Davy Crockett owner indicted on two felony charges

Photo by Steven Lane

The Davy Crockett, shown in an aerial view last March, was surrounded by a cofferdam and dismantled in place.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Columbian News Paper reported today that the owner of a broken barge that polluted the Columbia River and triggered a $20 million cleanup has been charged with two felony crimes, which was announced Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Western Washington district.

Check out the full story at http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/sep/29/davy-crockett-owner-indicted-two-felony-charges/

D13 Social Media movie

Sarah Wilhelm, one of the D13 Interns prepared a movie about D13's social media efforts:



Great work Sarah!

@iCommandantUSCG - More Social Media: The Commandant in the Twitterverse

Shipmates,
I've been spending a fair amount of my energy on our social media initiatives. While I do some of it for fun it does have a very important objective. Effective leaders communicate constantly and recognize that often the most important part of leading by communicating is listening. The Commandant speaks continually of the need to modernize our organization to confront the challenges and threats faced by the nation:

The Coast Guard cannot expect to continue operating strictly in the hierarchical, top-down fashion, but must also adapt to be more horizontal and collaborative or face organizational obsolescence. This is a significant cultural change for us, but I am confident that our outstanding people possess the knowledge and judgment to be able to more efficiently monitor and evaluate the information environment they operate in and effectively and deliberately engage in the dialogue to further Coast Guard strategic objectives and benefit mission execution and support. - Admiral Allen in a CGBlog.org/USNIBlog interview with Christiaan Conver May 2009

These social media initiatives are about creating the collaborative environment that we need to maximize our individual and collective impact, what the Commandant would call our mission execution.



While we hear many leaders discuss the need for openness, communication and listening, Admiral Allen really walks the walk. The iCommandant Blog has given us an incredible view into the thinking of the Commandant and other guest bloggers. The Commandant has extended this effort to Twitter. You can follow the Commandant @iCommandantUSCG or http://twitter.com/iCommandantUSCG

[You can follow me at @veryuseful or http://twitter.com/veryuseful and check out the folks I follow for many other Coasties.]

Here are some of the Commandant's first tweets so you can get a feel for the flow. Please note these are in reverse order (most recent first). A few hints to decode what your are seeing: @nnnnn = some twitter user; RT = Retweet, to republish another users tweet; #nnnn = a hash tag which we use to identify a topic or family of tweets (I use #IGetPaid to acknowledge how much I get out of the Auxiliary).

RT @simplydan: CG-8: Nothing more fundamental to modern'n of CG than getting logistics transformation right. #logmod

about 2 hours ago from HootSuite

RT @simplydan: VADM Pearson: If you think everything is smooth & comfortable, you're not going fast enough. #logmod

about 2 hours ago from HootSuite

Affinity Group Participation -- "Not just a check in the box": ANSO ConferenceOriginally uploaded by icommandant.. http://tinyurl.com/ovj7r4

about 8 hours ago from twitterfeed

RT @CoastGuardNews: Photo - Coast Guard and Navy Capture Pirates http://bit.ly/ScaYK

about 8 hours ago from HootSuite

RT @picanyc: Life Jackets! thinking about boating safety - which starts with life jackets! http://tinyurl.com/ama-life...

about 14 hours ago from HootSuite

Fairwinds, Bernie Webber: Former Coast Guard Station, Nauset, Cape Cod National SeashoreOriginally uploaded by u.. http://tinyurl.com/pmtfot

about 23 hours ago from twitterfeed

#CoastGuard Rep. Coble: would reauth of PPV be an important first step for impoving qual of life? MCPOCG: affirmative

1:44 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Rep. Lobiondo: Need to know what we can fix this year to improve member/family support parity with DOD. USCG will provide.

1:26 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard the way to control costs in acquisition is through 1. Open competiton, 2. Fixed price 3. Remove risk from govt.

1:20 PM May 13th from txt

Floor-level funding for shore-infrastructure ought to be $100mil annually. Rcvd shore AC&I funds in ARRA and $270+ mil in CSDACAA funding.

1:19 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard PPV potential for housing program is more about authorization than appropriation.

1:19 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard MCPOCG talking about CG housing problems and potential of PPV program as a solutions

1:13 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Critical to controlling NSC costs is to not allow a break in the production line between hulls 4 & 5

1:10 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Rep Fazio concerned about MMC medical backlog. Comdt: Fix is in place and backlog being reduced. NMC will benefit Merchant ...

1:10 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard NSC Project costs are under control. NSC #4 and beyond will be fixed-price contracts, signif reduce cost variability and risk.

1:06 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard good discussion on security requirements and LNG facilities and vessels and who bares that cost? Mandated CG security erode ...

12:43 PM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Congess concerned with CG's $1Bill shore infrastructure backlog.

11:53 AM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Marine Transportation System is lifeblood of our national economy. Carries 78% of intl trade and activity trends on increase.

11:42 AM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard FY10 Funding request will provide an additional 74 marine safety positions. http://ow.ly/6Eo2

11:33 AM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Met yesterday with MARAD, TRANSCOM, 5th Fleet & US shippers yest to discuss new MSD for operating off HOA.

11:27 AM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Signing of Arctic NSPD sets interagency policy. National efforts would be enhanced with UNCLOS ratification. http://ow.ly6Es9

11:23 AM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard We can no longer do more with less. Instead we will allocate our resources to buy down risk in the most vulnerable areas.

11:18 AM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Modernization remains Job #1 http://ow.ly/6Em4

11:17 AM May 13th from txt

#CoastGuard Written statement available http://ow.ly/6EmQ

11:05 AM May 13th from txt

#Coast Guard Subject matter for today's hearing available online http://ow.ly/6Fk2 You may be able to watch live from this site at 2 p.m.

