Mona served in the USCG from 1980 - 1984. She completed "Radioman 'A' School" in 1981 at Petaluma, CA, and then transferred to U.S. Coast Guard "Commsta" Kodiak/NOJ.
After completing a very interesting tour of duty at NOJ, Mona transferred to USCG Group Astoria, OR where she stood radio watches at the Coast Guard air station. It was at that duty site that she became interested in Ham Radio and obtained her novice license and the call "KA7SFU."
Mona's presentation included an overview of significant maritime events that
impacted and evolved radio communication requirements and operations such as
the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and the sinking of the Passenger Ship
Princendam/PJTA in the gulf of Alaska in 1980. In addition, she provided a
glimse into Coast Guard radio watchstanding. Dozens of photos were shown, a
small sampling of which follow:
Sign at Coast Guard training center in Petaluma California. Radio school lasted
6 months and included learning CW, Q&Z signals, radioteletype operations, setting
up ship board circuits, log keeping, radio procedures, radio theory, message routing,
etc.
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Commsta Kodiak and RM2 (Radioman 2nd class) patches. Note the "sparks". The
sparks symbol was the designation for CG Radioman. The Radioman rate was
renamed to "Telecommunications Specialist (TC)" in the 1990's. The TC rate
was later replaced by the "Information Technology" (IT) rate. The "Sparks" symbol
is no longer worn and "Radioman" are a thing of the past.
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Sign marking the USCG "Holiday Beach" receiver facility on Kodiak Island.
The commsta building can be seen in the distance.
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On watch at CG air station Astoria, OR.
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VHF "high sites" were located along the coast to allow the CG to talk with
ships and boats transiting the area. The chart shown above shows the entrance
to the Columbia river, also referred to as "the graveyard of the Pacific" because
of the number of ship wrecks that occurred in the area.
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Mona also shared some "sea stories" including working SOS and Mayday radio traffic. She read the last HF CW message sent by the USCG when they shut down all HF CW operations. After completing her 4 year enlistment, Mona worked briefly as a martime dispatcher. She also participated in radio activities while working as a contractor at the US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland Oregon District Office, and for the Federal Highway Administration office in Vancouver, WA. |
The presentation ended with a showing of MP3 videos of Coast Guard motor life boat training.
73 and ZUT!
