beatkp
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2007
- Messages
- 92
Here are a few excerpts from a new Coast Guard book "Not your father's coast guard" written by Matthew Mitchell. It seems to cover some interesting stories that wasn't widely known about the sea service.
"CHAPTER 1
“THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER’S COAST
GUARD.”: THE ANTITHESIS OF STANDARD
Halloween Day, 1992, Deep in the Bolivian Jungle
The mission was simple enough. Locate and destroy a clandestine cocaine lab somewhere in the Bolivian jungle. The team had progressed five hundred meters toward the location of a suspected lab. Five hundred meters might not seem like a lot if you’re walking down the street, but every inch is earned when you’re hacking through dense bush. Covered with sweat and what can only be described as a swarm of mosquitoes, the team finally made it to the encampment. It was then that the jungle exploded all around the insertion team. Bits of wood, dirt, leaves, and whatever else was unfortunate enough to be in the path of poorly aimed automatic weaponry fire was violently launched through the air and rained upon the insertion team. The onslaught of bullets came from five heavily armed narcotraffickers, accompanied by one semi-innocent, unarmed cook. The team acted quickly, taking up defensive positions and returning fire with their M-16s. One member fired a precisely aimed MK-79 grenade round, which exploded just behind the lab. The firefight lasted only minutes. At the end of the skirmish, four of five gunmen were wounded, while the insertion team remained unscathed. Randy, who had only moments before been directing fire on the narcotraffickers, had a new fight on his hands. Randy and his team now had to fight to save the lives of the men who just tried to kill them.
CHAPTER 2
“YOU HAVE TO LEAD THE CHARGE.”:
ORIGINS OF A PHILOSOPHY
B-40 rockets, a common weapon used to attack U.S. patrols, were directed on Paul’s patrol with devastating effect. Explosions riddled the Swift Boats from all sides. Every able body with a weapon quickly returned fire. The Swifts’ three 50 cals were pouring rounds into the riverbanks. The ensigns and LTJGs pushed their vessels to flank speed, running through the ambush, taking fire all the way.
Paul’s gunner had taken a round to the gut and was spilling his blood all over the deck, but it was the Marines that took the brunt of the damage. There were dead Marines on every boat. They had been topside, completely exposed to the small arms and rockets. The worst news came once the patrol had pushed through the ambush: only eight boats had made it through the maelstrom. One was left behind.
CHAPTER 15
“THE DISMANTLING HAD BEGUN.”: THE
PENDULUM CHANGES DIRECTION
Admiral John William Kime relieved Admiral Yost on May 31, 1990; the two men could have not been greater opposites. Admiral Yost, a Vietnam veteran with combat experience, believed that the U.S. Coast Guard could and should engage in direct efforts to fight the War on Drugs on foreign soil. He was heavy on law enforcement and even wanted the Coast Guard to reenter the world of Special Operations. During the Yost Guard, the organization moved rapidly toward their Department of Defense counterparts, shaving their beards and even placing harpoon missiles on the WHEC 378-foot Hamilton Class cutters.[1] He fought the War on Drugs like any other war and dedicated a significant portion of the Coast Guard’s sea and air resources to it, pioneering initiatives, such as Operation Jester and the E-2C Hawkeye, which were revolutionary for the Coast Guard. As for DIAT, he was adamant that “this is the stuff we should be doing.”[2] Conversely, though, his polar opposite, Admiral Kime, saw the role of the Coast Guard differently."
"CHAPTER 1
“THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER’S COAST
GUARD.”: THE ANTITHESIS OF STANDARD
Halloween Day, 1992, Deep in the Bolivian Jungle
The mission was simple enough. Locate and destroy a clandestine cocaine lab somewhere in the Bolivian jungle. The team had progressed five hundred meters toward the location of a suspected lab. Five hundred meters might not seem like a lot if you’re walking down the street, but every inch is earned when you’re hacking through dense bush. Covered with sweat and what can only be described as a swarm of mosquitoes, the team finally made it to the encampment. It was then that the jungle exploded all around the insertion team. Bits of wood, dirt, leaves, and whatever else was unfortunate enough to be in the path of poorly aimed automatic weaponry fire was violently launched through the air and rained upon the insertion team. The onslaught of bullets came from five heavily armed narcotraffickers, accompanied by one semi-innocent, unarmed cook. The team acted quickly, taking up defensive positions and returning fire with their M-16s. One member fired a precisely aimed MK-79 grenade round, which exploded just behind the lab. The firefight lasted only minutes. At the end of the skirmish, four of five gunmen were wounded, while the insertion team remained unscathed. Randy, who had only moments before been directing fire on the narcotraffickers, had a new fight on his hands. Randy and his team now had to fight to save the lives of the men who just tried to kill them.
CHAPTER 2
“YOU HAVE TO LEAD THE CHARGE.”:
ORIGINS OF A PHILOSOPHY
B-40 rockets, a common weapon used to attack U.S. patrols, were directed on Paul’s patrol with devastating effect. Explosions riddled the Swift Boats from all sides. Every able body with a weapon quickly returned fire. The Swifts’ three 50 cals were pouring rounds into the riverbanks. The ensigns and LTJGs pushed their vessels to flank speed, running through the ambush, taking fire all the way.
Paul’s gunner had taken a round to the gut and was spilling his blood all over the deck, but it was the Marines that took the brunt of the damage. There were dead Marines on every boat. They had been topside, completely exposed to the small arms and rockets. The worst news came once the patrol had pushed through the ambush: only eight boats had made it through the maelstrom. One was left behind.
CHAPTER 15
“THE DISMANTLING HAD BEGUN.”: THE
PENDULUM CHANGES DIRECTION
Admiral John William Kime relieved Admiral Yost on May 31, 1990; the two men could have not been greater opposites. Admiral Yost, a Vietnam veteran with combat experience, believed that the U.S. Coast Guard could and should engage in direct efforts to fight the War on Drugs on foreign soil. He was heavy on law enforcement and even wanted the Coast Guard to reenter the world of Special Operations. During the Yost Guard, the organization moved rapidly toward their Department of Defense counterparts, shaving their beards and even placing harpoon missiles on the WHEC 378-foot Hamilton Class cutters.[1] He fought the War on Drugs like any other war and dedicated a significant portion of the Coast Guard’s sea and air resources to it, pioneering initiatives, such as Operation Jester and the E-2C Hawkeye, which were revolutionary for the Coast Guard. As for DIAT, he was adamant that “this is the stuff we should be doing.”[2] Conversely, though, his polar opposite, Admiral Kime, saw the role of the Coast Guard differently."