SAREX Training at Dauphin Island Leads to DSAR Victory
Craig D. Smith FC 081-08-07, Birmingham, AL

May 25, 26 and 27, 2007, three auxiliarists from Birmingham and one from Columbus Georgia rendezvoused at the Dauphin Island Coast Guard Station on a mission that went beyond the SAR exercise planned for that weekend. Just a few weeks before, Don Wilbourn SO-AN QEC 081-08-03 (Columbus Ga.) was seeking three others from Div. 8 to form a team to compete at the District 8 SAR competition being held at Corpus Christi Texas. At almost the deadline for registering, Mike Spencer SO-CS VFC 081-08-07, Joe Putman IPFC FSO-VE 081-08-08, and Craig Smith FC 081-08-07, all of Birmingham called Wilbourn requesting to be part of the team. It turned out to be a very fortunate circumstance that all four had also registered to be at SAREX Dauphin Island. This allowed the team to get together one week before the DSAR event. It would be the only training they would get before flying to Corpus Christi the following Thursday.

Left to right, Don Wilbourn, Mike Spencer, and MK3 Kyle Berry with the P-6 dewatering pump aboard Argo moored at USCG Station Dauphin Island. Photo by Craig Smith

One clear team deficiency was the operation of a dewatering pump that was part of the DSAR competition. Luckily a member newly transferred to flotilla 081-08-07, Therese Musch SO-PA, suggested contacting Bob Gibson FSO-OP 081-03-10 at Station DI, who might set up a training session on a pump. Through email, Gibson agreed to help. The other areas they needed help on were SAR plotting and marlinspike skills. Little did they know how much Gibson and the Officer-in-Charge, Master Chief Petty Officer James Steudle, were going to go the extra mile for the team.

Upon arrival and after dinner on Friday, the team gathered on the deck outside the station to practice knots. Chief Petty Officer Ashley Gordon (now CWO) and other enlisted men demonstrated various knots and different methods of tying them. Splicing was another skill in need of learning and practice. Late that night as the team worked, Bob Gibson asked them to come into the galley. There he presented them with an actual SAR scenario that was occurring that very moment, and asked them how they would handle the situation. In a moment the gap between SAR theory and practice came to light. With some gentle prodding from Gibson the team was able to make some rapid and reasonable decisions. But that quick exercise left them thinking a little differently about SAR as they headed to their bunks at the Marine Laboratory housing units just across the street.

The next morning after breakfast, Wilbourn, Spencer, and Smith were assigned to crew on the Auxiliary facility Argo, a large trawler commanded by coxswain Roland Patterson VFC 081-03-09. Putman was assigned to be coxswain on a few other facilities during the exercise. Before departing, a canned P-6 dewatering pump was loaded on the Argo for later use, as arranged by Bob Gibson. BM1 Arnold Kendall (Station Dauphin Island Operations Supervisor) wisely assigned Machinist Mate Kyle Berry to accompany the pump and demonstrate how to use it.

Before loosing lines and departing, Patterson gathered his crew together for a safety briefing and then a SAR briefing. The scenario involved an overdue small craft believed to be in a section of the Mississippi Sound just north of Dauphin Island. A CASP-C2S2 (Computer Assisted Search Planning) generated search plan had been provided to Patterson and it was the Argo's mission to execute it. The plan was a Pappa Sierra type, i.e. parallel single vessel search pattern. Its proper execution required the Argo to proceed to the CSP (commence search point), then run parallel legs according to plan. Smith assisted Patterson in converting the pattern into course headings and timed intervals that Patterson corrected while running the pattern using GPS coordinates to account for drift due to wind and current. The other crew stood as lookouts, and communications watch. Communications was important as the scenario was changed midway through the search pattern. Next the Argo was directed to another location to assist a small boat taking on water (simulated). This was the teams chance to operate the pump.

For those who have never operated a dewatering pump before, it might seem instruction would be minimal. Indeed inside the can there is a small instruction page in various languages. However rapid deployment requires attention to important details. For example just connecting the hoses requires that the cam like connectors be actuated simultaneously, with a proper hose twist to allow them to close, and attention to the rings in them so they don't prevent full closure. Also the "hidden" switch must be on, the choke and fuel supply levers must be properly set. And the pump must be primed adequately with an attached hand pump. If all is not correct before pulling the starting cord, either it won't start, or worse, the hoses will disconnect with potentially disastrous effect. Those pumps put out 250 gallons per minute.

For the scenario at hand, after the "distressed" vessel was properly tied up along side, the team was directed by MK3 Berry to deploy the suction hose overboard along with the dispensing hose on the opposite side of the Argo to simulate dewatering. A few minutes later the operation was finished, and the distressed boat was released. The pump was repacked and the Argo returned to base. The scenario was finished. Later that afternoon, Putman had a refresher on the pump, flushed it and set it out to dry for the team.

That afternoon, after a delicious fajita dinner in the galley the SAREX participants were debriefed. All seemed to go as planned. All SRUs (Search/Rescue Units) executed their plans and returned without damage or injury. That included aircraft also part of the SAREX.

The experience gained on the pump, SAR plotting, and marlinspike knowledge, while at the DI SAREX proved to be critical to the Division 8 team the following weekend. They beat two other teams to win the District 8 DSAR 2007 competition at Corpus Christi. Many thanks are due to Bob Gibson and the Coast Guard men and women of Station Dauphin Island commanded by BMCM James Steudle for the help and inspiration they provided to the ultimately victorious Division 8 team of Wilbourn, Spencer, Putman, and Smith.