Nate in MD through new year

Nate is to take guard duty on their dry docked vessel for a few months. He will stay at the barracks in Glen Burnie, but will be close by through January. He will be around from time to time...

Dolphin chase/Helo Take Off

From Nate:
These are a few pictures taken from flight ops a couple weeks back. Also the two pictures at the end are of this one dolphin, and his friend that swam along side us for a while. Then two days later during a towing evolution where we refueled a smaller boat, she had about 10 other dolphins come up and play around in the water chasing us and jumping up out of the big waves.

Venturous Views

Swim Call!

For his 19th birthday, Nate spent the day at "swim call" which entails diving off of the flight deck of the cutter. Venturous is the name of the cutter they have borrowed as well as the crew's attitude!

BBC - Big Bad Coastie!

Nate has been on his first tour for a few weeks now - and he has posted some pics of him on duty...

News from Nate aboard the Vigilant

Well, apparently their internet does work - here is a recent response from Nate.

Hey mom,
Everything is going very well, I'm not quite close to being fully qualified yet, im about a third of the way on drawings and the information on how the systems work (6 out of 15) I need all 15 signed off along with their packet, so I'm looking at about a week or so from now to get all the drawings done and maybe 2 weeks till I get all the JQR's (info packet) signed off (showing I have knowledge of the systems) other than that my job is basically to fuel the small boats after they go out, stand watch in the engine room, and for helicopter operations I am a fire party team member so when the hilo comes we get dressed out in case of emergency. We've already had a hilo stay for two days thankfully its gone now, when it is here you don't get to sleep as much as usual because it takes up your time being dressed for 2 hours in case of a crash. I have A LOT of pictures of everything from the clouds and sunsets, to the small boat and another cutter (110 ft) that we transferred migrants to (we have a few on board) but I guess all is well I get plenty of time to write so if you have any questions or anything just ask and I'll get back to you I can get on the comp basically before and after each watch and I have watch two times a day, say hello whenever and give me updates please! Im about to go on watch now or I'd write more...
-Love Nathan

PS I will probably get moved out of the apartments in January or February when we get the boat back so I will have to move some things home if that's alright.

Hmm for you questions... I'm eating just fine, sometimes not even having some meals cause im still full from the previous one.. but exercise not really I have the time but after 8 hours of watch a day and working and doing other things I'm just too unwilling. I don't like ship life how could I? No phone or direct communication, but eh I'll get over it, it'll be better once I'm qualified. Living quarters and duties are pretty much fine I've adapted and all that just would prefer to live in a house and fly in helicopters yah know? And the duty in Baltimore... no list as of yet but I will be taking some peoples duty weeks since they don't want to come up just so I can be by home for a little bit longer plus we get paid like $275 for the 2 weeks alright well I got to go fuel the small boat so I'll talk to you soon.

Borrow a boat, get underway

Nate's assigned vessel, the Valiant, still sits in Baltimore, being upgraded. As a result, while another ship's crew is receiving training, he and his shipmates will borrow their boat, the Venturous, and they will be underway the last weekend of July. They will go to Key West (which I hear sometimes involves rescue or police action due to the huge parties people have, hooking their boats together), Cuba, and Nassau/Bahamas. They will be underway for 8 weeks. He will not have cell reception much of that time, so hopefully the internet connection on that boat WILL work (Nate's boat, the Valiant, lost its connectivity several months before his assignment to it...).

While on liberty this week, he took up skateboarding - idle time, get a new hobby!

Will keep you posted...

Nate Update

What do you do without a boat? Train. Pass requirements. Nate has passed his basic and advanced Damage Control requirements. He has completed basic police training - from use of weapons, how to subdue hostiles, how to use a baton, how to handcuff, to practice with "OC spray" which is a mean pepper spray. What is left is for him to be watch qualified, but he will need a boat for that...

They are scheduled to borrow one while its crew goes to training - at last check, to travel to patrol the Miami area in a few weeks...

Home Sweet Home

Nate has a new home... The boat was dry docked in Baltimore (another week of Nate visiting just passed!) and Nate and his shipmates were given an apartment/townhome in Miami since their home is being upgraded.

They are spending a considerable amount of time at the Coast Guard Airbase in Miami getting everyone qualified. As firemen, they will need to have qualifications in damage control for their duties on board. Nate will have watch in the control rooms. He is relieved to be in engineering, stating that the "deckies" are all pretty dumb...

They are seeking qualification in order to prepare for borrowing another unit's vessel to go to Columbia, South America...

Nate's shipmate roommates are both Hispanic and he is trying to relearn some of that Spanish he tried so hard to forget in high school. A side benefit is that these guys know how to cook good Spanish foods and they are eating well!

Miami Nate Runs Aground

Well, oddly enough, Nate's cutter is due for upgrades. The following is what I understand to be true from what Nate understands to be true... so definitely subject to change...

Upgrades? You ask. Well, apparently it has 80's technology and they are looking to at least put it into the 90's. So they are driving it (floating it, piloting it, whatever) up to the Baltimore Harbor. The crew will return to Miami to work at the Coast Guard Airbase instead of crewing the cutter. Nate already has an apartment. He thinks he can get permission to take a car back down with him. If that happens, he will be able to drive back to Miami with his roommates after it goes in for a checkup, radiator flush, oil change, and titling and insurance through MVA...

Apparently few of the crew have cars (personal or assigned by the service) and the apartments they are assigned to are at least a 15 minute drive from the airbase. So he will be back around here around the 12th of June - give or take a few days, dependent upon the journey and such.

He is already catching hell from the the other crewmen - apartment on his first day of service, returning to his home port, plus he has liberty until they board ship Tuesday and are underway towards Baltimore! Boy, he is gonna get it when they are settled and he knows it. They are trying to come up with a suitable nickname for him besides "New Boot". The only one related to his name so far is "Lincoln" (as in Lincoln Logs), and no one really wanted to call him that.

He has two roommates, one is 18 and has been aboard Valiant for 7 mos. and is actually younger than Nate. The other is 24. They both speak Spanish and Nate is going to try to increase his skill with the language again, since he is in Miami anyway. Nate is bringing his Wii, so that puts him in good with the roommates - and since he will have a car, they will have a ride.

They have nothing for the apartment yet, and no real way to get around, so Nate has been bunking at his rack on the ship. It is, of course, on the beach...He has already gone running down at Miami Beach last night, and likes it there, don't know if that has something to do with the views - of nature and of feminine nature....

Some guys have ALL the luck....

But this does put a hold on some of his training - don't know how long it will take him to move up in rank from E-2 to E-3. This may add 6 months to his stay there before he can go to A-School in North Carolina for Avionics Mechanics Technician, but perhaps he'll have the opportunity to pick some stuff up at the airbase. I don't know what you do with a sudden influx of 85 personnel when they are already staffed... if all else fails, I imagine they can be put to work at menial labor. Nate won't be able to work towards his exams if he isn't on the cutter, though, from what he understands...

We'll see how it all works out... Randy can't believe Nate's good fortune with regards to all of the perks - army life went NOTHING like that for him...

Introducing Fireman Apprentice Nathan

Nate graduated from Coast Guard Basic Training at Cape May, NJ on May 23, 2008.

It was a gorgeous day - a lovely ceremony. Each recruit receives a certificate of completion.

Nate lost about 3" from his waist - oh, the stories he has of training and what happens to you when you misstep - his company commanders were very determined that they would excel and achieve the highest possible standards. The company earned all 8 banners for goals set for training.

Here is the long and short of our trip.

We arrived in Wildwood, NJ Wednesday night around 8. We crashed in a cheapo hotel. Thursday we walked the boardwalk (cheapo hotel was a block from the beach) though not much was open - it was opening that weekend. And it was not warm enough to wear less than jeans and a t-shirt, and since we didn't have beach shoes, we stayed on the boardwalk (the beach was wayyyy far from the boardwalk and I didn't want sandy sneakers). The beach wasn't terribly pretty - the beaches we visited in CA had far more personality. We drove around Cape May to be sure we could find the Coast Guard station easily. We walked around there - not anything great, but a nice little beach town. We drove out to the county zoo - that was a neat little zoo that gave the animals more than a concrete enclosure like some zoos - very nice... the giraffes had a huge enclosure and telephoto shots were easy to take. We ate mostly mediocre food and kept returning to the boardwalk in different directions to walk it all off.

Friday morning we drove to the base at nine. Everywhere we had to go were recruits guiding us, yelling, "Good morning, Sir/Ma'am" and then pointing the direction in which we were to travel. We sat in an auditorium forever, saw a video (links to it are on the email) that explained what the recruits went through. Then we went to bleachers on the parade field. On the way there, we passed the recruits in their companies and eventually came upon our own graduates company. Mike - 179 was marching around the parade field. They completed pass and review, which is basically walking correctly and in step and keeping a straight face, no matter how much your family screams at you (not me, thought that was tacky - some of the other families were quite obnoxious).

Attached is the Monty Python clip "Marching up and down the square" which is how one wishes marching would be handled...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nLJ8ILIE780&feature=related

So then there was the arrival of the band, and the drill team performed.

They gave out individual awards - best scores stuff. Then each of the graduates received a certificate and were able to shake the hands of the people who made them into obedient, respectful guardsmen/women.

More speeches - one that was traditional was:

Smooth sailing, calm waters, clear skies, and a secure shoreline- we wish all for you.

...and then they were dismissed.

We did not stay after the ceremony - they were marching all morning and Nate hadn't slept that night - he was exhausted... so we returned to his bunk to retrieve his belongings and flew home.

This link is the site that gives same video we saw at the cg graduation to explain basic training - start with the videos at the bottom and work your way to the top - it shows it all very well - Nate said it is exactly what he went through:

http://www.coastguardchannel.com/24_7_vid/EightWeeks.shtml

I took some video - I'm having a hard time figuring out how to make that go anywhere except imovie on my school's apple laptop.

Nate will spend this week hanging out with friends and organizing all of his things. He will go to his duty station in Miami at 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning. He will be assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant for at least 1.5 years before he reaches the rank he needs to attend school and has served their needs. His rank is currently an E2, as he has completed basic training successfully. He will complete E3 with his Cutter and be a fireman. Then after schooling he will achieve the rank of Petty Officer 3rd Class. His current plan is to remain with the Coast Guard for his career, however, that is certainly open to change dependent upon his experiences over the next 4 years...

Poor kid, he will have to have his regular weekly time off in ports in the Caribbean and the Florida Straits. Average summer temp of 92, winter 80. Rough stuff... The ship is an all male crew.

Typical day inport routine:
0600 – Reveille
0600 – Morning meal served for all hands
0645 – All E5 & below muster at VALIANT’s Flight Deck in workout attire for physical fitness program or in ODUs to commence ship's work.
0700 – Commence ships work
1215 – Sweepers, commence cleaning of ship
1300 – Liberty at Department Head discretion
1300 – Noon meal served for all hands
1600 – Damage Control Training on messdeck for duty section
1700 - Evening Meal served for all hands
1945 - Evening Reports
2200 - Taps

TYPICAL FA (Fireman Apprentice) JOB ASSIGNMENT:
Preventative Maintenance and repair of engineering machinery.

It is incredible to see the changes in Nate - his attitude towards basic was very positive - he actually liked it - saw it as a challenge and a way to better himself (especially after he got over the second week - he was discouraged that week) and his company commanders were so dedicated that they instilled that in Nate as well.

Nate Date to Graduate Basic

Nate is set to graduate basic training on Friday, May 23. He will return to Columbia that evening.

He will be at his mom's house Saturday 2-6 if you want to stop by to say hello...

He had off base leave and enjoyed Cape May and the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ. May even have pictures to post...

Nate - on base leave

Nate had free time last night on base. He went to dinner on base to have chicken fingers and curly fries. He phoned to check in. It was amazing to speak to him. The amount of maturity one person can attain over a 6 week time period! He is eager to learn everything he can. He stated that the isolation from distraction made it so much easier to focus, study and learn.

He loves his company commanders - he stated that one of the recruits who was reverted (held back for behavioral reasons) was going on about how much easier the company commander is in his new company. Nate scoffed at that, asking, "Why would you want it to be easy, why wouldn't you want to push yourself to be the best you can be?" His company commanders expect their achievement will exceed the minimum at all times, pushing them constantly. Nate's response to this has been to push himself and develop a focus. He looks back on his time between graduation and basic and sees that he was drifting, and is so delighted to have a path to follow.

For his career focus, he hasn't completely picked a career focus yet, so some of the previous information I have in the blog is just his first impression. He now states that he has decided to go Seaman vs. Engineering (damage controlman). In the first place, he wants to be on deck. In the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Miami, they will be surrounded by such beauty, he doesn't want to be buried in bowels of the ship, working on operations. He will start on watch, and take physical care of the topside of the ship, and learn helmsman (driving) the ship. He was able to tour the same type of ship he will be stationed on, and is very excited.

He LOVED learning to fight fires. He has to qualify in damage control, but he no longer wishes that to be his MOS because the job is below deck. They all have to be proficient in many of the jobs on the boat... there are only about 80ish people on board.

He is particularly excited that they are a southward bound vessel, as he will see so much beauty. He said they would be able to exercise on deck, unlike the boats north of Miami, which travel to the north, where the climate is harsher, even in the warmer months.

He plans to learn everything he can.

He has 5 days leave here, prior to going to Miami. I asked if he needed or wanted anything, and he didn't have any food he desired, but he wants a full sized ironing board and iron so he can get his dress uniforms ready!

He has been ill, is still, and his voice was sometimes difficult to understand. He said if he had been in the infirmary one more day, they would have had to hold him back a week medically.

Next weekend, if they are performing where they should be, he will be able to leave base to go into Cape May for the evening, after they are done working on Saturday for the day.

Another day, another phone call

I had mailed Nate a list of questions after his first phone call. He phoned just now to help me understand his situation.

He is going on the boat as helmsman/watchman. He will stand watch and he will learn to pilot the Valiant. He has to earn E3 status prior to being allowed to go to his "A" school. He will go to "A" school in order to earn an AMT instead of an AET. He did not say why. He toured a boat that is larger than his, but it gave him a sense of what his will be like. He said they do have access to the information that I sent as well in an internet lab and that he had had the chance to check out his future home.

I inquired about his buddy, who entered with Nate. He has been reverted one week and may stay back a second week.

Nate stated, "We have a tremendous responsibility and some people who sign up aren't ready/mature enough to face it and handle it.

Nate has an upper respiratory infection. He just finished a course of antibiotics and is feeling a little better, but you can hear the illness in his voice.

The connection was awful, and again he had to go.

Orders: Coast Guard Cutter Valiant

Nate phoned!

I received an extremely brief phone call from Nate. He has his orders.

He will be based in Miami, FL. He will be on the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant, a 210 foot cutter. He will be assigned to this boat until he is able to go to "A" School, which he could not define a specific date for, but said "a long time".

His MOS is: Strike Damage Controlman - he is going to be a fireman/engineer on the vessel.

Wikipedia states that his job could entail: Fabricates, installs and repairs shipboard structures, plumbing and piping systems; uses damage control in fire fighting; operates nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological defense equipment; construction work.

Here is a link to a military news story about his cutter.
Coast Guard Cutter Valiant Haiti Story

This caption accompanied the above artwork.

