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The Royal Society of Natural Philosophy has established a school house for the Eslandolan settlement of Weelond on bequest of the settlement's Mayor.
A freebuild for Brethren of the Brick Seas. Heavily based on this excellent MOC here.
The green toenail of the statue, the names in gold, the Belgian blue stone and the liberation photo: the pieces of a puzzle of historic reality, now long gone.
Based on the similarity of the overall view, the photo number & date, I presume this to be another fantastic view of Command Module 103 (CM-103) during assembly & testing at North American Aviation’s (NAA) Downey, CA facility. Possibly bldg. 290?
The dangling hoses from the fixture partially encircling the Command Module are all pneumatic, and interestingly - to me that is - five of them appear to lead into the spacecraft through the hatchway. In the companion photograph to this, they are hooked up to tanks/vessels visible within the exposed aft compartment, all Reaction Control System (RCS) related. So, I assume/d this ‘work station’ was to pressure test those tanks/vessels. If so, I wonder what pneumatic/high pressure, possible RCS connections are inside the crew cabin. Or maybe access to them is through the flooring? IDK, total SWAG.
Also, what I initially thought was the framework of the surrounding structure are the myriad of feed lines to each hose position!
Additionally, per an ‘H-Missions’ Command/Service Module News Reference, at:
www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/CSM16_Reaction_Control_Subsystem_pp1...
which may or may not be applicable (I choose to think it is):
“The [CM reaction control] system consists of two independent, redundant systems, each containing six engines, helium and propellant tanks, and a dump and purge system. The two systems can operate in tandem; however, one can provide all the impulse needed for the entry maneuvers and normally only one is used.”
Note when compared to the companion photograph, which is of the opposite side of the capsule, the complete absence of any tanks. I first thought they had yet to be installed – WRONG, as shown in this very illustrative diagram.
Splitting the following diagram right down the middle; the right-hand side is what’s visible in this photograph & the left-hand side being what’s visible in the companion photograph:
sites.google.com/site/theapolloconnection/_/rsrc/14727686...
Credit: “The Apollo Connection” website
I ignorantly would’ve expected the components to be more equally distributed. I’m sure the placement/positioning is associated with weight/mass distribution, center of gravity & other possible ‘asymmetric’ properties of the CM. Fascinating.
A rare, obscure & stunning photograph that somehow fortunately survived.
Thorp's Building:
Thorp's Buildings was constructed about 1903 for Sydney Hood Thorp, a mining agent and sharebroker who had a substantial business interest in both the Ravenswood and Charters Towers goldfields. It housed businesses which supplied miners with everything from household goods to mining machinery and is the only two storey shop still standing in Ravenswood.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
Gold was discovered at Ravenswood in 1868, a few years after pastoral settlement of the area had begun. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871, but problems were soon encountered as the gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, and a school. The stability of the town was also assisted by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field.
The land on which Thorp's Buildings stands was purchased in 1881 by Ah Pong, although the first person recorded as trading from the site was Martin Braby who acquired the property in 1885. Initially a draper, he went on to become a commission and insurance agent also. In 1894 the property was purchased by Robert Stewart and James Clark and was probably leased out by them as commercial premises.
In 1899, the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period, which lasted for several years.
Sydney Hood Thorpe was a sharebroker and mining agent based in Charters Towers, who had established a mining exchange there in 1887. In 1900 he set up a branch business in Ravenswood, trading as Thorp's Mining Exchange from a building in Barton Street which also housed a chemist and law library. This building was destroyed by fire in August 1901, a year of both destruction and construction in Ravenswood as the New Ravenswood Company rebuilt mining infrastructure, business improved and new commercial buildings went up following two large fires which destroyed whole blocks of the commercial area. Following the first of these in April, the Imperial Hotel and two adjoining rows of elegant shops were constructed in Macrossan Street, next to the Ravenswood Hotel. In 1902, Thorp purchased land opposite these new buildings. It is not known if Thorp ever conducted business from this address himself.
He was a shareholder in Hollimans Limited, a company that had been established in Charters Towers for some time, supplying the mining industry with household goods, guns and sporting equipment, as well as being agents for such mining essentials as steam engines, pumps, conveyors, compressors and parts for stamper batteries. They were also estate and commission agents. They opened a branch in Thorp's building in 1903 and it may have been constructed with this tenancy in mind, although they did not actually own the building until 1920. Hollimans at Ravenswood were 'machinery, hardware and timber merchants' who carried a large stock of new and second hand mining machinery and spares as well as furniture and ironmongery. Thorp's Buildings also had other tenants, including a dentist, and the upper floor may have been used as offices.
