Friday, March 06, 2009

Milcom Monitoring Profile - Coast Guard Sector Baltimore

This Coast Guard profile is courtesy of Ron Perron.

The following technical data on the United States Coast Guard (CG) Sector Baltimore is derived from personal monitoring from my location just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. As stated on the official Coast Guard web site the mission of Coast Guard Sector Baltimore is to effectively and efficiently:

• Maximize unit readiness
• Prevent or respond to incidents
• Understand and address our customers’ needs
• Achieve unity of effort with our partners in order to provide maritime safety, security, accessibility, and environmental protection for the National Capital Region, and the upper Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

Coast Guard Sector Baltimore and its subordinate units include:

Aids-to-Navigation Teams in Baltimore; Crisfield; Potomac.

There are Small Boat Stations in Annapolis; Crisfield; Curtis Bay; Oxford; St. Inigoes; Stillpond; and Washington (Bolling AFB).

Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay, in addition to being an active Small Boat Station, also houses the Coast Guard's main shipyard which performs maintenance, upgrades and new boat building for the entire Coast Guard fleet. Due to the shipyard, there's usually a interesting "flow" of out-of-area vessels showing up on the marine channels.

In communications I regularly hear Coast Guard Sector Baltimore, Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay, Coast Guard Station Annapolis. The Coast Guard Sector Baltimore also is assisted by several area Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft which provide airborne patrols of the Chesapeake Bay area during peak activity times, normally April-October.

The Coast Guard Sector Baltimore area of responsibility covers the entire Chesapeake Bay, which runs roughly from the Delaware/Pennsylvania border down to the mouth of the Bay near Norfolk Virginia. In order to be able to maintain VHF communications over this area they use a VHF repeater which is located atop the main structure of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, near Annapolis Maryland. The Sector radio operators refer to this location as the " high site"

Note: No classified information was used to compile this profile by the author.

Callsigns:

BLACKJACK ## is used by Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City HH-65Cs when deployed to Coast Guard Air Station Washington.

GUARDIAN ## is used by Atlantic City HH-65Cs during 2009 Inauguration.

DOLPHIN ## is used by HH-65C from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City working with Coast Guard Sector Baltimore.

PIT BOSS is a Coast Guard entity, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC) at Bolling AFB in DC.

ZEAL ## is used by HH-65Cs during 2009 Inauguration.

Monitored Frequencies:

Marine Band frequencies (Narrowband FM mode):

156.800 Marine Channel 16
157.050 Marine Channel 21A - Coast Guard Station Annapolis; Blackjack helos at Reagan National
157.075 Marine Channel 81A
157.100 Marine Channel 22A - Coast Guard Sector Baltimore Marine Information Broadcasts
157.125 Marine Channel 82A - Coast Guard Sector Baltimore Special Activity
157.150 Marine Channel 23A - Coast Guard Sector Baltimore, Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay, Coast Guard Station Annapolis
157.175 Marine Channel 83A

Coast Guard Air Frequencies (AM mode):

118.400 Andrews AFB Tower
119.100 Reagan National (KDCA) Tower
119.300 Potomac TRACON Approach
134.350 Washington Area Helo Unicom
139.700 Huntress (AM)
237.900 Coast Guard Air Secondary
326.150 Coast Guard Air
345.000 Coast Guard Air Primary
379.050 Coast Guard Air

Stations:
Coast Guard Sector Baltimore
Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
Coast Guard Station Annapolis
Coast Guard Station Wash DC - radio checks from Coast Guard Sector Baltimore-24 Nov.
Coast Guard Air Station Washington - Reagan National Airport (KDCA).
VC-37A (CG 1); C-143 Challenger (CG 2). Two HH-65Cs on rotating TDY from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City.
NCB-5 - National Cargo Bureau unit, Baltimore.

Homeport (Baltimore) Vessels:

1620486 - 16-ft utility craft - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay.
25449 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - maybe Coast Guard Station Annapolis
25454 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - Coast Guard Station Washington DC (Bolling AFB)
25627 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
25567 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
25581 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
25585 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
25588 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
25678 - Defender Class Response Boat-Small - maybe Coast Guard Station Annapolis
26101 - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
26118 - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
41330 - 41-foot Utility Boat - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
41359 - 41-foot Utility Boat - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
41453 - 41-foot Utility Boat - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
41454 - 41-foot Utility Boat - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
49428 - 49-foot Stern Loading Buoy Boat - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
USCGC James Rankin WLM-555 (Keeper Class Coastal Buoy Tender) - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay
USCGC Sledge WLIC 75303 (75-foot Inland Construction Tender) - Coast Guard Station Curtis Bay

Coast Guard Auxiliary:
Aircraft N8782Y

Visitors/Transits:

USCGC Maria Bray (WLM-562) Homeport Mayport FL - noted in the area Nov 2008
USCGC Resolute (WMEC-623) Homeport St Petersburg FL - noted in the area Nov 2008 and departed Baltimore for Florida on Nov 21, 2008.
USCGC Elm (WLB-204) Homeport Atlantic Beach NC - noted in the area Nov 2008
USCGC William Tate (WLM 560) Keeper Class Coastal Buoy Tender, Homeport Philadelphia, PA
USCGC Shearwater (WPB 87349) 87-foot Marine Protector Class Patrol Boat, Homeport Portsmouth VA - visited Washington DC on Dec 2, 2008
USCGC Sitkinak (WPB 1329) 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boat, Homeport Miami Beach FL - communications with NCB-5 (157.150 MHz)