By ROBERT A. HAMILTON
New London Day Staff Writer, Navy/Defense/Electric Boat
Published on 3/13/2005

Groton — Coast Guard auxiliaries who steer their boats under a bridge these days are not just looking at the abutments to make sure they have sufficient clearance, but to make sure nobody has tampered with the structure in some way.

When they walk through a marina, they're looking not just with an eye for safety, but for security.

And when they visit dive shops or bait lockers, they're listening to the scuttlebutt for anything that sounds suspicious.

“We're here to support the Coast Guard, and the way we're going to do it is through MDA (maritime domain awareness) patrols,” said auxiliary Capt. Steve Ackerman, director of operations and marine safety for the First Southern Region.

During his standing-room-only session on MDA at the region's annual conference March 5 at the Mystic Marriott, Ackerman said that, as longtime boaters, auxiliaries are already familiar with what's normal on the waterways they patrol, and they're in the best position to notice anything unusual.

“We're there, so all we have to do is record what we see, and file our reports,” Ackerman said.

“We are the eyes and ears of the Coast Guard,” echoed auxiliary Cmdr. Sal Arico, coordinator for MDA activities in the district.

Another auxiliary said that the information the group collects is often of vital importance. For instance, the Coast Guard is trying to keep track of boat launches, marinas, and other areas that should be getting regular security scrutiny. When his unit went out to map an area where the official Coast Guard records showed six of those sites, they found and mapped 17.

He urged boats with GPS or Global Positioning Systems to accurately log the latitude and longitude of the sites that they help to map, and if possible send in digital pictures of the areas — one auxiliary went so far as to include downloaded satellite imagery and aerial photographs.

“The more information we can get in, the better off we will all be,” Arico said.

The Coast Guard also launched a new program last year called America's Waterway Watch, which seeks to enlist the estimated 70 million recreational boaters, as well as commercial shipping operators and anyone who lives or works near the water, to contribute to maritime domain awareness by calling a toll-free telephone numbers to report anything out of the ordinary.

Auxiliaries were told that wallet cards, decals, brochures, posters, a banner, and Internet Web page are available to promote the program. The number is 877-24WATCH.

Arico said auxiliaries should look for non-traditional means of spreading the word on the program, perhaps dropping off pamphlets at doctor's offices or car repair shops, to reach people who might not be in a marina but might have heard or seen something unusual.

Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Peterson of Coast Guard Activities New York also urged auxiliaries to keep in mind that in a situation that might require quicker action they should call the stations directly on their cellular phones or Marine Radio channel 16 — or notify the local police if there is any threat to public safety.

Ackerman also reminded the auxiliaries that maritime domain awareness isn't limited to marine patrols: people who see something suspicious from the air or out the window of their car should also notify the Coast Guard or other authorities