On 4 October, 2006 on Capitol Hill, Washington, D. C., the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS), will celebrate its 30th anniversary and award the AFRAS Gold Medal, Silver Medal, and the Amver plaque for heroic rescues made in 2005. The award ceremony and reception will be co-hosted by The Honorable Howard Coble, co-Chairman, U.S. Congressional Coast Guard Caucus. The Gold Medal will go to United States Coast Guardsman George R. Lockamy, Aviation Survival Technician Third Class; the Silver Medal will be awarded to United States Coast Guard Auxiliarist Toby A. Ducote and the Amver plaque will be presented to the captain and crew of the Japanese-flagged M/V OCEAN KING.

GOLD MEDAL

Within hours of his transit from Air Station Detroit to New Orleans, petty officer Lockamy was fully immersed in the action aboard CG helicopter 6520 patrolling the horrific aftermath of hurricane Katrina. While flying near a ten story building the crew spotted a man frantically waving from the roof. Lockamy was deployed to the rooftop and discovered the man was a doctor and that they were on the roof of a hospice care center with six patients in desperate need of rescue. As Lockamy entered the building to transport the patients to the roof for hoisting he noticed an unbearable stench and found that 5 of the 6 patients were already deceased. A 90 year old man was the sole survivor, but was rapidly approaching death himself. AST3 Lockamy swiftly carried the elderly gentleman out to the roof and assisted both survivors into the basket. They were quickly hoisted and rushed to a medical facility.

After refueling, the crew of 6520 noticed two men waving desperately from a roof and deployed petty officer Lockamy to the rooftop to prepare them for immediate recovery. Nearing weight limitations, the aircraft departed to transport the survivors to a safe area leaving Lockamy on scene. From the roof, Lockamy could hear other survivors screaming for help from inside the flood ravaged home. Wielding the aircraft crash axe he began cutting an egress into the roof and discovered three men in the death trap. Lockamy guided the three onto the roof and returned inside to continue to search for survivors. Once again he heard cries for help, this time from the floor immediately below him. After a set of collapsible stairs crumbled to pieces, Lockamy put his own safety aside and jumped ten feet down where he located three more survivors, one a wheelchair bound diabetic. Knowing the only chance of survival was to get to the roof, AST3 Lockamy stacked coolers as a platform allowing two of the men to climb up and then directing them to assist, he lifted the man and his wheelchair up into the attic. Despite exhaustion from heat and dehydration, petty officer Lockamy remained steadfast and directed the same grueling procedure, successfully lifting the man up onto the roof. After hours of arduous work and determination, eight people within the flooded home were all hoisted to safety.

Continuing their patrol, the crew responded to a woman hysterically waving from an open window. Lockamy was again deployed to the roof where he climbed down into the house and found ten survivors; among them, 3 teenagers and three infants. Guiding the group to the roof through a small window, Lockamy then signaled the aircraft and all were hoisted to safety. Lockamy was left to assist the remaining four to the rooftop while the aircraft transported the six survivors to a safe spot. During this rescue, Lockamy noticed a neighboring roof to be moving up and down and after hoisting and transporting the remaining four survivors he was deployed with his axe back to that rooftop. He cut a hole in the roof as an exit point, but realizing the two survivors were too weak to climb up, he found an empty refrigerator, pushed it on its side and positioned it below the hole to use as steps. These two survivors were carefully hoisted and transported to a medical facility.

After the minimum required crew rest requirement, Lockamy prepared himself for a second day of exhausting rescue operations amidst the harshest conditions imaginable. Again aboard CG 6520, the crew hoisted another survivor from his rooftop and attempted to hoist two more survivors when one of them collapsed. AST3 Lockamy was immediately deployed to provide assistance, but became entangled in a tree approximately 10 feet in the air and fell on the hood of a car when he tried to free himself. Ignoring the pain, Lockamy then waded through the heavily polluted water to the collapsed woman to find she was still alive but in need of immediate evacuation. Petty officer Lockamy carried her off the porch and into the quagmire in hopes of an easier recovery, but after securing the woman to himself and giving the pickup signal, he and the survivor were swung into the fallen tree again. Fortunately, Lockamy anticipated the swing and positioned himself between the woman and the tree to absorb the impact. Lockamy continued to monitor the survivor while the final person was successfully hoisted into the aircraft.