9:17 AM May 13th from HootSuite

Good read ahead for hearing: www.uscg.mil/posturestatement

7:01 AM May 13th from txt

MOTR was a valuable tool in Maersk Alabama http://ow.ly/6COK. Read about it in this month's Seapower (P.48-50)http://ow.ly/6COs.

5:50 AM May 13th from HootSuite

iCommandant on Twitter: We are going to try tweeting on the FY-2010 budget hearing with the House Transportation.. http://tinyurl.com/q36ds4

7:14 PM May 12th from twitterfeed

Hope you follow our tweets from our FY2010 budget hearing tomorrow with the CG&MT Subcommittee.

3:22 PM May 12th from web

USCG Social Media Reading

Shipmates,
This blog exists in a much larger context. The Coast Guard is exploring ways to use social media for communication within the service and to our partners and the public. The links from this post will help you understand the use of social media in the Coast Guard.

Note: This post will be updated as resources are added.

First, the Commandant's introduction to Social Media:


30 APR 2009: Wired's Danger Room: Coast Guard Commandant Hearts Social Media
Discusses the Commandant's use of social media.

26 APR 2009: Information Dissemination
Discusses the Navy and social media focusing on the fact that dealing with the blogging community and the mainstream media is not an either/or decision. In my professional life as a PR pro I find that an increasing number of my mainstream media audience is using the social web and that by effectively using a combination of traditional and social media tools I can reach them with less effort to greater effect. at the same time using social tools also makes me a publisher - I can go direct to my audience with the same set of messaging for no additional effort. It is truly a win-win-win.

20 APR 2009: Information Dissemination: Social Software and the National Security Discussion
An excellent post that introduced me to a paper by the National Defense University on social software and national  defense. The paper puts forth an interaction model that is very useful when trying to understand social media and the potential impacts of the tools.

The report includes a good summary of how social software can work for the military services.

The first function is Inward Sharing, or sharing information within agencies. This includes information sharing not only during military operations, but also within offices for budgets, human resources, contracting, social, and other purposes, and coordination between offices and other units of an agency.

The second function is Outward Sharing, or sharing internal agency information with entities beyond agency boundaries. Outward sharing includes coordination during the Federal interagency process; sharing information with government, law enforcement, medical emergency, and other relevant entities at state, local, and tribal levels; and collaboration with partners such as corporations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or super-empowered individuals (billionaires, international CEOs, etc.).

The third function is Inbound Sharing, which allows government to obtain input from citizens and other persons outside the government more easily. Inbound Sharing includes gauging public sentiment on issues in real time (not unlike instant polling), allows government to receive input on current topics of interest, empowers the public to vote or otherwise give weight to other people’s opinions to reach some consensus or equilibrium about online discussions about government issues, and provides a mechanism for crowdsourcing, which is effectively outsourcing projects to a group of people whose membership is not predefined (not unlike a contest or challenge).

The fourth function is Outbound Sharing, whose purpose is to communicate with and/or empower people outside the government. This includes a range of efforts such as focused use of information and communications technology (ICT) during stabilization and reconstruction missions, connecting persons in emergency or post-disaster situations, and communicating messages in foreign countries as part of public diplomacy efforts. It also includes functions like using multimedia and social media for better communication with citizens as part of public affairs.

iCommandant 200th post

Shipmates,
ADM Allen posted the 200th post on his iCommandant blog today. The Commandant launched the blog on 29SEP2009 and, at an average of a post per day, I've found the blog has greatly increased my understanding of our service and the Commandant's vision of our future. The 200th post looks back at the Coast Guard's progress in the blogosphere and lists the official and unofficial blogs ADM Allen reads. It is a great list of resources for Guardians -- covering our service, our sister services, the maritime industry, homeland security and national defense issues, and leadership. On the unofficial list I follow most of the blogs ADM Allen lists and will be checking out the few I've missed.

You'll see that #11 the Official Blogroll is the blog of a certain Flotilla in Portland, Oregon. If you've been waiting for a good reason to start contributing to our Flotilla blog now you've got one.... the boss is reading.

A big Bravo Zulu to Paul, Tara and the rest of the team at the Official D13 Blog for taking such a leadership role in social media.

Likewise to Ben and crew at AMVER who are also my favorite Twitter feed (@Amver).

Thank you also to my fellow Spirti of 76 Bloggers, Paul Ploeger and Todd Mains (of FL73).

Thank you for your service,
Daren

8WR District Conference - by blog

Our shipmates in Flotilla 4, District 8 Western Rivers , are blogging and live blogging their District conference over the next few days.

Check out the Flotilla blog here

The live blog is on one of the member sites (likely because he has mobile access) here

Why does this matter?

1. It is always great to see another Flotilla embrace the use of these new tools.
2. The folks at Flotilla 4 may hear something, or have a different perspective, on the information that came out of NTrain that we've missed.

Bravo Zulu John Halbrook and the Flotilla 4, 8WR team. I'm stealing this idea for our next conference.

Welcome Paul!

Paul, our newly appointed FSO-VE, is the first to take up my invitation and post to the Spirit blog. I hope he is the first of many. Since this whole blogging initiative can be intimidating I've put together the first of a series of tutorials that are posted at the USCG Pacific Northwest blog:

Creating a blog (I've already done this step for our blog)
A simple post
Adding photos from Flickr

F76 members, let me know when you are ready to participate and I'll send you an invite. I'm happy to walk you through all the steps of signing up and your first few posts.

iCommandant

The Commandant has announced iCommandat, his blog and his official Facebook page.