WHO/WHAT: Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg will hold a dedication and renaming ceremony for the historic barracks honoring the flight crew of HU-16E Albatross - CGNR 1240 who lost their lives on the night of March, 5, 1967.

WHERE: Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, 600 8TH Ave SE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

WHEN: Friday May 11, 2012, 10 a.m.

For more information regarding this event, contact: Petty Officer 2nd Class Amy Hockenberry at (727) 824 7574 or Amy.N.Hockenberry@uscg.mil

The Coast Guard barracks were originally constructed in 1935 as part of Air Station St. Petersburg. The Air Station was relocated to Clearwater in 1976, Group/Station St. Petersburg moved into the vacated facilities on the north side harbor where Sector St. Petersburg is today.

On the evening of March 5, 1967 while on a search and rescue case, Coast Guard Albatross CGNR-1240 crashed in the Gulf of Mexico 22 miles east of Apalachicola, Florida, six crewmen aboard the aircraft were killed. Nearly forty years later after the tragic loss of CGNR-1240, the wreckage was located in July 2006 offshore Carrabelle, Florida. The wreck site of CGNR-1240 is the official U.S. Coast Guard gravesite and is marked by a 8,000 pound memorial underwater.

Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg's historic barracks consist of two buildings with six separate wings. Each crew member will have a wing dedicated in their honor and the families will be cutting the official ribbon and unveiling the wings in honor of their families.

Media note: Portions of this visit are open to the press. Media interested in attending are requested to R.S.V.P. no later than Thursday at 11:00 a.m. by calling Marilyn Fajardo at 305-415-6683.  Media should arrive no later than 4:00 p.m. on Thursday at Coast Guard Base Miami Beach located at 100 MacArthur Causeway, Miami Beach, Fla. Media without their proper press credentials will not be allowed onto the Base. 

MIAMI — Dr. Jill Biden will visit Coast Guard Base Miami Beach and meet with spouses of Coast Guard members Thursday.

Sixteen officers and 402 enlisted active duty personnel make up Base Miami Beach, a unit committed to providing premier “one stop” maritime mission support for all Coast Guard assets within the 7th Coast Guard District, which encompasses an area from South Carolina to the Florida Peninsula and the Caribbean basin.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Biden just celebrated the one-year anniversary of Joining Forces, their initiative to honor, recognize and serve veterans, service members and military families.

WHO:          Rear Adm. Bill Baumgartner, commander of the 7th Coast Guard District
                     Capt. Mark A. Jackson, commanding officer of Coast Guard Base Miami Beach
                     Coast Guard service member spouses

WHAT:       Dr. Jill Biden meets with Coast Guard service member spouses

WHEN:       THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 at 4:30 p.m.

WHERE:     Coast Guard Base Miami Beach 
                     100 MacArthur Causeway 
                     Miami Beach, Fla., 33139

To learn more about "Joining Forces", please visit http://www.JoiningForces.gov

To learn more about the Coast Guard's Work-Life Program, please visit http://www.uscg.mil/worklife/

For directions to Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, please click on the following link:  http://www.uscg.mil/d7/sectmiami/directions.asp

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Coast Guard crewmembers from Air Station Clearwater are scheduled to host "Bring your child to work day", Thursday at Air Station Clearwater.  

WHO/WHAT: Bruce E. Melnick, former NASA Astronaut and Clearwater High School graduate will be the guest VIP speaker. To view Melnick's bio,  please click here;

WHEN: The event starts Thursday, April 26, at 7:15 a.m., with a greeting from Capt. John Turner, Air Station Clearwater's commanding officer. Tours of air station assets will immediately follow. Melnick is scheduled to speak at 9:30 a.m., at the Lewis Hall Annex Auditorium located outside the air station gate;

WHERE: Air Station Clearwater, 15100 Fairchild Drive Clearwater, FL. 33762;

Media interested in attending are asked to contact Coast Guard Public Affairs Detachment Tampa Bay at 305-965-4672 for further instruction.

WHO/WHAT: Robby Lineback, a man who was medically evacuated by crewmembers at Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., will personally thank the crew for saving his life. 

WHEN: Wednesday Feb. 29, 9 a.m.

WHERE: Air Station Clearwater, 15100 Fairchild Drive Clearwater, FL. 33762

To view the press release regarding this case, click: http://bit.ly/xsFGWs

For more information regarding this event, contact: Lt. Cmdr. Bill Friday at (727) 535-1437 (Ext. 2451) or William.A.Friday@uscg.mil

Editor's Note: Media wishing to cover the return to homeport for the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Dallas shall contact Ensign Adam Tanner via email at adam.r.tanner@uscg.mil no later than 9 a.m. Wednesday.

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Coast Guard Cutter Dallas is scheduled to return to homeport at 1050 Register St., Charleston, S.C., at 10 a.m. Wednesday for the final time as a Coast Guard cutter after completing a successful 94-day patrol.

During the cutter's three-month patrol, the crew made one marijuana seizure and one cocaine drug interdiction.  The ship also transferred detainees suspected of attempting to smuggle drugs into the U.S., to various law enforcement agencies.  The cutter made a stop in Cartagena, Colombia, and several visits to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

For more information on the two drug interdictions by the Dallas Crew, please click here.

