Our inaugural Coast Guard Industry Academy wrapped up with a trip to San Francisco and District 11 in July. The Coast Guard Industry Academy is an unprecedented, in-depth partnership designed to strengthen Industry collaboration and knowledge of the Coast Guard mission. Throughout the program our group of industry executives received hands-on experience at Coast Guard installations across the country.

We started our program at USCG Headquarters in D.C. where we met with all of the senior leadership from the Coast Guard, visited Station Washington and Reagan National Airport to understand the local mission, and concluded at Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore where the Coast Guard repairs and refurbishes their fleet.

After that we journeyed to District 5 to visit the Tidewater Region of Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. While there we saw Training Center Yorktown, spent 2 days at sea on the USCGC Eagle, and flew in a C-27 as part of a training rescue mission. In Elizabeth City we also visited the Rescue Swimmer Training Center and saw the Underwater Rescue Simulator in action. To close out the trip we were hosted at the home of then LANTAREA Commander Karl Schultz and his wife Dawn, along with the LANTAREA leadership team and their spouses. Admiral Schultz had been named incoming Commandant USCG days before our trip commenced.

Our next trip took us to Portland, Oregon and Kodiak, Alaska, Districts 13 and 17. In Portland our group observed how the Coast Guard protects our inland waterways and learned more about their search and rescue capabilities. We saw first-hand how the Coast Guard maintains buoys and other aids to navigation and the specific usage and challenges with each of these. Later in the week we visited USCG Base Kodiak which is the Coast Guard’s largest base. There we witnessed how the Coast Guard operates in one of the most extreme and remote climates in the world. Given how harsh the environment is much of Alaska would be untenable without the presence of the Coast Guard. In addition to rescues at sea the Coast Guard functions as the primary emergency system for the remote areas of the state due to a lack of hospitals or transportation methods.

Our program’s last trip was to San Francisco in District 11 in July. In the Bay Area we were shown how the Coast Guard protects our ports from threats. We boarded the Polar Star which is the only Ice Breaker in the USCG fleet, while it was between trips to Antarctica. Closing out our visit to the PACAREA, D11 Commander RADM Gautier and his wife hosted us at their home for a reception and presentation of certificates to our participants.

Throughout the program, we had a unique opportunity to witness the missions of the Coast Guard and how they vary from District to District. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to build relationships at all levels across the entire Coast Guard.

Our genuine appreciation to Commandant Karl Schultz, ADM Charles Ray, and headquarters staff for the opportunity. A specific thank you to CG-092, the office of Government and Public Affairs led by RADM Melissa Bert. The incredible members of the CGIA team were CAPT Sean Carroll, Josh Buck, LCDR Daniel Cathell, Brian Olexy, MST1 Krystal Wolfe, and the leadership and staff at each location who built our itineraries and hosted us.

The graduating participants formed the CGIA Alumni Group to continue to stay involved and advocate for the mission of the Coast Guard.