Once refueled, the aircraft and crew continued their mission and Lockamy was again lowered into a flooded one-story home to prioritize, organize and prepare 20 survivors for hoisting. Once the twenty were transported to safety, Lockamy was deployed on yet another rooftop with five survivors. One of the survivors demanded bringing multiple large bags with him, offered Lockamy a bribe of money and then began digging for what appeared to be a weapon when Lockamy insisted he not bring the bags. Realizing the severity of the situation, Petty officer Lockamy launched himself into the basket and was immediately recovered into the aircraft.

In addition to the amazing rescues performed, petty officer Lockamy was actively engaged in delivering critically needed food and water throughout the flood stricken region, providing life-sustaining assistance to hundreds, if not thousands of victims. Unlike other aviation rescues which subject aircrews to hazardous conditions for relatively short periods, Katrina responders, such as petty office Lockamy were exposed to a continuous threat of grave danger, creating an operational environment unparalleled in Coast Guard aviation history. Over an amazing three days, George Lockamy and his crew saved the lives of 77 People from the devastation and carnage in some of the areas hardest hit by the storm. George Lockamy distinguished himself, performing at the extreme limits of personal endurance and aircraft capabilities and demonstrating extraordinary achievement while responding to this horrific disaster.

SILVER MEDAL

USCG Auxiliarist Toby Ducote was unable to contact anyone within the Coast Guard Auxiliary due to loss of communications following the devastation of hurricane Katrina. He drove to New Orleans with his father’s flatboat and met up with local responders to assist in the rescue and recovery of thousands of New Orleans evacuees. Navigating his flatboat through waterways filled with contamination and hazardous debris Mr. Ducote worked over 100 hours in 8 days rescuing stranded victims from their flooded homes and transporting them to safety.

Auxiliary member Ducote displayed extreme vigilance and judgment as he focused on the key mission of saving lives and assisting numerous persons in distress and confusion. This, in spite of the fact that he was constantly in danger as areas within the city of New Orleans were plagued with violence that randomly threatened first responders attempting to rescue citizens trapped inside and on the roofs of flooded homes. After working tirelessly by himself for the first five days, the National Guard recognized the extreme dedication and effectiveness of Auxiliarist Ducote’s operation and agreed to provide protection for his boat and assist him in rescue activities for the next three days.

The National Guard Commander came to the conclusion after three days of escorted rescues that the Auxiliarist and the National Guard soldier were in too much danger to continue the operation and stopped the mission.

This volunteer USCG Auxiliarist put himself at unusual risk to save 250 individuals from dangerous flood waters within several downtown areas of New Orleans. These survivors owe their accelerated evacuation, and in some cases, their lives, to Auxiliary Ducote’s bravery and initiative to respond even when not on duty. Through these actions, Toby Ducote brings great credit upon himself and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

AMVER AWARD

On 20 August, 2005 the United States Coast Guard Sector Guam received notification that an EPIRB had been activated on board the M/V CHEER ARROW. The CHEER ARROW is a 99 foot bulk carrier which was steaming almost 300 nautical miles North West of Guam. After trying to contact the vessel to no avail, Sector Guam first sent a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft to investigate and then notified the Amver M/V OCEAN KING requesting them to divert.

The aircraft located the stricken bulk carrier and advised that it was engulfed in flames. M/V OCEAN KING arrived on scene and the crew of CHEER ARROW immediately began to abandon ship. Fortunately the weather and seas were mild; 10 knot winds and 5 foot seas.

The crew of OCEAN KING made quick work of bringing all 23 crew members of CHEER ARROW on board as she burned and drifted at sea. All 23 crew were in good health and a salvage tug was called to tow the burning hulk back to port.

Thanks to the willingness of the captain and crew of M/V OCEAN KING to divert from course and carefully aid the entire crew of the burning bulk carrier CHEER ARROW on board ship, 23 lives were saved.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) is a non-profit foundation with charitable status, which supports services concerned with saving lives at sea. The Gold Medal presentation was established in 1982 and the medal is presented annually to an enlisted member of the United States Coast Guard for an act of extraordinary bravery during a rescue at sea. AFRAS established the Silver Medal in 2000 (silver to denote the uniform markings of a CG Auxiliarist as opposed to the gold of the USCG) and it is presented when a Coast Guard Auxiliarist performs a rescue under the same criteria as that for an enlisted Coast Guard person. The AFRAS Amver award was established in 1996 to recognize the contribution of seamen in ships at sea to the safety of their fellow mariners. Nominations for all awards are made by the USCG's Search and Rescue Division.