum of understanding concerning worker safety and health issues related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response in the Gulf of Mexico.  

The MOU solidifies the close working relationship between the Coast Guard and OSHA and establishes a specific mechanism for coordination between the Deepwater Horizon FOSC and OSHA.  OSHA and the FOSC recognize the importance of close cooperation among all agencies that have responsibilities during the oil cleanup efforts. The MOU furthers joint efforts to monitor compliance with safety standards and to protect workers. 

“We are actively collaborating with the FOSC and the Coast Guard to ensure the protection of workers involved in the oil spill cleanup,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Health and Safety Administration David Michaels.  “OSHA staff is on the ground proactively monitoring worker safety and health. Our staff is on the beaches, at the staging areas and on the boats to make sure BP is protecting clean up workers from safety and health hazards.” 

 “From the beginning of our response to this tragic event, we have placed preservation of life and safety at the top of our list of priorities,” said Coast Guard Rear Adm. James Watson, Federal on Scene Coordinator for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill response.  “My signature on this MOU reasserts our commitment to the safety of the more than 24,000 people who are working to mitigate the threat from this catastrophic oil spill.” 

The Federal On Scene Coordinator and OSHA will share relevant information to promote worksite safety in the Deepwater Horizon Response, including information provided by workers, local government officials or any other person. 

OSHA has the authority to conduct safety and health inspections to ensure employees are being protected and to determine if the worksite is in compliance with safety and health standards and regulations promulgated under the OSH Act and its general duty clause.  The MOU provides the means for OSHA to notify the FOSC when it intends to take enforcement action against BP, BP’s contractors, or any other employer engaged in response activities.

Click here to view or download the memorandum of understanding.

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov.  The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request.  Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.  The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations.  For more information, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance.