Reservist

ISS3 2014

Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Quarterly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security

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aBoVe: Lt. j.g. Laura gadziala of the Coast guard Sector anchorage enforcement department disembarks a gold dredge vessel after a boarding near nome, alaska, aug. 3. BeLoW: Me1 Harwell opens the lifejacket compartment on a gold dredge vessel near nome, alaska, aug. 3 news video on operation gold nugget by Pa2 grant deVuyst and 17th district Public affairs. partnership with the local Alaska Air National Guard, a nearby hangar was available to shelter the RB-S, where the Station Valdez crew got to work preparing the boat for operations. Early the next morning it was time to get underway. The scene was set for the team to begin their law enforcement mission. Scattered along the beach, and bobbing just off shore in the murky water, were the reasons the crew travelled all this way: gold dredging vessels. The enormous fleet of make-shift rigs patrol the shallow water to sift through the gold-rich earth below. The average operation consists of only one or two mariners, with or without prior boating experience, working all day on the frigid Bering Sea. "There's a lot of risk they take and it's our responsibility to make sure they are staying safe out there," said Tykalsky, who serves in the Alaska State Troopers when he's not performing his Coast Guard Reserve duties. "As a reservist team we push to educate the public." Federal regulations guide the crew in their law enforcement mission. It is the Coast Guard that responds when a vessel has an emergency, so it is the Coast Guard that checks to make sure mariners are mitigating the possibility of something bad happening. For dredge operators that have had little or no exposure to the Coast Guard, education is key. "We don't just get on and say, 'Hey, you don't have a life jacket? We're sending you back to the dock,'" said Harwell, who also works with the National Marine Fisheries Service. "We explain to them what we look for when we're checking life jackets and all the safety equipment, and it's helping us learn as a team. "I had no idea what Nome would be like," said Tykalsky. "I got to meet a lot of neat people and learn about the community and gold dredgers." At the end of the day, it was a beneficial experience for everyone: the Reserve team built on their skills and local knowledge, all while assisting Sector Anchorage in performing statutory Coast Guard missions in rural Alaska, and the local mariners now have a better picture of how to outfit their vessels for safe operation on the water. Issue 3 • 2014 � RESERVIST 11

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