UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AUXILIARY UNOFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
By BILL HUGHES
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: May 19, 2003)
At any given moment on a clear day there is a good chance that the small aircraft tracing lazy arcs across the skies over Indian Point, Hudson River bridges or the Manhattan skyline is
not what it seems to be.
Before Sept. 11, 2001, such a sight would have aroused little suspicion among residents. Ever since, it is difficult for many people to see an aircraft flying low above any sort of vital infrastructure without experiencing a dark, internal shudder.
But these days if you spot a small plane flying where it seems that a small plane shouldn't be, the odds are pretty good it is being piloted by a member of a local Coast Guard Auxiliary aviation unit.
Since the beginning of this year, the all-volunteer fleet of small-plane owners in the region who belong to the Coast Guard Auxiliary has tripled the number of supervised air patrols in the tri-state area from the same period last year. As reserve units were sent overseas to assist in the invasion of Iraq and security patrols by local police forces and armed services were increased, auxiliaries stepped in to augment the strained resources.
"We basically serve as an extra set of eyes in the sky," said John Friedlander, who oversees auxiliary aviation operations for the tri-state area and parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. "We don't serve in any law enforcement capacity. Our major role is to take pressure off the regular Coast Guard to free up personnel and equipment to do what they need to do. If we see something that doesn't look right, we know who to contact and how to get them where they need to be."
By volunteering their planes and their time, Coast Guard Auxiliary pilots have saved taxpayers an estimated $8.2 million in the first four months of this year alone. Had regular Coast Guard aircraft and personnel been used to fly the 252 missions logged by auxiliary pilots in District 1 since January, at an average cost of $4,000 per hour, the price tag would have been about $8.4 million.
At an average compensation rate of $60 per hour, the auxiliary patrols cost taxpayers just $125,000. In addition to visual checks of vital areas over water —known as "marine domain awareness" patrols — auxiliaries also monitor shipping channels in the winter and alert icebreakers when rivers are clogged. They also participate in search-and-rescue operations and transport Coast Guard personnel up and down the Eastern seaboard.
Auxiliary members now carry special identification cards issued by the Department of Homeland Security, and were credited by Secretary Tom Ridge for playing an integral role in Operation Liberty Shield, the domestic vigilance initiative that was activated between March and April while the Iraq war was in full swing.
Patrol volunteers have a detailed checklist of situations to watch for, including unknown or suspicious activity in remote areas of coastline as well as around potential terrorist targets. One obvious advantage of having local residents perform such patrols is their intimate knowledge of the terrain and the normal activities in the area.
Recently, Friedlander and his co-pilot, Arthur Ramirez, took off from Westchester County Airport and conducted what has become a routine westward sweep over Indian Point, then down the Hudson River toward New York City. At the Spuyten Duyvil bridge, Friedlander banked his twin-engine Cessna 130 to the left and advised the air traffic controller for La Guardia Airport that he would be headed down the East River into airspace restricted to other small aircraft.
"When the ground controllers know we're up here, they can ask us to check in on anything suspicious they hear about," Ramirez said. "Last week, they asked one of our patrols to visually check the call numbers on a plane that had wandered onto their radar without giving proper identification."
The incident proved to be a simple pilot error, but having a network of volunteer pilots on hand often eliminates the need for ground controllers to scramble military aircraft to investigate.
"Every time we go up, we free up a regular Coast Guard unit to perform other duties. That's what we're all about," Friedlander said.
Sandy Weiser, a pilot from Chappaqua who has been flying with the auxiliary for several years, said that one popular misconception about the auxiliary is, "we're just a bunch of pilots cruising around, getting free gas from the Coast Guard."
"But it's nothing like that; this has become really serious business," Weiser said.
The auxiliary has strict membership requirements that turn away many recreational pilots.
"Our planes must be inspected regularly," Weiser said. "Pilots have mandatory training and health qualifications, and, when we're on patrol, we have to stay on our assigned course and radio in to the Coast Guard's command center in New York every 15 minutes. There aren't too many people out there who want to deal with those kinds of requirements."
Vincent Buocchimuzzo, liaison for air operations for Flotilla 73 in Mamaroneck, said his unit organized a group to regularly fly out of the county airport about 2 1/2 years ago. The group now boasts 15 members and seven pilots who fly three Coast Guard-certified planes, he said.
Buocchimuzzo said his members fly missions every day, sometimes more than one on weekends. Some members have logged more than 150 volunteer hours for the cause, he said.
"It's been a humbling experience to see the amount of dedication that collectively has been put forth among all the volunteers," he said.
Send e-mail to Bill Hughes
We Need You-- The Coast Guard Auxiliary is called upon to provide essential services to the Coast Guard as they focus more heavily on their military missions. We need all the help we can get. You needn't own a boat or be an experienced boater, since our missions are wide-ranging. For information about Auxiliary missions and the Auxiliary in general, go to our Join the Auxiliary web page. You will find there a form through which you can ask that a local Auxiliarist make contact with you to explore the ways in which you can assist Team Coast Guard.
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