Buoy tender Buckthorn takes first place in Coast Guard Olympics
Sault Ste. Marie, MI – Nearly 300 Coast Guardsmen from several District Nine Coast Guard Sectors in the Great Lakes took part in the Cutter Olympics held at Sector Sault Coast Guard base on Thursday, Sept. 21. Coasties from the USCGC Biscayne Bay, Katmai Bay, Buckthorn, Mobile Bay, Morro Bay, Mackinaw and Spar – as well as their vessels – arrived this past week for the event.
It is part of the Ninth District Cutter Roundup which is a week-long event that allows members to receive specialized training, provide discussions to enhance operations, test their seamanship skills and strengthen relationships among the crews.
Chief Boatswain’s Mate Paul Segura from USCG District Nine in Cleveland said he loves Sault Ste. Marie and is glad the event was held here. “We love coming to the communities that support the Coast Guard and we appreciate that support. It’s nice to bring everyone together and I think that is an important element. It gives us a chance to see that we have this great organization here being involved and you, as a community, helping us out and we appreciate that as well,” he said.
While the competition between the Coasties was legitimate, the bond they share being together in one place for several days is so important. “We do a lot of training and sometimes it’s hard to get that training due to the cutter schedules so this was an idea to bring the cutters to one spot to focus on training. But we also focus on spirit decor to emphasize good teamwork,” Segura continued.
Each Coast Guard District has its own form of Cutter Olympics. This is the first one that District Nine has done since 2011. The United Services Organizations (USO) provided lunch to all the members.
See below for a video of the event.
9-10 News, Roger LeLievre
