Mr.Dudley, commanding officer of Station Sand Key called for an RFO ( Ready for Operations) which entails the vessel being inspected by 2 Coasties, BM2 Noreikas and BM2 Norman. After the vessel inspection the crew were given written tests on their respective duties, coxswain & crew. The vessel, Going Once, passed the inspection and the crew passed the written exams with marks in the high 90s. This was the first RFO exercise for the year 2012. I had participated in an RFO in 2011 with a different vessel and crew. There is also an on water task associated with RFO which could be search patterns tows etc. that are administered by the active duty Coast Guard. 

 

The task assigned to us was a unique one as Mr.Dudley explained it to us. It required Going Once  taking the 24 boat into a side tow off of the north dock. Now for those not familiar with  the station. The  north dock had the 25 boat moored and the 24 boat was behind it and behind the 24 boat is the pier with minimal room for maneuvering. The crew discussed how we would proceed with this task and decided the best way was to have the docked 24 boat signal up their starboard bow line and when we had them secured to Going Once with a number 1, 2 , 3 & 4 lines we could power off stern first then straighten out and proceed to open water. This was not easily accomplished it took a number of maneuvers due to the limited room to the rear. The task was completed and proceeded out to open water per Mr. Dudley's instruction. He wanted us to drop them and take the 24 boat in a stern tow. BM2 Norman and BM2 Noreikas were the crew on the 24 boat. 

 

We proceeded to take them in a stern tow after going through the preliminaries. The stern tow was terminated and we proceeded to take the 24 boat into a side tow and as we maneuvered with the 24 boat and MOB (man overboard) was initiated by Mr. Dudley who was aboard Going Once. We retrieved the mob object and went through the mob procedures. 

 

Mr. Dudley then tasked us to perform a VS ( Victor Sierra) sector search. However he didn't just want us to go through the paces he wanted to deploy a target or in this case 2 targets. The targets in question was a lemon ( piece of fruit) with a little wooden stick attached to it. The targets had been discreetly deployed by Mr.Dudley and we proceeded with our search. After determining our set and drift we decided on 090 degrees set and deployed datum. On the 4th leg the lemon was spotted at 9 o'clock and was retrieved however the little stick was still missing. We continued on 2 more legs and the little stick was spotted by the crew and was retrieved. The final task was to take the 24 boat into a side tow again and place them on the south dock which we did flawlessly. 

 

After securing the 24 boat to the dock Mr. Dudley invited BM2 Norman and Noreikas aboard Going Once for a final critique. The consensus of opinion was that all the tasks were completed flawlessly which made the crew of Going Once very proud. Mr. Dudley asked if we had any recommendations for future RFOs and the crew suggested he find a smaller target for Flotilla 11-10 crews. He suggested a " red grape " and we concurred that would offer a better challenge to 11-10 crews...

 

It was a very productive day to say the least. We didn't have any SARs but we did complete our tasks in a professional manner and working with the active duty Coast Guard is always an educational experience. Mr.Dudley is to be commended for the repoire and professionalism he displays to the active duty coast guard and auxiliary. 

Bravo Zulu to the crew of Going Once