The mining boom at Ravenswood did not last and ironically, by the time Hollimans moved into the store, the population had peaked. After 1908 the cost of extraction and continued exploration rose as returns fell and by World War I it became apparent that returns would not pick up again. Buildings began to be sold for removal and in 1916 rail services were cut. In 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed. In the 1920s most of the timber buildings in Ravenswood were moved away, although brick buildings, such Thorp's Buildings could not be moved.
Ravenswood Shire was absorbed into Dalrymple Shire in 1929 and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway connection. Mining had a modest revival in the 1930s and in 1932 Robert Burns, previously a manager of Hollimans, leased the building in conjunction with a partner, John Fritz. They operated as Burns & Fritz Hardware also selling groceries and eventually purchased the building from Hollimans in 1948. In 1957, following the death of Fritz, the building was sold to Frank and Blanche Weinheimer. By the 1960s Ravenswood had reached its lowest ebb with a population of about 70. At this point, tourists began to take a growing interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them.
In 1973 the building was acquired by Sidney and Isabel Kelly but had been vacant for some time before being purchased in 1987 and renovated as an arts centre by Trevor and Pamela Nance. In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
In 1989 Thorp's Buildings was sold to the current owners who opened a tearoom in the building, using the adjoining shop to sell arts and crafts. The upper floor was used for residential purposes. Though the shop is currently vacant, the owner still lives on the premises.
The Macrossan Street Store:
The Macrossan Street store is located adjoining Thorp's Buildings and houses two shops in a single storey brick building. It was probably constructed during a building boom in Ravenswood in the early 1900s and has had a variety of commercial tenants including a long occupancy as a bookseller, newsagent and tobacconist.
Ravenswood was one of several important goldfields which formed a major component in the development of North Queensland. The need to access and exploit gold finds determined the path of railways, the establishment of related industries and commerce and the location of settlements. Some of these were short lived 'rushes', where tent and shanty townships disappeared almost as quickly as they rose. Other settlements based on goldfields became established towns with government and civic buildings, shops and family homes and survived as such. A few became important centres, only to fade away as gold yields fell. Ravenswood was one of these.
Gold was discovered at Ravenswood in 1868, a few years after pastoral settlement of the area had begun. Ravenswood gold was in reefs and a small battery was first set up in 1869, followed by the Lady Marian Mill in 1870. The settlement was also surveyed at this time, but by then the goldfield itself, and the buildings and streets already established had shaped the town and the survey merely formalised what was already in place. This can still be seen clearly in the irregularity of the major streets. Ravenswood was gazetted as a town in 1871, but problems were soon encountered as the gold at deeper levels proved to be finely distributed in ore containing other minerals and was difficult to separate either by mechanical or chemical means. This required greater capital to fund various technologies for extraction. Many miners left for other fields, such as Charters Towers, discovered in 1871 and which quickly overtook Ravenswood as a gold producer and as the most important inland North Queensland town.
Despite this, Ravenswood continued to prosper due to a steady, though reduced, production of gold, the discovery of silver at nearby Totley in 1878 and as a commercial centre. By 1874, the town had a courthouse and police station, a post and telegraph office, and a school. The stability of the town was also assisted by the arrival of the railway in 1884 and the use of improved means to extract gold from ore. A new generation of public buildings began to replace those from the early days of the field.
The Deed of Grant for the property was issued in 1881 to Phillip Benjamin, who quickly resold it to John Ellis, a bootmaker and saddler. As this was already a commercial area, there may have been an existing store on site or Ellis may have constructed one. In 1896 he became insolvent and the property was purchased by William J McChesney, a telephone line repairer.
In 1899, the New Ravenswood Company was formed by A.L. Wilson who raised overseas capital, reopened old mines and used modern methods to rework tailings more efficiently. The shareholders recouped their investment in the first two years and this drew world-wide interest. It was the beginning of Ravenswood's most prosperous period, which lasted for several years.
