This Georgia Bulldog's spiked collar is dressed in U.S. Coast Guard orange but nobody's complaining about the new logo for Kings Bay's newest cutter, the USCG Sea Dog, commissioned into the fleet yesterday.
St. Simons Island artist Jack Davis designed a ferocious dog wielding a shield and a trident as he protects submarines as part of the Coast Guard's Maritime Force Protection Unit at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.
The cutter's sponsor, Julianne Chambliss, and her husband, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Moultrie), are both University of Georgia graduates and avowed Bulldogs.
"When I saw the logo, I knew the Bulldogs would lead on and we were bound to have a good relationship," Saxby Chambliss said of the new cutter. "As you will learn, there is always room in Georgia for another bulldog. You are going to have the best mother in the world. She's looked after me for 42 years."
Even Rear Adm. Steve Branham, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District and the guest speaker, got into the bulldog spirit.
"I hoped to wear a Bulldog hat today,' said Branham, who was in his dress-white uniform. "But my boss wouldn't like that, so the hat is here in spirit."
Branham told Julianne Chambliss, a retired school teacher, mother and grandmother, that she serves as the Sea Dog's advocate.
"We will witness the Sea Dog come to life, and (the ship) will assume the personality of the sponsor - no pressure," Branham said with a smile toward Chambliss.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tyrome Tillett, a former cutter commander who help several positions at Kings Bay with the Maritime Safety and Security Team, is the Sea Dog's first commander.
Julianne Chambliss said she didn't anticipate feeling so emotional about the event, in which the ship's pennant, and U.S. Flag were raised shortly before its 10-member crew went aboard.
"I feel like I have just had 10 new people," she said. "I've always had a land dog and now I have a Sea Dog."
Special guests included veterans of the Sea Dog's namesake, a World War II submarine.
Retired Master Chief Doug Ewen of Queen Creek, Ariz. said he was part of the crew who performed the final decommissioning of the submarine in the 1960s.
"I think it's awesome to carry on the submarine's name," Ewen said. "It's a new tradition and it brings the services closer together."
John Thackrah, principal deputy of the Navy's strategic systems program, said the cooperative strategy of the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine security, which is used ashore at Kings Bay, is a new one for the 21st century.
The Maritime Force Protection Unit was commissioned at Kings Bay in July 2007, the first of its kind in a collaborative mission between the Navy and Coast Guard to enhance the security of submarines transiting the homeport area. The Sea Dog joins the cutter Sea Dragon and a fleet of other patrol craft. The single-mission unit of 100 is being built up to 200 personnel and 12 more patrol boats within the next 18 months.
Coast Guardsmen, has broad law enforcement authority, including the authority to establish, patrol, and enforce exclusionary zones, naval vessel protective zones, restricted navigation areas, and security zones supporting naval operations.
A similar unit operates at the Trident submarine base in Bangor, Wash. to provide port security and harbor defense.
A SALUTE HONORS the flag raising on the newly commissioned U.S. Coast Guard cutter Sea Dog at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. Below is the Sea Dog's logo created by St. Simons Island artist Jack Davis. (Tribune & Georgian photo/Susan Respess) 