8/31/2010 Capt.

Paskewich

"C. Alvin Bertel Award"

(Program Information)

Honoree's Remarks

Capt. Frank Paskewich

U.S. Coast Guard
Recipient of the 2006 C. Alvin Bertel Award

April 3, 2007
World Trade Center of New Orleans

Admiral Whitehead, Admiral Rochon, members of the World Trade Center and the nominating committee,
distinguished members of the maritime industry, family and friends, thank you all for being here today to
participate in this incredible honor.

I am absolutely overwhelmed and incredibly humbled to receive the C. Alvin Bertel Award. When I look at the past
recipients, I can only shake my head in disbelief that my name will be listed alongside Senators, Congressmen,
Mayors, entrepreneurs, Pilot presidents, a former Captain of the Port who is now an Admiral, and many others who
have left an indelible mark on this region. I watch a lot of old movies and sometimes try to relate to the main
character. Today, I kind of feel like Forrest Gump. So for me, this is a great day for two reasons, because it gives
me an opportunity to be recognized among members of the maritime industry whom I so deeply respect and have
worked so well with over the last 10 years, and because it’s April, and the Carrolton Gage is still under 8 feet.

Admiral Whitehead, thank you for the kind words and support over this last year. Admiral Rochon, thank you also
for the kind words and for making the trip down here. I can only imagine how busy your schedule is and I know the
Coast Guard and the entire maritime community are proud of your accomplishments. For better or worse, it is
because of you both that I am standing here today. About five years ago at this time, I was within a month of
retiring from the Coast Guard. But through a quirk of fate, the job I really wanted suddenly came open and my
good Chief of Staff, then Captain Whitehead, and my Commanding Officer, then Captain Rochon both yanked me
from the soon to be retired ranks and gave me the opportunity to take the Inland Waterways Coordinator job at
the Eighth District overseeing six Captain of the Ports along 10,300 miles of Western Rivers.

Quite a few of you had invites to my retirement back then; I think I still have the crumpled ones that you threw
back at me in jest at the first ever unretirement party. The rest as they say, is history, and to stand before you
today as Captain of the Port is a strange story of good timing and serendipity and not something typically found in
the Coast Guard playbook. Thank you for keeping me around sirs. The last five years of Coast Guard duty has
certainly been the most fulfilling of my career.

Since my arrival in 1997, man have things changed! As a Department Head and Executive Officer at Marine Safety
Office New Orleans, I used to look upon the job as Captain of the Port of the Lower Mississippi River, by itself, as
the most difficult Coast Guard job in the country. After all, no other region of the country has to work with five
separate Port Authorities, four Pilot’s Associations, a linear waterway that spans 235 miles, 11 separate Parishes,
accommodates thousands of barges and deep draft ships, has large parking lots called barge fleets, and is the
heart of the Outer Continental Shelf industry.

While it may sound daunting, I don’t think any of us anticipated certain events of the last decade that would
permanently alter life on the Mississippi as we know it. Fast forward 10 years and we have seen the likes of 9/11,
the implementation of new security requirements mandated by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002

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with an increased emphasis on homeland security, high water, low water, really high water, and three 100 year
storms in two years. Add to that, the creation of Sector in the busiest port complex in the country, double the
number of phone calls that keeps me up all hours of the night because of the heavy search and rescue load here,
more than double the growth in staff as a result of Sectorizing from 270 to 700+ personnel, have the largest
natural disaster in the history of the country hit you 11 days after taking command, and now I can honestly say I
believe I have the most challenging job in the Coast Guard! Except for maybe Admiral Whitehead, who has to
watch over me in addition to handling 25 other states. There used to be a running joke among my peers that the
reason they left me in New Orleans so long was so the District could keep a short leash on me and quickly correct
my errant ways. Actually, truth be told, staying here was my own doing, and I figure its taken me the full 10 years
to really understand and appreciate the complexities if this great river system.

While at times I may get a little worn out from all these responsibilities, I can honestly say I wouldn’t trade any of
it for the experiences which are now emblazoned in my memory. Louisiana is an area I love, not just because I
married an Abbeville girl, but because the ambiance and culture of this region, coupled with the most interesting
waterway in the world makes this place truly unique in all respects.