The style and materials of the store suggest that it may have been built during the surge of building that occurred in Ravenswood about this time. Following a fire in 1901, the buildings on the opposite site of the street were rebuilt in brick in a flamboyant style reflecting the prosperity of the goldfield. Thorp's building adjoining the store was constructed soon afterwards. Unfortunately the boom did not last and after 1908 the town began to decline. In 1912 McChesney died and the property was purchased by Raymond W. Richards, a bookseller, newsagent and tobacconist in Ravenswood since 1902. By this time the field was in serious decline because the cost of extraction and continued exploration rose as returns fell and it became apparent that the field would not pick up again. Buildings began to be sold for removal and in 1916 rail services were cut. In 1917 the New Ravenswood Company closed.
In the 1920s most of the timber buildings in Ravenswood were moved away, although brick buildings, such Thorp's Buildings and the store, could not be moved. In 1925 the shop was sold to Phillip Dennis who opened a haberdashery, drapery, tobacconists and newsagency at the address, possibly in two shops.
Ravenswood Shire was absorbed into Dalrymple Shire in 1929 and in 1930 Ravenswood became the first Queensland town to lose its railway connection. Mining had a modest revival in the 1930s, but this had little effect on the life of the town. By the 1960s Ravenswood had reached its lowest ebb with a population of about 70. At this point, tourists began to take a growing interest in the town, studies were made of the buildings and work began to conserve them. In 1978 both Phillip and Jessie Dennis died and the property passed to Gordon Dennis who owned it until 1984, when it was purchased by the current owners.
Although the shop has had a number of commercial tenants since it was built, for a significant part of the time it has served as a newsagent, tobacconist and haberdashery. It is currently vacant.
In the 1980s the whole town was listed by the Australian Heritage Commission and the National Trust of Queensland. In 1987 Carpentaria Gold Ltd opened a new open cut mine using modern heap leaching processes.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
Testing long lenses for upcoming use in long exposure astrophotography. First round of images are simple star trail exposures. By examining these trails we can glean the qualities of sharpness, contrast, aberrations, and other components of rendering.
I was mildly surprised here, with good overall sharpness, this particular lens will fare well for its intended use.
~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States armed forces and one of seven uniformed services. In addition to being a military branch at all times, it is unique among the armed forces in that it is also a maritime law enforcement agency (with jurisdiction both domestically and in international waters) and a federal regulatory agency. It is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
As one of the five armed forces and the smallest armed service of the United States, its stated mission is to protect the public, the environment, and the United States economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests may be at risk, including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and inland waterways.
The Coast Guard has many statutory missions, which are listed below in this article.
Overview
Description
The Coast Guard, in its literature, describes itself as "a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America." It differs from the other armed services of the US in that the other four armed services are components of the Department of Defense.
In addition, the Coast Guard has separate legal authority than the other four armed services. The Coast Guard operates under Title 10 of the United States Code and its other organic authorities, e.g., Titles 6, 14, 19, 33, 46, etc., simultaneously. Because of its legal authority, the Coast Guard can conduct military operations under the Department of Defense or directly for the President in accordance with 14 USC 1-3, and Title 10.
Role
The United States Coast Guard has a broad and important role in homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and the maintenance of river, intracoastal and offshore aids to navigation (ATON). Founded by Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Cutter Service on August 4, 1790, it lays claim to being the United States' oldest continuous seagoing service. As of October 2006, the Coast Guard has approximately 46,000 men and women on active duty, 8,100 reservists, 7,000 full time civilian employees and 30,000 active auxiliarists.[1]
While most military services are either at war or training for war, the Coast Guard is deployed every day. When not in war, the Coast Guard has duties that include maritime law enforcement, maintaining aids to navigation, marine safety, and both military and civilian search and rescue—all in addition to its typical homeland security and military duties, such as port security.
The service's decentralized organization and readiness for missions that can occur at any time on any day, is often lauded for making it highly effective, extremely agile and very adaptable in a broad range of emergencies. In a 2005 article in TIME Magazine following Hurricane Katrina, the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself."[2]
The Coast Guard's motto is Semper Paratus, meaning "Always Ready". The service has participated in every U.S. conflict from 1790 through to today, including landing US troops on D-Day and on the Pacific Islands in World War II, in extensive patrols and shore bombardment during the Vietnam War, and multiple roles in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Maritime interception operations, coastal security, transportation security, and law enforcement detachments are its major roles in Iraq.
