Written by: Shane Mork
Posted by: His proud wife ;)
The day begins with his alarm screaming at 0600(6am). Out the door no later than an hour after dishing out kisses to his beautiful babies and wife. He arrives at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi and heads straight to the locker room to change into his flight suit.
Before towing the aircraft out of the hangar, his entire crew including himself conducts a preflight inspection ensuring that the plane has no bumps, bruises, or abnormal leaks. Once the inspection is complete, the crew tows the aircraft outside. All engine covers, downlocks, and grounding wires are stowed away for the flight. With the pilot receiving a thumbs up, the plane is ready for the upcoming mission.
When the pilot is ready to start the aircraft's engines, it is confirmed that both sides of the aircraft are clear of debris and bystanders that might become injured by the powerful jet blast. While taxiing to the runway the crew and pilots keep a steady eye on all of the gauges and the Caution Advisory Panel. With all crew member in agreement with being ready for takeoff, the pilot requests for permission for takeoff... A couples minutes go by and the request is granted.
Once airborne the entire crew is ready for a patrol along the United States/Mexican border. Taking no more that 30 minutes, the aircraft is at the the border looking for what could be an illegal Mexican shrimp boat or a possible launcha (flat bottomed fast boat). In the distance about 25-30 miles from the border a launcha has been spotted by one of the crew members. Luckily, one of the Coast Guard's small boats (a 33 foot patrol boat) is conducting a border patrol as well. One of the crew members in the aircraft contact the small boat through radio communication, and are able to navigate them to the launcha. The launcha is then seized along with their entire catch (100 red drum fish, 12 sharks, and 20 barracuda) and the launcha crew is handed over to Customs for processing.
A few hours after the crew takes a lunch break and refuels the aircraft, the crew is contacted by Air Station Corpus Christi stating a boat is taking on water and needs help immediately. With adrenaline running through the veins of the crew, this is what they have trained countless hours towards. Once the boat is identified, communication is established between the aircraft's pilot and the boat's captain. The crew is set to drop a dewatering pump to this distressed boat and will drop a life raft afterwards for the boat crew's safety. The boat captain confirms that the pump is working and is having his crew move to the life raft. In less than 30 minutes the Coast Guard's MH-65 Dolphin helicopter arrives on scene and rescues all of the members of the boat. This was a very successful Search-And-Rescue (SAR) case for the Coast Guard today, with a total of six lives being saved and the boat being salvaged as well.
No glory is required for this very rewarding job. Just the satisfaction of knowing a difference was made, makes it all worthwhile in this young Coast Guardsman's career.
(Yes, those are his feet dangling out of the plane!)
Shane & Tanya
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