Of all the adventures I have had the privilege of being involved with over the last decade, there is no doubt that
Katrina stands out as the memory most etched in my brain. Every single one of us here has an incredible story to
tell about where you were, what you did, what you saw, and how you responded in the minutes, hours, days and
months following Katrina. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would be in a position responsible for
running local Coast Guard operations in the biggest natural disaster to hit this country. My good friend Captain Bill
Grusich once gave me some very sound advice upon assuming command. He said “Captain, the key to success in
New Orleans is to get the job as Captain of the Port and just hope like hell nothing happens on your watch.” Great
advice Bill. I’m not sure where I went wrong. I guess I missed the boat on that one.

In all seriousness, I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of the Coast Guard’s response effort following Katrina.
When all was said and done, we pretty much pegged out the scale statistically. When the tally was completed, the
Coast Guard conducted more than 33,000 air and surface search and rescues, the largest SAR effort in Coast Guard
history; responded to 10 major oil spills and 134 minor spills totaling more than 8.1 million gallons of spilled oil,
which was the second largest domestic spill since the Exxon Valdez; conducted more than 900 vessel salvages and
hundreds of miles of cleanup in navigable waterways; replaced hundreds of destroyed aids to navigation and
reopened the Mississippi River to traffic in a remarkable 4 days.

I always knew I was part of a great organization with a tremendous mission and noble goals of safety, security and
environmental protection, which is why I have lasted 26 years in this great service, but to watch the men and
women of the Coast Guard perform as they did in such a magnitude during crunch time when the nation needed us
most was incredible to witness. To see more than 4500 Coast Guard men and women representing 10% of the
entire Coast Guard, 40% of our aviation assets, and people from all corners of the country including Maine, Alaska,
Hawaii, Florida and California, surge in to conduct all of our missions simultaneously was something to behold.
During Katrina, I realized that we had trained all our careers to handle a Katrina sized event.

For starters, the missions we conducted are those which we perform day in and day out. Whether it’s Search and
Rescue, pollution response or waterways management, we are used to working with local, state and federal
agencies as well as the maritime industry to achieve results. While it is sometimes difficult to meander that fine
line between partner and regulator, the relationships, trust and cooperation forged over time are ultimately what
got it done. Secondly, we train religiously, and that training paid off in spades. Whether it was setting up an
Incident Command System to establish Command and Control, or driving a flood punt in the middle of a flooded
city to pull someone from their attic, or hoisting a stranded person off a rooftop, or picking up spilled oil, or
setting an Aid to Navigation, the skills that our men and women have acquired allows us to carry out all of our
mandated missions concurrently. Thirdly, we believe in the philosophy of empowerment.

In reflection, I am continually amazed at how our people performed, which is even more amazing when you see

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that many of them are just out of high school or are in their early or mid twenties. Those who were onscene knew
what they had to do and the bounds in which to make intelligent risk based decisions. When a disaster of this
magnitude strikes, too much micromanagement from above is not a good recipe for success. If you organize
properly, maintain good command and control, set the objectives, lend support when needed, and let your people
carry out those missions, you will usually have good results. I believe the Coast Guard did this extremely well
during Katrina.

Lastly, I would like to talk about a few of the leaders we have. It might be cliché, but the truth is you really don’t
accomplish much without surrounding yourself with good people. I am extremely fortunate to not only be blessed
with an outstanding crew, but to be surrounded by topnotch leaders. Present, are several of the key leaders of my
staff and a few from the Eighth District who performed above and beyond during and after Katrina. I would like to
take this opportunity to recognize them.

My trusted Deputy, Capt Bob Mueller, who led the urban search and rescue effort that resulted in 13,825 rescues;
CDR Greg Stump, my Response Chief, who played a key role also coordinating the urban search and rescue effort
as well as ensuring that homeland security on the river was maintained; CDR Scott Paradis, my Prevention Dept
Chief, who helped orchestrate and manage the response efforts on multiple fronts; CDR Greg Depinet, My Planning
Section Chief, and the mastermind who setup our Incident Command System which gave us a robust command and
control; CDR James Hanzalik, my Logistics Chief, who has the arduous task of accounting for all the resources and
spent funds; CDR Brian Lincoln, who is currently engaged in conducting the largest salvage operation in the history
of the Coast Guard; Ron Fogan, who ensured our Port State control efforts were back online in the quickest time;
and Rob Holzman, who was critical in maintaining a close link with the area Parishes.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t single out a couple of stellar Eighth District personnel in the audience as well.
Doug Blakemore, stood alongside Rob and served as the link between Sector New Orleans and FEMA’s response
organization. And lastly, the recently retired Capt Ron Branch and soon to be retired Capt Todd Gentile. I could not
have managed any of this without their support, guidance and good humor. Thanks Ron and Todd. If you all could
stand, I would ask everyone to join me in a round of applause for these superb leaders.

