Developing Next Generation of Arctic Leaders by U.S.
Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham
December
26, 2020
The Seattle-based Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, the nation’s
sole heavy icebreaker, is making its way north for the ship’s first
winter Arctic deployment since 1982.
When Polar Star’s annual
resupply mission at McMurdo Station in Antarctica was cancelled due
to COVID safety precautions at the station, Coast Guard leaders
seized the opportunity to coordinate a future-focused Arctic
deployment.
In addition to projecting sovereign Arctic
presence, the heavy icebreaker’s unusual, far north winter patrol is
gathering experience and honing ice navigation proficiency to
fortify the country’s future generation of Arctic sailors and
mission leaders.
Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Jantzen, the operations officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10), holds ice pilot training in the cutter's wardroom
on December 14, 2020 while underway in the Bering Sea. Polar Star is underway for a months-long deployment to the Arctic to protect the nation's maritime sovereignty and security throughout the region. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by
Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)
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Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Charles Ray noted, “In addition
to executing the missions of today, Polar Star is training the next
generation of icebreaker sailors who will carry on this important
mission into the future.”
As human activity and international
interest in the Polar Regions expand, the Coast Guard must be ready
to protect U.S. national security, environmental and economic
interests through capable ice breaking to allow access to the Polar
Regions throughout the year.
While the ship charged with
aiding these goals will celebrate 45 years of service this patrol, a
majority of its crew is far younger.
“Most of the crew who
keep this ship operating were born more than a decade after Polar
Star’s first voyage,” said Capt. Bill Woityra, the cutter’s
commanding officer. “This deployment will propel our future Arctic
abilities by providing junior members critical familiarity in the
harsh, remote winter Arctic environment.”
Developing junior
Coast Guard members with Arctic experience now will prove essential
in the coming years when the planned construction of six new polar
icebreakers is complete.
Ensigns Madeline Colwell and
Valerie Hines, who graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy this
past spring, are temporarily assigned to Polar Star from the Coast
Guard Cutter Healy, a medium ice breaker also homeported in Seattle.
The junior officers reported to Healy after graduation,
determined to pursue their interest in ice science and polar
navigation. After the Healy sustained a mission-limiting casualty to
a propulsion motor in August, the two new officers joined the Polar
Star crew to gain experience and earn their ice pilot qualifications
while the Healy is repaired.
The goal for both Colwell and
Hines is to take Arctic familiarity back to Healy to continue their
service well-prepared to mentor the next class of junior officers
and ice pilots.
Shalane Regan, a mechanical engineer and researcher with the Coast Guard's Research and Development Center in Connecticut, uses a 3D printer while in the Bering Sea aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star
on December 14, 2020. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by
Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)
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The success of the country’s future Arctic operations falls not
only to motivated junior Coast Guard members, but also relies on
international and domestic collaboration to support the development
of future polar sailors.
Working closely with allies and
agency partners is critical to strengthening a safe, prosperous and
cooperative future for maritime Arctic activity.
Also
heading into the Arctic aboard Polar Star are partner-agency
researchers and scientists, sailors from The Royal Navy and
midshipmen from U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
The range of
specialties, interests and abilities of the diverse team sailing
north will facilitate providing expertise to the crew necessary to
grow the nation’s overall development of Arctic navigators.
As part of the collaboration team, Marine Science Officer Lt. Lydia
Ames, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
serves as a science liaison to the Coast Guard’s two polar
icebreakers – Polar Star and Healy.
Marine Science Officer Lt. Lydia Ames, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, discusses using expendable oceanographic data collection sensors to collect Arctic Data Monday
with other Coast Guardsmen on December 14, 2020 while underway in the Bering Sea. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by
Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham)
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Healy is the Coast Guard’s primary Arctic research ship, which
operates solely in the Arctic summer months. Ames said this winter
deployment north is a huge opportunity and great step to better
understanding the region.
Partnering with Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institute, the ship is carrying more than 100
expendable oceanographic data collection sensors to use in the icy
waters when the Polar Star transits above the Arctic Circle.
“There is a huge void of data for the Arctic – especially from the
winter,” said Ames. “Our goal this patrol is to facilitate the
gathering of science to grow understanding of the area.”
In
addition to discovering data to better equip future Arctic sailors,
Ames is also working to earn her deck watch officer and ice pilot
qualifications to further develop her Arctic skillset for continued
research and inter-agency partnership.
To support the
command with safe ice navigation during the patrol and aide in the
training of future ice pilots, physical scientist and sea ice expert
Evan Neuwirth from the U.S. National Ice Center in Washington D.C.,
will analyze and forecast Arctic ice conditions.
Neuwirth’s
weather evaluations, sea ice analysis, and forecasts will best
inform the command’s decisions regarding safe ice navigation and ice
training opportunities.
While Neuwirth’s role is more
immediate, Shalane Regan, a mechanical engineer and researcher with
the Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center in Connecticut, is
thinking ahead.
Regan will carefully observe and detail how
the crew operates and responds to winter conditions above the Arctic
Circle.
Scientists and engineers who work at the Coast Guard
RDC conduct research and development in support of major Coast Guard
missions. The RDC team already know crews working in the remote
Arctic region face tremendous challenges such as reduced
communications and limited maritime domain awareness. Regan is
working to discover other challenges an Arctic winter presents so
her team can work to mitigate them going forward.
Discovering more about the Polar Regions and how to best navigate
them is a global endeavor. Also sailing aboard Polar Star are two
international officers from The Royal Navy.
Lt. Jacob Stein,
from Her Majesty’s Ship Protector, an ice patrol ship based in
England, said in addition to gaining ice pilot training, he aims to
observe and learn how the U.S. Coast Guard navigates the dark,
frozen environment.
HMS Protector’s crew typically works in
support of the British Antarctic Survey, enforcing conservation of
polar marine resources in the Antarctic region.
Because the
allied sea services have similar mission sets, Stein said he will be
looking for operational similarities as well as differences between
how his crew and the U.S. Coast Guard crew operate. Stein hopes to
use the Arctic experience to best support and maintain HMS
Protector’s polar capabilities going forward.
The Coast
Guard’s leadership role in providing a continued Arctic presence and
growth of resources and partnerships is essential to national
security, maritime domain awareness, freedom of navigation, U.S.
sovereign interests and scientific research.
Working
alongside allies and partners this patrol, with laser-focus on the
development of our next generation of Arctic sailors, Polar Star
will advance the Coast Guard’s ability to protect American citizens
and interests in Arctic waters today and into the future.
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