2009 USIC Award Recipient

Congratulations to CGC SHERMAN! We are the recipients of the 2009 USIC (United States Interdiciton Coordinator) Award- Superior Performance Award for Maritime Interdiction. On August 18th, 2009, Mr. Patrick Ward, the Assistant Deputy Director for Supply Reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy and President Obama's right hand man for drug interdiction in the United States, flew out from Washington, DC to present the SHERMAN with the award. The crew of SHERMAN has been cited for their distinguished performance during our 2009 JIATF South deployment.

On December 4th, 2009, a maritime patrol aircraft observed a contraband offload in progress and vectored SHERMAN toward the four "Go-Fast" vessels. The sheer number of targets created an extremely difficult and potentially hazardous mission. SHERMAN and the HITRON Detachment 10-01 applied superb "outside of the box" thinking to modify the existing standard operating procedures (SOP) in order to interdict all four "Go-Fast" vessels during a single mission. Outstanding mission execution resulted in the arrival of the cutter boat to secure the scene within minutes after each "Go-Fast" vessel was disabled through the use of disabling fire from the HITRON Detachment. As a result, 3 metric tons of cocaine were seized or disrupted, four go-fasts were interdicted, and nine suspected smugglers were detained and handed over to the Mexican Government for prosecution based on the evidence obtained and the case package from CGC SHERMAN.

Bravo Zulu!

-ENS KC Gaudette

BM3 Kevin Tanski - Memorial Day

Aboard Cutter Sherman there are plenty of chances to catch the big fish, Memorial Day was no different. It started out on the night of the 30th of May when we skillfully anchored in Makushin Bay, outside of Unalaska Island. Then we heard, “Down down all lines, up up all fish, commence fish call!”
Bos'n was able to get his line out first, but the first fish went to Petty Officer White, a small Rock fish. Then a few more fishermen decided to try their luck. Most caught something, like a Rock fish or P cod, but there were no Halibut. A few determined fishermen like Petty Officer Keeter and SN Campbell, didn’t want to miss out on any of the action so they stayed out most of the night.
Then an early morning for some, dropped their lines to see what they can pull up from the depths of the Bering. A lot more luck for most, especially Petty Officer Gerszi with the prize catch of the day, a Halibut. He was the only one who caught a Halibut during the two days of fishing. A few fish were able to get off the hooks of some and others lost their gear to the bottom of the sea. Overall, the crew had a lot of fun catching a few fish and enjoying a relaxing day off from the rigorous work of being underway.

ENS Peter Deneen 28 May

To catch y’all up to speed, we left San Francisco on April 5th. Before leaving I packed up my room and left it up to my roommates to find our new digs in San Fran. It was a sad goodbye, they hadn’t returned from Haiti until the first week of March and now I wouldn’t see them again until Christmas. Our group of friends would be transferring out this summer, so the times were a changin’ and SHERMAN was headed to the Arctic.

First stop was Indian Island, WA to pick up ammo, a beautiful spot right near Port Townsend. The weather was terrible the entire way up and would be just as bad on the way out, we didn’t have seas less than 15-feet for the first 10 days. We spent the night and left for Kodiak in the afternoon the following day. Since then we have moored in Dutch Harbor several times and once in Adak, an island at the far western edge of the Aleutian Chain. We have boarded eight vessels, including two high interest vessels in the Bering. We have seen the Arctic ice cap, blizzards, sunsets at 1 o'clock in the morning, line crossing ceremonies, injuries, good times, and hard times.

A large portion of the crew is on the verge of transferring to new units. Fast-paced learning is taking place at every level on board the ship as the urgency to be prepared for the departure of experienced crew members has been realized. Like I said, the times are changing for everyone on board. There are some good stories coming out of the Bering this spring, which will be shared on this blog in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more from the 720 in the northern latitudes.

CGC SHERMAN featured in Parade Magazine

SHERMAN hosted author Bob Reiss during our last patrol. An article about our patrol can be found at the following link and will be featured in this weekend's Parade Magazine.
http://www.parade.com/news/2010/01/27-stopping-drugs-at-sea.html?index=1

ENS Steph Wood 18 Jan

I can honestly say that walking beneath the SHERMAN on a daily basis is the most bizarre thing I've done since reporting. The mighty 7-2-0 looks like a toy, high-and-dry and propped upright on insubstantial looking wooden blocks. In the absence of water, we look much less intimidating. What I find most alarming about our new no-water status is how we sway. We sway under the pressure of the wind, from the movement of the dry dock floor as large trucks drive by, and apparently for no reason at all. It wears on my nerves and always, for some reason, encourages me to contemplate what we would do if there was an earthquake.
We have started work on nearly every system in the ship. Our bow prop is in pieces, our shafts are missing their propeller blades, fuel manifolds are being overhauled, men are working beneath our sewage collection holding tank (not a job I envy), and spaces that are typically closed and holding fuel are open for cleaning. We cannot close most doors for fear of destroying the many electrical cables and makeshift plastic ventilation the run the length of the SHERMAN. It is loud. On any given day you can expect to hear the steady pft-pft-pft of large pneumatic pumps, incessant metallic grinding from the guys outside working on our "U.S. Coast Guard" paint, whirring from chain falls, a thousand different languages from the people on board, and of course boatswain pipes attempting to give the crew some semblance of a normal work day. We are working like ants in a hill that has been recently stepped on. It's busy and crazy and surprisingly fun.

