USCG practices "vertical insertion"
For a photo of a "vertical insertion" exercise:http://www.piersystem.com/clients/uscg-13/60504.JPG This technique allows the Coast Guard to board vessels from
helicopters.
The press release said that this boarding can be done with "very little
warning", but I would have to think that the noise that a helicopter
makes would provide substantial warning..... |
Chuck
Jul 20
2006
|
| Staircases? Really? I don't guess I knew that mobile homes had staircases. Yale / M.D. / L. boat Cheers. William |
William
Jul 20
|
| All the more reason to show all the respect you can muster for all those
young CG folk who ARE willing to take such risks on your behalf. As an aside, they approach fairly swiftly and drop promptly. There's damn
little "dangling" that goes on. |
John
Jul 21
|
| Cats are amazing creatures. They can get away from most animals most of
the time. |
basskisser
Jul 21
|
| I would NOT want to be dangling from a helicopter on top of a boat full of
bad guys. Presumably, this exercise will be used more for rescue. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| You're probably right. But that's a good photo of the Seattle
waterfront, don't you think? Here's the text of the press release, and it does seem to imply that
the technique is
designed for threatening situations, however SEATTLE- A member from Maritime Safety & Security Team Seattle is
lowered to the Spirit of Seattle from an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from
Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Ore., for Vertical Insertion training
tonight in Elliot Bay. The Coast Guard is now using vertical insertion
to deploy Maritime Safety & Security Teams that can tactically board
threatening and non-compliant vessels with little or no warning.
Vertical insertion involves the rapid lowering of a boarding team from
a Coast Guard helicopter by rope onto a vessel. To view a high
resolution photo click on the thumbnail above. U.S. Coast Guard photo
by Petty Officer Third Class Mike Zolzer. |
Chuck
Jul 20
|
| Very nice picture! By the way, have you seen my cat? She vanished Tuesday
evening. If she returns, she's gonna be SO grounded.....
http://www.frontiernet.net/~dougkanter/Carmela1.jpg |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| Probably going to count life jackets;)
MMC |
MMC
Jul 20
|
| You let your cat outside? Shame on you. |
Harry
Jul 20
|
| Ask your vet which cats are healthier (assuming they're not dead) - prisoner
cats, or cats that run & climb all the time. Mine spends hours outdoors,
stalking me while I'm gardening, climbing trees, snarling at dogs, or
rolling around in the grass & snacking on moths. She Guido'd a squirrel
twice her size when she was 6 months old, and dragged it to the porch with
its head dangling half off. My son's cat (at his mother's) is 16 years old.
She's been going out since she was little. Her daily routine involves
clearing the yard of anything that breathes. She's solid muscle. A few years
back, a large dog came over to the picnic table to sniff her. She made new
openings all of its face. It ended up in the hospital getting several dozen
stitches. Kitty did that with no front claws. Just teeth. The vet is amazed
at the condition she's in. The only real clue to her age is that she bitches
much louder when she wants something. I live in a neighborhood that gets absolutely no through traffic, and people
drive like corpses. So, I'm reasonably certain she wasn't hit by a car.
There's no wildlife big enough to mess with her. So our current theory is
that she's stuck in someone's garage or shed. My son put leaflets in 175
mailboxes this morning. We'll see. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| Are there many Chinese restaurants in Seattle? |
Dan
Jul 20
|
| We let our cats out too - one goes away for up to 6 days and then comes
back... she was stuck in a garage once... |
Dan
Jul 20
|
| Did she stay in for a day, or bitch at you, have a snack, and go right out
again? |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| I'm in upstate NY. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| What's wrong with that? I threw my cat out. It scratched my daughter's
face one too many times. Now it lives on the front porch, which it chose
over the back yard. It's fixed and it has all its claws. |
Bryan
Jul 20
|
| The vets in the practice we use *all* state that indoor cats live
longer, healthier lives. No feline leukemia in your neck of the woods?
Once your cat gets bit by another that has it, your cat becomes
infected, and then if you have other cats, they *all* get infected.
Outdoor cats are also susceptible to attacks by other critters, by dogs,
by cars, by fleas, by poisons, natural and man-made, and so on and so forth. We never let any of our pets outside, unless they're on a leash, or
unless they're in a carrier and on their way to the vet's. Our indoor cats get all the exercise they need, and we don't have to
worry about them the way we would if they were outside. Oh...we also have wildlife: raccoons, foxes, possum, bears. |
Harry
Jul 20
|
| The two vets I've used say the opposite about health. Of course, we're
assuming the obvious, because there are no predators indoors. One of the
vets only treats cats. Lots of cats. > Our indoor cats get all the exercise they need, and we don't have to worry
> about them the way we would if they were outside. How do you know they get all the exercise they need? Mine sometimes runs
across the property 8 times in a row (probably 1600 feet) for no particular
reason, flops in the shade for a minute, then does it a few more times. She
goes bonkers if she doesn't get outside to run around. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| > |
gfretwell
Jul 20
|
| Because someone's bored, so the CG's press liason said "call it new". :-)
Around here, our news has been showing things like "8 yr old falls off bike,
skins his knee. Parents warned again about helmets". A story like that would
usually be read by a reporter "live on the scene", but shot around 10:30 PM,
so all you see is a street sign in a pitch-black background. Or, footage of
the county jail covered in snow, because the TV stations here can't seem to
get their editing right. |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| Because they're running around the house all the time, zooming up and
down staircases, zooming down without using the stairs, jumping from the
floor up to the top of 72" tall bookcases, rolling on the floor with
each other, birdwatching from the windows, eating, sleeping, chasing
each other, 24-7. |
Harry
Jul 20
|
| Have you ASKED them if they might like to go out? Held a meeting? |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| Feral cats are invasive exotics" around here. They get euthanized.
The county will give you a trap and haul them away.
1. If your cat is not "chipped" it will be put down.
2. If it is chipped, you pay $75 to get it back. |
gfretwell
Jul 20
|
| Indeed I have. When I open the front door to get the paper, if any of
the cats are near it, they run like hell away from it. Keep in mind that *all* our cats were strays or abandoned we adopted.
They probably remember how crappy life was out in the great outdoors.
Our latest appeared at our back door three years ago as a tiny kitten,
during a snowstorm. My wife got him inside, and he's never expressed any
interest in going outside since. |
Harry
Jul 20
|
| Is that cat into military re-enactments?
She may have hitched a ride up here. http://www.changingoftheguard.ca/ |
Don
Jul 20
|
| There's the diff. Mine spent its first 6 weeks in a barn, then two months
romping around with 2 other cats and a dog indoors & out. She primed for
adventure. I've gotta get to the mall. I seem to recall a store that sells
extremely lifelike stuffed animals. I'm gonna get her a fake small dog and
rub it with tuna juice and catnip. Training, ya know? I want her killing
live mutts ASAP. :) |
JoeSpareBedroom
Jul 20
|
| Two years ago our new neighbours found another neighbour's cat in
their garage. It had gone in when the door was open..got trapped, and a
week or so later the body was found. |
Don
Jul 20
|
| That's a dead ringer for a cat I used to have. |
basskisser
Jul 20
|
| > |
JohnH
Jul 20
|
| Agreed. I live in a fairly populated place (Alexandria, VA) and we have
rats, raccoons, opossums, fox, deer, and probably a bunch of other critters
in the neighborhood. My vet and Harry's vet must subscribe to the same
animal magazine.
-- ***** Have a Spectacular Day! ***** John |
JohnH
Jul 20
|