The one part of Katrina that I believe really deserves mention is the waterways management piece because it
involves nearly everyone in this room and is really one of the unsung stories of Katrina. As you all know, it was no
small feat to get the Mississippi River reopened. From the Head of Passes to the Luling Bridge, some 121 miles in
length, hundreds of barges and ships were grounded or sunken. 80% of the aids below New Orleans were destroyed,
spilled oil was everywhere, and there was mayhem in the city. There was virtually no infrastructure in place to
easily survey the river and of course Pilot Town was destroyed. To compound the problem, the storm occurred
during the height of the grain export season and the refineries needed their feedstock to get restarted. As if that
is not enough, on day 3 of the storm, the District Commander approached me after a meeting onboard the IWO
JIMA and said, “Frank, the President wants to know when the river is going to be reopened”. If that’s not
pressure, then I don’t know what is.

But in all honesty, I knew between all of us in this room, that we would rapidly figure out the extent of damage and
determine how quickly we could reopen the river. With those twice daily conference calls that included the Pilot’s
Associations, the Port Authorities, the Army Corps, NOAA, MARAD, MNSA, GICA, MRMA, GSMA, AWO, GNOBFA,
the harbor tug companies and the Coast Guard, all the right players were in place to collectively figure out when
ships and barges could be moved safely. With the assistance of the maritime industry, we were able to quickly
ascertain which part of the river was impacted so we could focus bottom surveys on those potentially impacted
areas. Once the Army Corp and NOAA completed their surveys and provided us the results, and once we
determined the status of aids, we were able to open up the river above New Orleans and portions of the
Intracoastal Waterways to barge traffic within one day, which allowed cargo to resume moving into the heartland.
Knowing that the primary impact occurred the entire stretch below New Orleans, the Pilots stepped up to perform
heroic work moving ships past hundreds of damaged, sunken or grounded vessels.

We knew that without roads to travel on, and with Pilot Town destroyed, getting the pilots onboard the ships was

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critical. Working with Capt. Lorino, Capt. Gibbs and Capt. Watson, we formulated a plan to move the Pilots
downriver to the ships and to get the necessary temporary berthing in place so that we could ensure the smooth
handoff between the Bar and the Crescent Pilots and so that the Pilots could remain onsite inbetween movements.
We also worked to ensure the safe handoff from Crescent to Nobra at a time when conditions in the city were very
unstable. We even flew Capt. Lorino from Houston to Belle Chasse with Coast Guard Air Auxiliary and had a Coast
Guard helo place him onto a Coast Guard cutter in the first couple days to help assess the situation onscene.
Unfortunately for Mike, after getting a firsthand look, the cutter got diverted to Mobile. Mike called me and said
“Frank, I’m stuck in Mobile”. I said “Mike, it’s no time to vacation, I need you over here”. Somehow, he managed
to make it back in short order and become the spearhead for the movement of vessel traffic on the Mississippi
River. Sorry for the delay Mike!

In the end, the information made available during those conference calls allowed me to open up the river by that
Friday and with Capt. Lorino’s recommendation, bring up light, ballasted ships in daylight hours and slowly and
incrementally increase drafts. After two weeks, we were able to reestablish critical aids and were back up to full
draft with limited restrictions. After less than one month, shipping traffic resumed unrestricted. George Duffy told
me that the world was watching us, that the world shipping market was very antsy about the future in the
Mississippi River, and that no one could believe how quickly we reopened the river. I don’t consider this to be luck.
I consider this to be the result of well-honed relationships established between all of us involved in the maritime
industry. I don’t know how waterways management is handled in other areas of the country, but I believe the
model we use here is the right one and should become the standard.

As I close, I would like to thank the entire maritime industry for helping the Coast Guard do our job more
effectively and efficiently. The volume of traffic you safely move on this river is unbelievable. To those who
nominated me, I greatly appreciate the support you have given me. To my great family, Leah, Caitie and Erik,
your support during these times has meant everything to me and I certainly couldn’t have done it without you. I
accept this award knowing that the success you have bestowed upon me is only due to the collective efforts of
those whom I serve with in the Coast Guard along with the cooperation, professionalism, and can-do attitude of
the maritime industry.

Thank you and God Bless America!

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