OS1 Stulce 13 Dec

So I promised that I would create one final blog prior to my departure from SHERMAN. Things have been very busy this last month so I will apologize for the tardiness.
A couple of items fresh off the press that come to mind are our recent trip back to Panama. For those of you that remember the first time we went to Panama we conducted a community relations project with a local orphanage. During our recent trip to Panama another good portion of the crew visited the orphanage. During this particular visit the kids were presented with presents in the form of soccer balls, soccer goals, and bicycles. This gift of giving started and was led by BM1 Jesse Duff. The kids went absolutely crazy over all of the presents and had an amazing time.
I personally made sure to take my time and stop by the house I went to the first visit and see a group of kids. I know what kind of environment these kids are growing up in now; however, I do not know what they have seen over the course of their lives. That being said, it gave me great pleasure to walk into the house and have them all surround me because they remembered me from the last time. I have done a lot of good volunteering over the course of my career but nothing has given me greater pleasure than the looks on their faces when I walked back in that house.
While I am on the topic of giving, SHERMAN has also recently conducted their yearly acceptance of CFC (Combined Federal Campaign) sheets. I am happy to announce that as of today they have already surpassed last years mark and collected over 17,000 dollars for local, national, and international charities. Well done, even in these trying times that a lot of people are facing we can still put something together for others.
So, let's talk about what we have been up to for minute as I am sure everyone back home wants to know about. I obviously cannot go into any great detail specifically but SHERMAN has been very busy. SHERMAN will leave this patrol with a combined seven cases completed. Due to the sensitive nature of these cases I don’t want to comment on the specifics of some of the more recent cases however I think it would be safe to say that at one point in time this cutter with the help of our aviation detachment was able to stop four vessels at once. In the world of operations that is a huge feat and everyone involved deserves a round of applause.
Alright, now I know there is going to be a lot of "oh man" and "say it isn’t so" but it is true what you hear about the current status of POD trivia. I am once again the leader. I will add that this is not by a huge margin however as the Captain himself is on my heels. POD trivia has been a huge part of my life the last three months and I have officially learned as of late that it takes 350-500 official licks to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop. Now, that wasn’t one of the questions but since we have been on this trivia binge lately a couple of us thought it would be fun to look up. In all seriousness though, thank you to ENS Brown for keeping the game real. What a fantastic way to pass the time underway.
In conclusion here are a couple of notated things:
1) Underway moustaches have been officially removed. Your loved ones will have absolutely no unwanted facial hair present when you get that first hug.
2) Your sons and daughters will more than likely be returning home to you for the holidays after being underway for three months, many of them for the first time.
This means you more than likely will have to correct their "Sailor Talk" at least more than once. Even possibly at the dinner table. I wanted to again thank everyone onboard for all of their hospitality. I couldn’t have asked for a better unit to serve with. As for the loved ones back home, be proud of what your loved ones do out here. I appreciate the comments on my previous blogs and I am glad they helped you throughout the process. I look forward to getting back to Anchorage as I am sure my crew up there does as well.

Good Luck to everyone and Happy Holidays.

GM3 Luke Milyard 12 Dec

Waking up every morning to a colder and colder sun rise means only one thing for the crew of SHERMAN, we are almost home. The anticipation grows everyday knowing that we are gaining closer every second to America and our loved ones. We have seen a lot during these three months of patrol but nothing looks better now then spending the holidays in port.
The Gunnery division has been working diligently in preparing for SHERMAN’s major ammunition offload in Seal Beach, CA. Knowing that this offload is the only event that stands in the way of home port the crew has been preparing to get this job done safely and quickly.
This evening flight deck movies were held for the crew (our underway movie theatre), and tomorrow afternoon we are looking forward to shooting skeet off of the flight deck. So even though our patrol is coming to a close our morale is staying high.
This in port is going to be a very busy one for the crew of SHERMAN with a full overhaul scheduled, and a lot of the crew leaving for “C” schools throughout the inport. I am looking forward to a vacation back home to the east coast to catch up with family and friends and see how much my nephew and niece have grown! Also like most of the crew I am looking forward to hitting the slopes in Tahoe. All in all this patrol has been a good experience for us all, although long it was very successful and we can feel good knowing we made a huge difference.