Auxiliarists Play Key  Communications Role in Coast Guard Mission In Hurricane Katrina Aftermath

[SEPT. 13, 2005]  MOBILE, Alabama -- When key active-duty Coast Guard assets were damaged at critical junctures during and after hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast, Coast Guard Auxiliary members responded to the call for help with radio and boat assets, as well as the trained manpower to make a difference.

The Coast Guard Air Training Center (ATC) Mobile Operations Center in Alabama lost its roof and communications capabilities from the high hurricane winds on August 29, prompting a call to Auxiliarist Rene Stiegler, who is also owner of ShipCom LLC, a large marine communications service provider.

Stiegler provided ATC Mobile with a VHF radio, power supply and emergency antenna enabling it to establish a communications link with ShipCom. Within the hour, Auxiliarist Stiegler and his radio engineer, Mike Ramage, had two ShipCom VHF receivers tuned to Coast Guard working frequencies and began communicating with Coast Guard aircraft traveling to ATC Mobile and from there to the areas affected by Katrina. Additionally, ShipCom tuned two transmitters to frequencies used by Communications Master Station Atlantic.

Hundreds of messages were relayed by Stiegler and Ramage. Coordinates of victims stranded on rooftops were relayed to rescue aircraft and reports of their rescues were relayed back to the ATC Mobile command center, which had been chosen as the main staging site largely because it was the closest suitable facility to the worst of the storm-stricken area.

For three days, Stiegler and Ramage stood radio watch 24 hour per day, alternately taking short naps. Until late in the week, Stiegler said, Auxiliarists including John LaPointe, Palmore "Duke" Dupree and Jim Patterson and staff at ShipCom were the only communications available to the Coast Guard assets.

"Some of the messages we received were chilling," said Stiegler. "Reports of bodies floating near the Superdome, and of rescue aircraft being fired at, raised the hairs on the backs of our radio operators' necks."

In addition to ATC Mobile, ShipCom, which operates ship-to-shore maritime station WLO, also established communications links for the command center in Alexandria, Louisiana, and with the NCS (National Communications System) Shared Resources (SHARES) High Frequency Radio Program.

On August 30, the day after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Coast Guard Station Dauphin Island, located on a barrier island in southwest Alabama, was the only operational facility on the western part of the Gulf. Operating under generator power, the station found itself with no immediately available boats to provide for Search and Rescue. Members of Flotilla 3-9 in Mobile were asked to bring a boat facility to the station to be on standby for Search and Rescue operations. Delmas Whatley and his daughter, Fairn Whatley, trailered Aux vessel 9580 (The Merry Sue) and took it to STA Dauphin Island. The Merry Sue remained on standby until the Coast Guard station was able to launch its own boat.

Coast Guard communications in the Biloxi, Mississippi area were still limited by September 3, with no ground facilities available from Houston to Mobile. Members of local flotillas were called upon to send a boat facility to the Biloxi area to provide communications relay for the Coast Guard active component. Flotilla 3-9 responded with Auxiliary facility ARGO. Daily patrols by Coast Guard 25-foot fast-boats were launched out of STA Dauphin Island, patrolling the Biloxi area, two hours away by water. Auxiliary Vessel ARGO, a facility within Flotilla 3-9, 8th Coastal Region, embarked on a six-hour journey to provide assistance to these patrols bringing facilities, meals and water. The ARGO was also available to provide emergency fuel for the Coast Guard assets.

The Bay of Biloxi was closed to all pleasure boating and the ARGO was also tasked by local law enforcement to be watchful for boaters who were not allowed in the area and to report them to law enforcement officials. ARGO remained on station until September 6 with the following Flotilla 3-9 members assisting in the mission: Roland Patterson, Ed Hollowell, Ken MacRae, Larry Patrick, John Sumrall, and Fairn Whatley.

Many other Auxiliarists have been in action in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, despite personal losses in the storm while others are standing by to assist.

Auxiliarist Lee Lechleidner of Pascagoula, Mississippi, lost his home and saw his boat float off its trailer into the flood waters. He told his Division Captain, Bob Gibson, that he was able to recover the boat and looks forward to using it soon to conduct patrols.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is composed of uniformed, non-military volunteer's who assist the Coast Guard in all of its varied missions, except for military and direct law enforcement. These men and women can be found on the nation's waterways, in the air, in classrooms and on the dock, performing Maritime Domain Awareness patrols, safety patrols, vessel safety checks and public education.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary was founded in 1939 by an Act of Congress as the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and re-designated as the Auxiliary in 1941. Its 31,000 members donate millions of hours annually in support of Coast Guard missions.

[News release]