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A Day in the Life of the Coast Guard: Monday

coast
Seaman Dylan Hankin, a crewmember of the cutter Swordfish, monitors his shipmate working in the engine room (USCG)

Published Mar 7, 2017 6:36 PM by U.S. Coast Guard News

[By Lt. Sarah Janaro]

As a unique force with both military and civil authorities, Coast Guard missions touch nearly every facet of the nation’s strategic maritime interests. Coast Guard authorities, people and assets are essential to national security and economic prosperity.

On an average day, the Coast Guard:

  • - conducts 45 search and rescue cases
  • - saves 10 lives
  • - saves over $1.2M in property
  • - seizes 874 pounds of cocaine and 214 pounds of marijuana
  • - conducts 57 waterborne patrols of critical maritime infrastructure
  • - interdicts 17 illegal migrants; escorts 5 high-capacity passenger vessels
  • - conducts 24 security boardings in and around U.S. ports
  • - screens 360 merchant vessels for potential security threats prior to arrival in U.S. ports
  • - conducts 14 fisheries conservation boardings
  • - services 82 buoys and fixed aids to navigation
  • - investigates 35 pollution incidents
  • - completes 26 safety examinations on foreign vessels
  • - conducts 105 marine inspections
  • - investigates 14 marine casualties involving commercial vessels
  • - facilitates movement of $8.7 billion worth of goods and commodities through the nation’s maritime transportation system

What does that really look like? We wanted you to be able to see for yourself, so we captured daily events during the month of February to show you what a typical week in the life of the service is like.

Take a look below, and follow along on the Compass Blog throughout this week.

Inspecting a foreign vessel – Boston, Massachusetts

Chief Petty Officer Mark Henricksen and Petty Officer 3rd Class Danielle Montez conduct a safety examination aboard the Liberian-flagged container ship MSC Vaishnavi R. Monday, February 6, 2017 in Boston. Henricksen and Montez are two members of Coast Guard Sector Boston?s Port State Control Examination Team. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Cynthia Oldham

Chief Petty Officer Mark Henricksen and Petty Officer 3rd Class Danielle Montez conduct a safety examination aboard the Liberian-flagged container ship MSC Vaishnavi R., Monday, February 6, 2017 in Boston. Henricksen and Montez are two members of Coast Guard Sector Boston’s Port State Control Examination Team. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Cynthia Oldham)

Advancement ceremony – Portsmouth, Virginia

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Gianna Ventoza, administrative assistant to Vice Adm. Karl Schultz, commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, holds her daughter, Juniper, while mingling with co-workers at the Portsmouth Federal Building in Portsmouth, Virginia, Feb. 13, 2017. Ventoza was selected as the Atlantic's Area Enlisted Person of the Quarter for Oct. 1, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2016. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Corinne Zilnicki/Released)

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Gianna Ventoza, administrative assistant to Vice Adm. Karl Schultz, commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, holds her daughter, Juniper, while mingling with co-workers at the Portsmouth Federal Building in Portsmouth, Virginia, Feb. 13, 2017. Ventoza was selected as the Atlantic’s Area Enlisted Person of the Quarter for Oct. 1, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2016. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Corinne Zilnicki/Released)

Conducting search and rescue – Cedar Key, Florida

Coast Guard Seaman Jennifer Haney, a crew member aboard a 27-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water from Station Yankeetown, Florida, searches for three people aboard a missing aircraft seven miles south of Cedar Key, Florida, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. Coast Guard crews alongside partner agencies began searching for the people after a plane failed to arrive in Cedar Key en route from Brooksville, Florida. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle Tappan)

Coast Guard Seaman Jennifer Haney, a crew member aboard a 27-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water from Station Yankeetown, Florida, searches for three people aboard a missing aircraft seven miles south of Cedar Key, Florida, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. Coast Guard crews alongside partner agencies began searching for the people after a plane failed to arrive in Cedar Key en route from Brooksville, Florida. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle Tappan)

Departing on deployment – Norfolk, Virginia

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Benjamin Manning, a maritime enforcement specialist assigned to Port Security Unit 305 based in Fort Eustis, Virginia, holds his baby at the USO inside the airport in Norfolk, Virginia, before departing on a 9-month deployment Feb. 13, 2017. PSU 305, comprised entirely of Coast Guard Reserve members, was formally commissioned on August 19, 1995 at the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia, and is one of eight PSUs in the Coast Guard. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Melissa Leake/Released)

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Benjamin Manning, a maritime enforcement specialist assigned to Port Security Unit 305 based in Fort Eustis, Virginia, holds his baby at the USO inside the airport in Norfolk, Virginia, before departing on a 9-month deployment Feb. 13, 2017. PSU 305, comprised entirely of Coast Guard Reserve members, was formally commissioned on August 19, 1995 at the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia, and is one of eight PSUs in the Coast Guard. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Melissa Leake)

Helicopter hoist – Cold Bay, Alaska

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew forward deployed in Cold Bay, Alaska, surveys the area around the fishing vessel Predator prior to hoisting three people off near Akutan Harbor, Alaska, Feb. 13, 2017.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew forward deployed in Cold Bay, Alaska, surveys the area around the fishing vessel Predator prior to hoisting three people off near Akutan Harbor, Alaska, Feb. 13, 2017. The Predator ran hard aground, causing it to take on water through an eight inch crack in the hull. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jon-Paul Rios)

Machinery maintenance – Duluth, Minnesota

Petty Officer 1st Class Pat O?Conner, a machinery technician aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alder, cleans a fuel oil filter strainer plate on the cutter Feb. 13, 2017. There are more than 50 fuel oil filter strainer plates in the engines of the Alder. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Cutter Alder)

Petty Officer 1st Class Pat O’Conner, a machinery technician aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alder, cleans a fuel oil filter strainer plate on the cutter Feb. 13, 2017. There are more than 50 fuel oil filter strainer plates in the engines of the Alder. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Cutter Alder)

Drug offload –  San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Coast Guard offloaded Feb. 27, 2017 approximately 4.2 tons of seized cocaine, worth an estimated $125 million in wholesale value, at Coast Guard Sector San Juan. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier seized the contraband and apprehended four Guyanese smugglers following the interdiction of the 70-foot fishing vessel, Lady Michelle, in international waters north of Paramaribo, Suriname Feb. 16, 2017.

The Coast Guard offloaded Feb. 27, 2017 approximately 4.2 tons of seized cocaine, worth an estimated $125 million in wholesale value, at Coast Guard Sector San Juan. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier seized the contraband and apprehended four Guyanese smugglers following the interdiction of the 70-foot fishing vessel, Lady Michelle, in international waters north of Paramaribo, Suriname Feb. 16, 2017. (Photo courtesy of D.E.A.)

Homecoming – Clearwater, Florida

Port Security Unit 307 members line up in formation during a homecoming ceremony after returning home from a nine-month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Feb. 27, 2017. While deployed, PSU 307 members performed duties in support of the Joint Task Force's mission of ensuring the safe, humane, legal, and transparent care and custody of law of war detainees. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicole J. Groll)

Port Security Unit 307 members line up in formation during a homecoming ceremony after returning home from a nine-month deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Feb. 27, 2017. While deployed, PSU 307 members performed duties in support of the Joint Task Force’s mission of ensuring the safe, humane, legal, and transparent care and custody of law of war detainees. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicole J. Groll)

This article appears courtesy of the Coast Guard Compass blog. It has been edited for length, and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.