The Coast Guard Years

It was 1979 and I was graduating from high school.  I had to know what I was going to do with the rest of my life.  I wanted to be a NY State Trooper but I had to be 21 and I was only 17.

I met with the Coast Guard recruiter who emphasized that out of all the military organizations the Coast Guard was the most related to law enforcement.  I signed the dotted line for four years active duty and 2 years reserve.

While in boot camp I learned first aid, law enforcement and search and rescue.

About 1981 I started taking classes in law enforcement and was transferred to Security Investigations on Governors Island across from the Statue of Liberty.  It was like being a detective in a large city and I got to work with several NYC Police and Firemen who were Coast Guard Reservists.  They taught me a lot.  Unfortunately 3 of these fine gentlemen lost their lives in the WTC on September 11, 2001.

In this job I was living my dream.  I loved it.  You never knew from day to day what you would run into.  I helped deliver a baby, administered CPR twice saving a life both times, provided security for movie and sports stars shooting movies on base

(Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko,

Harry Gant's Skoal Bandit Race Car, Eddie Murphy,

Richard Pryor, Anne Meara,

Hal Lindon, Dolly Parton & Sylvester Stalone,

and Garret Morris),

chased and caught wild animals, pulled floaters (dead bodies) from the NY harbor, investigated serious crimes such as rape and assault, investigated suspicious fires, responded to accident scenes (some of which I will never forget), searched vehicles and premises for evidence, made drug arrests, had weapons pointed at me, responded to child and wife abuse cases, putting boots on vehicles of drivers who were driving while suspended and of course wrote speeding and moving violation tickets (this was were I learned politics - Officers vs. Enlisted).

I got and received some great training.  I took classes in hostage negotiation, SWAT training, fingerprint training, homicide investigation, and bomb and terrorist training from none other than Bo Dietl.  Yes the same one you see on MSNBC that now has his own detective agency out in California.

Also while being stationed here, I met and married my wife, obtained a black belt in karate and judo, trained for 1980 Olympics, boxed, took and passed the NYC Police exam and studied NY state criminal and traffic law.

In 1983 I was stationed in Milwaukee.  While there I taught Leadership and Management to CG Auxiliarists and helped to develop search and rescue qualification training course.  I taught computer classes to the base personnel and was known as one of the best computer security people in the Coast Guard at the time.  I met several self made millionaires in this job.  The owner of Salerno cookies and Purity water companies to name a few.  They were great mentors.

In 1986 I was stationed in Kodiak, Alaska.  There I took several classes in computers at the local college.  I learned about earthquakes and tsunamis (giant tidal waves).

In 1988 I left the Coast Guard and moved to Mauston, Wisconsin where my wife was from.