Community Corner

Getting To Know Our Local Coast Guard Station

Open House draws a big crowd at Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light

Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light held its annual open house on Wednesday, showing off a number of Coast Guard assets, from the 47-foot Motor Life Boat to a mobile command center belong to the agency's National Strike Force.

Coast Guardsmen on duty guided the public through the local boats – the Barnegat Light station has two 25-foot high-speed Defender class boats as well as a 23-foot shallow water boat in addition to the two 47-footers – and spoke about their duties.

The shallow water boat, an aluminum-hulled vessel a hair shorter than the rigid-inflatable hulled Defender, is primarily used for local law enforcement duties in the bay, officers said, while the 47-footer is mainly used for offshore search and rescue duties.

A minimum of four crewmen staff the 47-footer, and crews are dispatched to search and rescue missions day and night by the Sector Delaware Bay command center in Philadelphia, which communicates missions to the local station.

Also on display was the impressive Atlantic Strike Force mobile command center, based at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and part of the Coast Guard's National Strike Force, which responds to environmental emergencies and natural disasters coast-wide. Staff on hand said the command center was used extensively after Superstorm Sandy struck, with the Coast Guard being the lead agency in dewatering the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in New York City.

The well-attended event was rounded off by lessons in the proper usage of emergency flares, and a flyover by the Coast Guard's helicopter, based at Air Station Atlantic City.



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