The formal name for a member of the Coast Guard is "Coast Guardsman", irrespective of gender. An informal name is "Coastie." "Team Coast Guard" refers to the three branches of the Coast Guard as a whole: the regulars, the Coast Guard Reserve, and the civilian volunteers of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Search and Rescue
See National Search and Rescue Committee
Search and Rescue (SAR) is one of the Coast Guard's oldest missions. The National Search and Rescue Plan[3] designates the United States Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime SAR operations, and the United States Air Force as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR. Both agencies maintain Rescue Coordination Centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for both military and civilian search and rescue.
* USCG Rescue Coordination Centers
National Response Center
Operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Response Center (NRC) is the sole U.S. Government point of contact for reporting environmental spills, contamination, and pollution
The primary function of the National Response Center (NRC) is to serve as the sole national point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological discharges into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill data for Federal On-Scene Coordinators and serving as the communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria. The NRC also takes Terrorist/Suspicious Activity Reports and Maritime Security Breach Reports. Details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan.[4]
* U.S. National Response Team
Authority as an armed service
The five uniformed services that make up the Armed Forces are defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(a)(4):
“ The term “armed forces” means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. ”
The Coast Guard is further defined by 14 U.S.C. § 1:
“ The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times. The Coast Guard shall be a service in the Department of Homeland Security, except when operating as a service in the Navy. ”
Coast Guard organization and operation is as set forth in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
On February 25, 2003, the Coast Guard was placed under the Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C. § 3 as amended by section 211 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Defense as a service in the Department of the Navy. 14 U.S.C. § 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce federal law. Further, the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act which restrict the law enforcement activities of the other four military services within United States territory.
On October 17, 2007, the Coast Guard joined with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to adopt a new maritime strategy called A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower that raised the notion of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct of war.[5] This new strategy charted a course for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent regional crises, manmade or natural, from occurring or reacting quickly should one occur to avoid negative impacts to the United States. During the launch of the new U.S. maritime strategy at the International Seapower Symposium at the U.S. Naval War College, 2007, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said the new maritime strategy reinforced the time-honored missions the service carried out in this U.S. since 1790. "It reinforces the Coast Guard maritime strategy of safety, security and stewardship, and it reflects not only the global reach of our maritime services but the need to integrate and synchronize and act with our coalition and international partners to not only win wars ... but to prevent wars," Allen said.
Authority as a law enforcement agency
14 U.S.C. § 89 is the principal source of Coast Guard enforcement authority.
14 U.S.C. § 143 and 19 U.S.C. § 1401 empower US Coast Guard Active and Reserves members as customs officers. This places them under 19 U.S.C. § 1589a, which grants customs officers general law enforcement authority, including the authority to:
(1) carry a firearm;
(2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States;
(3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and
(4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of the Treasury may designate.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to the House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary on its 2006 Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities identified the U.S. Coast Guard as one of 104 federal components employed which employed law enforcement officers.[7] The Report also included a summary table of the authorities of the U.S. Coast Guard's 192 special agents and 3,780 maritime law enforcement boarding officers.[8]
Coast Guardsmen have the legal authority to carry their service-issued firearms on and off base, thus giving them greater flexibility when being called to service. This is not always done, however, in practice; at many Coast Guard stations, commanders prefer to have all service-issued weapons in armories. Still, one court has held that Coast Guard boarding officers are qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry personal firearms off-duty for self-defense.[9]
As members of a military service, Coast Guardsmen on active and reserve service are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and receive the same pay and allowances as members of the same pay grades in the other uniformed services.
History
Main article: History of the United States Coast Guard
Marines holding a sign thanking the US Coast Guard after the battle of Guam.
Marines holding a sign thanking the US Coast Guard after the battle of Guam.
The roots of the Coast Guard lie in the United States Revenue Cutter Service established by Alexander Hamilton under the Department of the Treasury on August 4, 1790. Until the re-establishment of the United States Navy in 1798, the Revenue Cutter Service was the only naval force of the early U.S. It was established to collect taxes from a brand new nation of patriot smugglers. When the officers were out at sea, they were told to crack down on piracy; while they were at it, they might as well rescue anyone in distress.[10]
"First Fleet" is a term occasionally used as an informal reference to the US Coast Guard, although as far as one can detect the United States has never in fact officially used this designation with reference either to the Coast Guard or any element of the US Navy. The informal appellation honors the fact that between 1790 and 1798, there was no United States Navy and the cutters which were the predecessor of the US Coast Guard were the only warships protecting the coast, trade, and maritime interests of the new republic.[11]
The modern Coast Guard can be said to date to 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and Congress formalized the existence of the new organization. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was brought under its purview. In 1942, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was transferred to the Coast Guard. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from the Department of the Treasury to the newly formed Department of Transportation, an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as a service of the Department of the Navy. This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War, in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter. The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole under the Navy was in World War II. More often, military and combat units within the Coast Guard will operate under Navy operational control while other Coast Guard units will remain under the Department of Homeland Security.
