"This is 732, this is a drill, be advised we have a contact inbound in Alpha."
It may be only a drill, but you never know when the Coast Guard will need to do the real thing. We joined local crews at Coast Guard Tybee Island for "Day One" of a week long training drill response. Chatham County Marine Patrol was also taking part, the county boat is playing the person or persons of interest while the Coast Guard response boat is trailing him.
"He's simulating a boat trying to get into the security zone, so he tries to position himself in a tactical position to prevent that boat from getting to whatever target he's protecting," says Chief Jim Bodenrader, United States Coast Guard Station Tybee.
Many say drills like this are especially important since the Coast Guard does escorts three to four times per week. "It's vital that our crews understand how to use the boats and the weapons so that we can escort a boat into the port of Savannah safely," says Bodenrader.
Coast Guard personnel also practicing using the gun, so they would be more comfortable if the real thing was necessary. However, for this drill, they're shooting blanks. "It's a good opportunity for the crews to actually shoot the weapons with the blanks and use the tactics that they've been trained to in a real time environment and be able to apply the policies right here out in the ocean," Bodenrader tells me.
They says the point here is to keep everyone involved - the Coast Guard, potential enemies and the public safe.
Six people from Chatham County Marine Patrol participated in Tuesdays training exercise. Chief Bodenrader says the Marine Patrol does about 90 percent of the escorts with the Coast Guard and that they couldn't do the missions without the cooperation of state and local authorities.
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