March 25, 2024 Day 7/93 - Daily Log
Do you have a job that requires you to stay at work overnight? Maybe you're a first responder, a cop, a doctor or a nurse, or maybe you work for Twitter. If so, then you know exactly what I mean when I say that I'm on duty tonight, and I'm writing this post from my dedicated bedroom right here at work.
What is duty?
For those unfamiliar, it may surprise you to know that as Coast Guard members, even when we are not underway on a ship in the middle of the ocean, we are still required to spend a certain amount of nights at work away from home.
Duty structures are different depending on what the job is. Some duty structures have a worker stay on premise two days on, then they go home for two days, known as "two on, two off". Others may have staff rotate on and off work as part of an 'A' and 'B' crew. In my specific role as a Coast Guard aviator, duty is a period of 24 hours in which myself and my assigned crew come into work in the early afternoon of the first day, work and fly in the evening, sleep in onsite duty quarters remaining available in case of a late night search-and-rescue (SAR) or medevac case, then we work the next morning and go home to our families when the next duty crew relieves us in the early afternoon.
On any typical duty night here at the air station, there is an overnight crew consisting of six people. Each person has a specific role to play when it comes to executing a helicopter SAR case that may happen in the middle of the night.
Our six nightly duty standers always include four aircrew members and two aviation support personnel:
Aircraft Commander - The pilot-in-command. This pilot is in charge of the helicopter and the aircrew and is responsible for the safe and effective execution of the mission.
Co-pilot - Thought the duty co-pilot could, in fact, hold the designation as an aircraft commander, the co-pilot is typically a younger or less experienced pilot who is still learning how to fly the aircraft and is learning how to execute rescue cases.
Flight Mechanic - The FM is the aircrew member who acts as the hoist operator on rescue missions. Their responsibility is to deploy and recover rescue equipment from the helicopter, deploy rescue swimmers, recover survivors into the aircraft, and provide medical care to the patient as required. Additionally, Coast Guard flight mechanics go through a rigorous course of learning to become subject matter experts on the aircraft in which they are crewmembers of as well as experts on the different types and usage of the rescue gear on board the helicopter.
Rescue Swimmer - These are the members of the aircrew that usually receive the most attention. They are one's being lowered into dangerous scenarios and are entrusted to act independently from the rest of the crew to recover the survivors safely. The rescue swimmers job is to deploy from the helicopter, utilize rescue equipment to affect the rescue, then, provide life saving medical care to the survivor until they can be passed on to a higher level of care. Coast Guard rescue swimmers are licensed EMTs.
Aviation Watch Captain - This is the senior support role for the duty crew. The watch captain provides the crucial link between the aircrew and the maintenance crew. This person is ultimately responsible for ensuring that SAR capable aircraft are fueled, spotted, inspected, and ready to execute a case at a moment's notice. The aircrew may only take an aircraft at the permission of the aviation watch captain.
Line Crew - And finally we have the line crew person. At the direction of the watch captain, the line crew is the other support person who is responsible for carrying out the fueling and inspection evolutions required to keep the aircraft in a SAR capable status. They are also responsible for ensuring the proper operation of line equipment such as fueling trucks, electrical generators, and the like.
What does an average duty day look like?
One nice thing about standing duty is that I can wake up whenever I want the morning of. Since I don't have to be to work until the early afternoon, this gives me a lot of time to do chores around the house like laundry or cleaning, then I'll typically take some time to make two days worth of food for me to bring. Even though the air station is equipped with a fully functional kitchen, I rarely have the time or energy to cook at work. This is where bringing leftovers and prepped meals really shine. They're something quick I can throw in the microwave and be able to continue on with whatever I'm working on.
Once I get to work, that's when we hit the ground running. Typically, there is a flight already out and there is work on other helicopters that needs to be accomplished.
Right now at my station, we are replacing the gearbox on one of the helicopters after it had an event where the gearbox was deemed to have possible internal damage requiring it to be removed and sent out for repair.
These projects can last many days and sometimes even weeks. Sometimes, forward progress is only as fast as how quickly new parts and components can be shipped to us.
Here's what it looked like when we had to remove the rotor shaft off this damaged aircraft.
One thing I am always impressed with is the level of care that my fellow Coasties take when it comes to repairing and fixing these very aircraft that their friends may go flying on afterwards. Even though we have a bunch of internal processes in place to ensure we are only producing the best quality product, the truth is, none of the processes and culture norms work if there is not a committed core of people who are willing and desire to only produce the best and safest work they can deliver.
As for the helicopter in the picture, good ole' 6537 should be back up in about a week or so. She's a work in progress. I'll keep you posted.
Now, back to the duty day, after we do some evening work to get the aircraft maintenance caught back up, we retire to our lounge or duty rooms where we have the rest of the night to ourselves. Some people watch movies, play video games, and the like. Some do homework, go to the gym, or write (like what I'm doing now). But most elect to go to bed early because the mornings around here are early starts when you are on duty.
Cool, now what?
Well, that's just the thing. Now we wait. We stand duty overnight at the station for that chance that the SAR alarm goes off and we go do what we've trained to do for years: save lives. For most of us, it's why we joined. When that SAR alarm goes off in the middle of the night and there is a report of a vessel taking on water offshore with people on board, we're aware that we are those people's only hope. We want to be there to bring them home. It drives us.
Back when I joined the Coast Guard, I remember gazing upon the recruiting poster with the helicopter on it, rescue swimmer jumping out of it and into the water. I knew that's the job I wanted to do. I wanted to fly and I wanted to rescue people.
And the funny thing is, I thought I would only do it for four years just so I could collect my college benefits and return to my original dream of becoming an airline pilot. Now, here I am, 14 years later, still feeling fulfilled by the work I do.
Don't get me wrong, being away from home certainly can be miserable. In fact, most days it is. We miss so much of life being out here, standing the watch, being ready. I've missed so much of my family over the years being away from home that it's tough to think about sometimes.
I complain about missing a comparative fraction of my family's life when in comparison, the people who need us most sometimes don't make it back, and they truly miss it all. Their families miss everything. So in a way, it seems a small price to pay, to be able to give someone the hope of life.
Until Tomorrow
But for now, it's late, and I must go to bed. I'm exhausted and tomorrow is going to be a full day. I'm going to curl up in my blue sleeping bag on top of this communal bed and close my eyes. Perhaps tonight, I'll get a full night of sleep, but if I don't, that's ok. I'm here to take the call.
Thanks for joining me for today's daily log. If you enjoyed this post or have thoughts to share, I'd love to hear from you. Comment on this post, send me an email, or shoot me a message on Instagram. Don't forget to subscribe to my email list to stay updated on future posts. Your feedback and support mean the world to me!