USCG 47' Motor Life Boat playing in the surf of Humboldt Bay, CA.
{{First Diary, so I’m probably guilty of every mistake possible. And yes, I capitalize those words which should be capitalized}}
I’m going to try and keep this short and sweet, because if I didn’t I might write a screed that would burn paint off a ship’s hull.
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Today I dropped off fruit, cookies, and other snacks at my local Coast Guard Station. All of it was picked so that a Coastie could grab what they wanted and go. Just a couple of bags of stuff, not much for me to buy actually.
Why did I do this? Around here at DK, we all know that the Coast Guard isn’t getting paid, but what can we do about it, yada yada yada. Numbing to the national psyche of course, just like the entire shutdown.
Well, for me, it’s personal. I wore the same uniform from 1976 to 1982, aged 17-23. Yup, 17 was my age when I took the Oath. I was still a high school junior too, but I didn’t drop out — I was in a special program just for young folks like me that allowed us to train up as Coast Guard Reserves. So, the summer between my junior and senior years, I went to boot camp. I probably should capitalize that...
My military career was backwards: I served two years in the Reserves, then I enlisted in the Active service for four years. Different yes, but not in the end.
But I digress.
What I learned on my little mission today was that morale is at rock-bottom, but not yet absolute rock-bottom. Give it a couple of weeks more to get there. I spoke with the OOD (Officer Of the Day) at some length, and he’s ready to retire now, if he could. Non-essential (non-duty) personnel were sent home so they could either work or somehow otherwise try to square things up with, well, everything and everyone as they needed. He further indicated that many of the junior folks had outside jobs already (an actual no-no in the service), and those with families were freaking out.
Only the duty rescue crew was there, keeping some of the lights on, the heat working, and waiting for any SAR calls. So instead of ~25 members working and training, there were 5 or 6 trying to simply keep occupied. One of the petty officers I spoke with related that USAA was refusing members personal loans to pay bills, and that they had applied ‘hard’ credit checks because of the shutdown. One of his crew was facing eviction in fact, as the landlord said pay now or get out, basically.
This is devastating. Like most service members (of any service), Coasties are pretty much check to check and don’t always have a lot of savings. I sure didn’t, some 40 years ago now.
Further, the Coast Guard rarely has Post/Base Exchanges, so no low-budget tax free shopping. The Coast Guard is simply too small for facilities anywhere but on the largest bases, of which there are few. Oh sure, you can go to the other services’, but in my case, would be a round-trip drive of about 3 hours. For groceries? Nope, not gonna do that.
So, local economy it is. Now, there are additional pay and other benefits because they are assigned to small units, but if you’re not getting paid, that really doesn’t mean much. Those benefits rarely equal the actual housing/subsistence costs involved, so generally a part of a member’s base pay goes to the basics. For those who don’t know, if any service cannot/does not provide on-base living and/or eating for enlisted personnel, then those personnel automatically paid more to do so on the local economy.
The personal economics can be complicated, but the impact is simply brutal, blunt force.
If you, like me, live near a significant body of water, and have the Coast Guard nearby (especially the smaller locations), please consider doing something good for the local men and women there. Call or visit first (I actually cold-called in person, with cargo), maybe pizza might make their day, or a bag of burgers. Remember, they have 20 year-old metabolisms and work hard: what is junk food for a 60 year-old man can be nectar to a 19 year old. Still, fruit is always good, ground coffee too. Casseroles? Ask, please, they might not be able to eat it right away.
They have it tough to begin with, and not always being in the public’s eye (or frankly, the government’s) the Coast Guard suffers quietly.
“Suffering quietly” might be the true motto now, rather than the actual “Semper Paratus” — “Always Ready.”
To quote an old, anonymous Coastie from probably over 100 years ago: “You have to go out: you don’t have to come back.” We Coasties take that seriously. Deadly seriously. Fisherman know us, sometimes hate us, but always, always know we’re there for them, and the country.
This has been painful to write, and honestly, I’m quietly crying now. Thinking of what I was told, and remembering my service has brought me to an anger that hits me harder than anything previously done by 45*, and I’ve been plenty angry before this.
So, please, support your local Coasties. They need to know the nation is with them and will support them, even if the government won’t.
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Update: I just want to add that this story is much, much worse for the many Coast Guard families out there. Most of those families are very young, with small children. They will be the worst hit and disrupted of all. Foodstamps are likely, but housing? The impact of these 20 days and counting will last for years in and across the service.
My experience was that of a single enlisted man an entire generation ago, with vast cultural and societal changes since then. All that I saw and heard today were much the same fears and worries we had, but amplified a thousand times. They at least aren’t worried about nukes like I was in the Cold War, but that seems minor to this existential fear and uncertainty.
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Update the 2nd: Wow, people, thank you so much! I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, but am eternally grateful for the response so far. Any gesture, no matter how small, will be appreciated.
DK: a wonderful, weird place that never fails to amaze me in dark times.
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Third Update (Sunday late): I have also communicated as of today with my two Senators Murray and Cantwell, and my Congressman, Rick Larsen. I also sent an email to the CEO of CGMA, and she personally replied within an hour or so today, thanking us all.
She even had a simple instruction: “Act first, ask permission later.” As a retired Rear Admiral (two stars), she admitted this is personally hitting her hard too. If she is working today, the entire CGMA is working.
I will be out-of-Kos starting mid-day here tomorrow for 10 days. I’ll try to check in as best I can but it will not be easy as I am traveling. Worst comes to absolute worst while I’m gone, I’ll be applying for asylum: the natives are friendly (he said only half-jokingly). My dog would be pissed off if I did that, so I am more than likely to return, unless the Russians invade somebody, then I’m in the middle of it.
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****Cari B. Thomas, RADM (ret.), is the CEO of the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Fund. She sent me a doc that is intended for service members, with some links for how to assist officially. I’m not clipping all of it since much of it doesn’t apply to us.
“My neighbor owns a local business and wants to help. What should I tell him?
Their help would be welcome! Businesses can help members of the Coast Guard, as long as they have no standing relationship with the Coast Guard and that their help is open to everyone in the Coast Guard. Always check with the USCG ethics officials. But here are some general examples:
Al’s Diner offers free meals to the Coast Guard would be welcome, if Al’s Diner doesn’t have a contract with the Coast Guard.
Janie’s Beauty Salon owned by your neighbor could give you a free haircut provided that everyone at the unit could get that same free haircut.
Joe’s commercial fishing boat could not offer free lobsters to the Coast Guard, as the boat can be subject to CG regulations and enforcement.
Shanesja wants to hold a fund raiser at her ranch. She can start a fundraiserpage at: https://cgmahq.networkforgood.com/projects/66328-help-needy-coast-guard-families
Pat cannot give Captain Jones, the CO of the unit, $50 to help his special needs children. Pat can give $50 to CGMA to help the Coast Guard workforce. https://cgmahq.networkforgood.com/projects/63225-lifeline-for-a-shipmate ”
SO THERE WE HAVE IT. That is how to help out, as well as our own little food drops. Please spread the word far and wide. Also in the doc is an important statistic: since 1924 the CGMA has given out $192 million in aid to service members. Current Coast Guard payroll is $150 million per month, and they have about $23 million in the bank. The math doesn’t look good.
Peace everyone. We’ll finish this mission together, with or without a CinC.
“Act first, ask permission later.”