The cutter is scheduled for a decommissioning ceremony March 30 and will be transferred to the Philippine navy by the end of May 2012.

The recent success of the cutter Dallas adds to a proud legacy that began when the ship was commissioned in 1967. For more information on the cutter's history visit www.uscg.mil/lantarea/cgcdallas.

Editor's note:  The media is invited to the presentation of the Silver Lifesaving Medal Award Ceremony at Coast Guard Air Station Miami in Opa Locka, Fla., Tuesday. Media are asked to arrive at Air Station Miami 14750 NW 44th Ct., Albatros training room Opa Locka, Fla., no later than 9:30 a.m.

WHO:        Capt. Richard Kenin, 7th Coast Guard District chief of staff
                   Capt. Joe Kimball, commanding officer of Air Station Miami
                   Cmdr. Andres Delgado, executive officer of Air Station Miami
                   Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class John Rivera

WHAT:         Seventh Coast Guard District chief of staff, Capt. Richard Kenin, is scheduled to present the Silver Lifesaving Medal award to Petty Officer 3rd Class John Rivera for the rescue of R&B artist Sean Kingston after his accident on a personal water craft on Memorial Day weekend. Rivera was off duty and on his personal boat near the bridge and saw Kingston go under water after he struck a bridge on his personal watercraft. Rivera immediately jumped in and kept him afloat until additional help arrived.  

                   The Silver Lifesaving Medal is awarded by the Commandant of the Coast Guard to any person who rescues, or endeavors to rescue, any other person from drowning, shipwreck, or other peril of water. The rescue or attempted rescue must either take place in waters within the United States or subject to its jurisdiction, or one of the parties must be a citizen of the United States or be from a vessel or aircraft owned or operated by citizens of the United States. 

WHEN:     Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE:  Coast Guard Air Station Miami Albatros training room
              14750 NW 44th Ct., Opa Locka, Fla.  
                      

Editor's note:  The media is invited to the presentation of the Purple Heart to the family of a World War I Coast Guardsman in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday. Media are asked to arrive at Terminal 4, Port Canaveral no later than 1:45 p.m. The commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa and a family member of the honoree will be available for interviews immediately following the ceremony. Please contact Marilyn Fajardo at (305) 331-1444 to RSVP.

WHO:       Capt. Richard Kenin, 7th Coast Guard District chief of staff
                   Cmdr. Susan Polizzotto, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa
                   Robert Medina, representing U.S. Congressman Bill Posey (FL-15)
                   Diane Roberts Vess (great-grandniece) will receive the Purple Heart on behalf of Charles Henry   
                   Klingelhoefer

WHAT:     Seventh Coast Guard District chief of staff, Capt. Richard Kenin, is scheduled to present the prestigious
                   Purple Heart, posthumously, to the family of Charles Henry Klingelhoefer, a crewman aboard the
                   USSTampa when it was hit and sunk by the German U-boat 91, Sept. 26, 1918.  One hundred and
                   thirty one lives were lost with the cutter; 115 officers and men, plus a Captain, 10 seamen of the Royal
                   British Navy, and five civilian employee dock workers. This was reportedly the largest loss due to 
                   enemy action suffered by U.S. Naval Forces in World War I.

                   The Purple Heart is a U.S. military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those who have
                   been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military.

WHEN:     Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE:  Terminal 4, Port Canaveral  
                   240 Christopher Columbus Drive
                   Cape Canaveral, Fla., 32920

MORE:    The ceremony will take place aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa.
       
                 

WHO: Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg is scheduled to host an open house for the community. 

WHAT: The Coast Guard will present helicopter and vessel demonstrations, hold vessel tours and provide safe boating education.

WHEN: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: 600 8th Ave. SE, St. Petersburg, Fla., (North Moorings entrance).

Please see flyer here.

Media interested in attending need to contact Coast Guard Public Affairs at 305-965-4672. Media will be allowed on base at 10:45 a.m. and will be escorted on and off base during the event.    

Editor's note: Media interested in attending the ceremony are asked to arrive at the Blackthorn Memorial Park located at the north end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, in St. Petersburg, Fla., no later than 10:45 a.m..

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The public is invited to attend the 32^nd anniversary memorial service of the Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn collision at 11 a.m., Saturday, at Blackthorn Memorial Park off Interstate 275.

The Blackthorn sank after colliding with the tanker Capricorn near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on Jan 28, 1980. Twenty-three of the Blackthorn's 50 crewmembers lost their lives during the Coast Guard's worst peacetime disaster. A memorial inscribed with the names of the crewmembers that perished now stands two miles north of the accident site.

Saturday’s ceremony will consist of an aerial salute by Coast Guard aircraft, posting of the Colors and reading of the lost crewmembers' names.

The Blackthorn tragedy provided the impetus for the establishment of the Command and Operations School at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. The school offers courses to prepare command-level officers and senior enlisted members for command duty afloat. Commanding officers are now required to formally assess risks such as transiting an unfamiliar port at night and are given full discretion and encouraged to say no if they feel the risks involved are unnecessary.

Additionally, the Coast Guard developed new training requirements, spent more money on safety equipment and made changes to the navigational aids in and around Tampa Bay.