Two U.S. Coast Guardsmen Meritoriously Advanced During State of the Coast Guard Address

By  //  February 22, 2020

program memorializes extraordinary achievements of past, present, and future workforce

The Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Karl Schultz, meritoriously advanced Petty Officer 2nd Class Emily Ford and Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Newberg during the State of the Coast Guard Address, Thursday from Charleston, South Carolina. (U.S. Coast Guard image)

MIAMI, FLORIDA – The Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Karl Schultz, meritoriously advanced Petty Officer 2nd Class Emily Ford and Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Newberg during the State of the Coast Guard Address, Thursday from Charleston, South Carolina.

Ford, a storekeeper stationed at Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), is a mission support expert who was instrumental in facilitating the whole-of-Coast Guard response during Hurricane Dorian.

At the center of the Coast Guard’s Hurricane Dorian response in the Bahamas, Ford played a vital role coordinating logistics and triage for helicopter crews responding in the storm’s wake.

Ford was described as the “connective tissue” between OPBAT Bahamas, the aircrews and Bahamian authorities. She went above and beyond all expectations enabling the rescue of hundreds and impacting many more lives.

Newberg, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, is stationed at Air Station Savannah, Georgia, and was instrumental in rescuing crewmembers from the motor vessel Golden Ray.

The world watched as four crewmembers emerged after being trapped in the Golden Ray after it ran aground in Brunswick, Georgia, and heeled over on its port side.

Newberg was lowered to that listing, burning vessel in the dark of night to save the vessel’s captain and pilot, who were trapped in the bridge.

The Coast Guard’s Meritorious Advancement Program allows for a district commander to select and meritoriously advance the most talented people in the Coast Guard. (U.S. Coast Guard image)

Newberg fashioned a rope out of a firehose to reach the two men. Using the firehose, he assisted the pilot out the port bridge wing to awaiting Coast Guard rescue boats, and then lowered the firehose to Golden Ray’s captain, who was trapped 30 feet below the bridge access, and pulled him to safety

The Coast Guard’s Meritorious Advancement Program allows for a district commander to select and meritoriously advance the most talented people in the Coast Guard.

Meritorious advancement is one way the Coast Guard can honor an individual’s embodiment of the core values – Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty.

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The program memorializes the extraordinary achievements of our past, present, and future workforce.

The annual State of the Coast Guard Address allowed the Commandant to reflect on the organization’s successes over the past year, detail the Fiscal Year 2021 President’s Budget Request and outline the shared vision for the future of the Service.

To watch the State of the Coast Guard Address, please visit www.uscg.mil/alwaysready.

Ford, a storekeeper stationed at Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), is a mission support expert who was instrumental in facilitating the whole-of-Coast Guard response during Hurricane Dorian. (U.S. Coast Guard image)
The annual State of the Coast Guard Address allowed the Commandant to reflect on the organization’s successes over the past year, detail the Fiscal Year 2021 President’s Budget Request and outline the shared vision for the future of the Service. (U.S. Coast Guard image)

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