guard | Common News Update

Oct182019 by adminNo Comments

Decommissioned Coast Guard cutter Bramble to go to auction

Business

Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Bramble, once a familiar site on the Great Lakes, will be auctioned in November. The vessel left its military service in 2003 and in 2013 was sold to a company which refurbished it and displayed it as a floating museum. The company's unpaid bills will force an auction of the historic, 180-foot long ship in Mobile, Ala., on Nov. 6. "We hope that a passionate person or institution will be able to save her," said a spokesman for Inchcape Shipping Services, Inc., the plaintiff in the case. The ship is one of 39 seagoing buoy tenders built for the Coast Guard between 1942 and 1944, and in 1947 participated in Operation Crossroads, the first test of an atomic bomb's effect on surface ships in the Pacific Ocean. The Bramble was l...

Aug112019 by adminNo Comments

Officer in Mexico’s National Guard killed in shootout

World

Mexico's new National Guard force suffered its first casualty in the line of duty, when an officer was killed in a shootout with a gang. The National Guard was launched by President Andres Manuel López Obrador in late June and is an amalgam of military police and federal police. It is supposed to be Mexico's front-line force for fighting gangs. The federal Security Department said three suspects were killed in the confrontation Saturday in Yuriria township in the north-central state of Guanajuato. However, the Yuriria municipal government said five suspects were killed in the shootout, three wounded and seven detained. The town said the National Guard patrol was attacked when "they detected a safe house operated by a criminal gang. One member of the National Guard was killed." Guanajuato ...

Jul252019 by adminNo Comments

U.S. Coast Guard to strengthen presence in Western Pacific Ocean

Business

July 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard will strengthen its presence and test new deployment concepts in the Western Pacific Ocean, its commandant said. "My vision for the Coast Guard is to expand our permanent presence and effectiveness in the region through expeditionary capabilities, which is why we are doubling down in Oceania," Adm. Karl Schultz said. "In the next month, we'll be deploying Coast Guard assets in a new operating concept to strengthen the community of island nations thorough Operation Aiga -- that's Samoan for 'family.'" The Coast Guard plans a 30-day deployment of a 225-foot Juniper-class buoy tender, and a fast response cutter, in partnership with island countries in the region. It is an effort to learn if a buoy tender can function as a lead ship to smaller patrol cra...

Jul152019 by adminNo Comments

Cincinnati Bengals guard Clint Boling retires because of blood clot in leg

Sports

July 15 (UPI) -- Cincinnati Bengals guard Clint Boling announced his retirement Monday after he missed all spring workouts with a blood clot in his leg. Boling, 30, was a fourth-round pick of the Bengals in 2011. The former Georgia Bulldog started 109 games, the majority at left guard, and played all 16 games in a season five times since becoming a starter in 2012. Boling met with Bengals owner and team president Mike Brown on Monday morning to confirm he was leaving football. "There were talks about the risks associated with playing again," Boling told the Bengals' official website. "When it came down to do it, ultimately I couldn't wrap my head around it with the family and two kids. "There's no doubt in my mind if I'm 22, 23 years old with no wife, no kids and it's just me playing fo...

Jun282019 by adminNo Comments

Committee passes bill that would allow Coast Guard members to be paid during shutdowns

Business

June 28 (UPI) -- A House committee approved legislation that would allow U.S. Coast Guard members to be paid during any future government shutdowns. The voice vote came on Wednesday as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2019. The Coast Guard is primarily funded by the Department of Homeland Security, which was affected by the 35-day shutdown of the government in 2018. Coast Guard members missed a Jan. 15 paycheck and were reimbursed after funding was restored in late January. The 41,000 active duty Coast Guard members, 6,000 reservists and 8,500 civilian workers remained on the job despite the shutdown. An employee support program offered suggestions for managing family finances during the shutdown, including garage sales...