210 Cutter by Malcolm Bryant (ID# 90419)

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Valiant, a 210-foot cutter, is a multi-mission, medium endurance cutter home ported, and was commissioned in 1967. VALIANT operates in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico conducting search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, marine environmental protection, and national defense operations. A feature of VALIANT is the 70-foot flight deck for Coast Guard HH-65A Dolphin helicopters. The helicopter extends the ships surveillance range for law enforcement and reduces response time for search and rescue mission.

He also stated that he was hospitalized on Monday with stomach problems, with what they originally thought was appendicitis, but ended up being a kidney stone. He currently has a bronchial infection.

Then he had to go...

Here is a link to his cutter's website, with many photos.
Coast Guard Cutter Valiant

Here is another really cool site with a ton of pics about everyday life
Fred's Place

Wiki -USCGC

Check out the sites - enjoy!!

Nate Update!

Nate wrote his dad.

Among my jobs, I'm also the "mail guy", and I'm now the National Ensign on the Colors Team (carries the flag). All is well. My ankle is basically fine now. We don't swim anymore, not since the weekend of week 2, because I passed the test then. I also passed my open book midterm with a 96% as well as passing my physical fitness test. 5 people reverted so far out of 54. 2 medical discharges. But I'm not too worried.... More reverts tonight.

Nate said the food is good - if a "5" is Chik-fil-a, all of the food is better than that!

I received another letter from Nate today. Since he doesn't have time to write, he asked me to pass on what he says...

4/20
Another update - hurt my left knee/ankle. Knee is better, ankle might be tendonitis... and is getting worse I'm getting physical therapy starting tomorrow (Monday). Still on full duty. Marching is going well, the only one is IT (intensive training)...but I've been good so I've been getting a lot less IT.... We do see boats but we have seamanship as a class. So far we've done lookout training, the 5 knots (bowline, square knot, round turn and two half hitches, clove hitch, and slip clove hitch). They are all easy.... and we've used the helm simulator (pretend steering boat). We did more slashing 0's (where we stand arms length from the bulkhead and use a pen to cross through 0's the size of 12 font).

Send letters! He loves the company!

Nathan Update!!

Written on 4/13/08 by Nathan!

First off, we wake up for reveille at 5:30. After that we do some sort of "IT" (Intensive Training). We are a company, there are 54 of us, but statistics say that 12 of us won't graduate on time. My job is Gear Locker Master At Arms (I make sure we have enough cleaning supplies and nothing is broken). PT is when anyone screws up... We all pay but it's not the same as "IT". Oh, and they first woke us with a bullhorn on siren mode. The weather has been shitty and rainy 'til today basically. Lots of other guys/girls are doing well, but we already know who won't graduate with us pretty much. I'm adapting fine, is all a game....I'm out of time now.

Love,
Nate

I miss everyone - love you all - send any pix please or whatever!

CONTACT 4/14/08

Nate mailed a post card that we rec'd today. To give you an idea as to how long mail takes, it is post marked 4/8 and we rec'd it on 4/14. I imagine it takes equally as long or longer for him to receive it due to it having to be processed through the Coast Guard after the post office processes it.

He states that it is really tough and he's very sore, but he is getting by. He is worried that he could get put back a week and not graduate with his group - apparently there are a lot of ways you can be left back a week. He said that if he graduates on time, it will be May 23rd.

He said he cannot receive newspaper clips.

Not much space to write and probably not much time to write anyway.

He also asked for mail - so if you have time, drop Nate a line... no packages, magazines or newspapers. Just cards and letters...

Address: Letters only

The form letter arrived today with Nathan's contact information.

SR Nathanael Logsdon
Mike 179
U.S. Coast Guard TRACEN
One Munro Ave
Cape May, NJ 08204-5083

Letters ONLY please - no packages

Nate states that he should graduate 5/23. The CG website says it is on 5/22. More to follow.

Nathan is outa here!

Nathan leaves to the Coast Guard today - after much processing tomorrow, April 1, he will arrive at the Cape May New Jersey Coast Guard Reservation to begin his basic training. He will be there for 2 months. As I receive information from him, I will post it here. We should get an address a few days after he arrives.

I will update if he writes.