Shipmates,
Catching up on events and travel over the last week. On Thursday we visited Pittsburgh. The town was crazy with anticipation over the Thursday night NFL Season Kick-Off game.
We had a good meeting with personnel from MSU Pittsburgh and representatives from the OSAGE. MSU Pittsburgh and OSAGE manage the head waters of the Ohio River, working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Pittsburgh Waterways Association.
I discussed the upcoming G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh and the security precautions being taken on the water. Units and personnel from throughout the Coast Guard are surging to support this effort.
I also spoke to the annual meeting of the AFL-CIO, Maritime Trades Department. This group represents organized labor. I spoke just before the TRANSCOM Deputy Commander. The issues I spoke to included our recent changes and improvements in merchant mariner licensing, Transportation Worker Identifications Cards (TWIC) and the next phase of rulemaking on card readers, our Maritime Security Directive on reducing the vulnerability of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa, and shore access for seafarers.
Later I had lunch with local industry leaders (Pittsburgh Waterways Association) where we exchange views and I received feedback on a variety of issues including TWIC, mariner licensing, the pending towing vessel regulations, and the recently issued salvage and firefighting regulations.
CDR Rich Timme, CO MSU Pittsburgh, and I also met with the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Finally, I stopped by to see one of our old friends, Max Solomon, who is a director with the Coast Guard Foundation. Max has been a huge Coast Guard supporter and owns a condominium across the street from Station Ocean City, MD. He suffered a stroke last year and is working hard to recover. We miss him and I wanted him to know that we were thinking of him.
A busy day, but a good day. More pictures are posted on Flickr
ADM A
