Serving in the Coast Guard (13OCT2022)
For the last six months, I have been on orders with the United States Coast Guard. This is part of my commitment as a member of the Coast Guard’s reserve component. I was stationed in Buffalo, New York at Sector Buffalo. For the first time in my career, I was on active duty orders in the community that I live in on a daily basis.
The Historic Buffalo Lighthouse/Sector Buffalo Grounds (Spring 2022)
Sector Buffalo has an expansive area of responsibility (AOR), extending across three states (NY, PA, and OH) and covering an over 450-mile international border (U.S. and Canada). We have twelve sub-units in communities spread from Massena, NY to west of Cleveland, OH. We conduct operations afloat and shoreside on the Saint Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie. The AOR is immense. During the summer months, the operations tempo (OPTEMPO) is intense. Sector Buffalo has the second-highest search and rescue (SAR) case rate in the United States. This is extraordinary, considering that other Sectors across the country have recreational boaters in the water year-round, Sector Buffalo’s recreational boating season lasts from approximately May to October.
Expert Boat Handlers Navigate the Lower Niagara River (Summer 2022)
The work that we do includes: SAR, environmental response (pollution and HAZMAT), aids to navigation, law enforcement, counter-drug, counter-human trafficking, counter-human smuggling, Department of Defense support operations, vessel traffic screening (over $35 billion in commercial vessel traffic annually), ice operations, and anti-terrorism. I work in shoreside support, I rarely engage in operational roles. We had the opportunity to work on capital improvement projects for both Sector Buffalo’s own facilities at 1 Fuhrmann Boulevard and outlying units in Rochester, Oswego, and Alexandria Bay. We briefed admirals on the issues surrounding fluctuating water levels on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and the damage those fluctuating water levels were having on Coast Guard assets. We responded to a major oil spill on Lake Ontario in Oswego, NY. We helped right the USS The Sullivans, a historic World War II destroyer that was dangerously listing in the Buffalo River and in danger of sinking. We responded to vessel groundings, boaters in distress, and disabled vessels. We renamed the main Sector Buffalo building in honor of Buffalo-born, LT T. James Crotty, a World War II hero and POW, whose remains were repatriated to Buffalo in 2019. All of this occurred from April to September.
USS The Sullivans, Buffalo River, Buffalo, NY (April 2022)
Our partners include a myriad of local, state, federal, and international partners. It takes a team to do a job this big. During the month of October, I have a break and then I start another set of active duty orders in early November. If you have any business inquiries during this time, please do not hesitate to reach out. My cell is 716-572-9123 and my e-mail is matt@mattbplanning.com.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
MB