Organization
Main article: Organization of the United States Coast Guard
The headquarters of the Coast Guard is at 2100 Second Street, SW, in Washington, D.C. In 2005, the Coast Guard announced tentative plans to relocate to the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington. That project is currently on hold because of environmental, historical, and congressional concerns. As of July 2006, there are several possible locations being considered, including the current headquarters location.
Personnel
Commissioned Officer Corps
There are many routes by which individuals can become commissioned officers in the US Coast Guard. The most common are:
United States Coast Guard Academy
Main article: United States Coast Guard Academy
The United States Coast Guard Academy is located on the Thames River in New London, Connecticut. It is the only military academy to which no Congressional or presidential appointments are made. All cadets enter by open competition utilizing SAT scores, high school grades, extracurricular activities, and other criteria. About 225 cadets are commissioned ensigns each year. Graduates of the Academy are obligated to serve five years on active duty. Most graduates (about 70%) are assigned to duty aboard a Coast Guard cutter after graduation, either as Deck Watch Officers (DWO) or as Student Engineers. Smaller numbers are assigned to flight training (about 10% of the class) or to shore duty at Coast Guard Sectors, Districts, or Area headquarters unit.
Officer Candidate School
In addition to the Academy, prospective officers may enter the Coast Guard through the Officer Candidate School (OCS) at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. OCS is a rigorous 17-week course of instruction which prepares candidates to serve effectively as officers in the United States Coast Guard. In addition to indoctrinating students into a military life-style, OCS also provides a wide range of highly technical information necessary for performing the duties of a Coast Guard officer.
Graduates of the program typically receive a commission in the Coast Guard at the rank of Ensign, but some with advanced graduate degrees can enter as Lieutenant (junior grade) or Lieutenant. Graduating OCS officers entering Active Duty are required to serve a minimum of three years, while graduating Reserve officers are required to serve four years. Graduates may be assigned to a ship, flight training, to a staff job, or to an operations ashore billet. However, first assignments are based on the needs of the Coast Guard. Personal desires and performance at OCS are considered. All graduates must be available for worldwide assignment.
In addition to United States citizens, foreign cadets and candidates also attend Coast Guard officer training. OCS represents the source of the majority of commissions in the Coast Guard, and is the primary channel through which enlisted ranks can ascend to the officer corps.
Direct Commission Officer Program
The Coast Guard's Direct Commission Officer course is administered by Officer Candidate School. Depending on the specific program and background of the individual, the course is three, four or five weeks long. The first week of the five-week course is an indoctrination week. The DCO program is designed to commission officers with highly specialized professional training or certain kinds of previous military experience. For example, lawyers entering as JAGs, doctors, intelligence officers, and others can earn commissions through the DCO program. (Chaplains are provided to the Coast Guard by the US Navy.)
College Student Pre-Comissioning Initiative (CSPI)
The College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) is a scholarship program for college sophomores. This program provides students with valuable leadership, management, law enforcement, navigation and marine science skills and training. It also provides full payment of school tuition, fees, textbooks, a salary, medical insurance and other benefits during a student's junior and senior year of college. The CSPI program guarantees training at Officer Candidate School (OCS) upon successful completion of all program requirements. Each student is expected to complete his/her degree and all Coast Guard training requirements. Following the completion of OCS and commission as a Coast Guard officer, each student will be required to serve on active duty (full time) as an officer for 3 years.
Benefits: Full tuition, books and fees paid for two years, monthly salary of approximately $2,000, medical and life insurance, 30 days paid vacation per year, leadership training.
ROTC
Unlike the other armed services, the Coast Guard does not sponsor an ROTC program. It does, however, sponsor one Junior ROTC ("JROTC") program at the MAST Academy.
Chief Warrant Officers
Highly qualified enlisted personnel from E-6 through E-9, and with a minimum of eight years of experience, can compete each year for appointment as a Chief Warrant Officer (or CWO). Successful candidates are chosen by a board and then commissioned as Chief Warrant Officers (CWO-2) in one of sixteen specialties. Over time Chief Warrant Officers may be promoted to CWO-3 and CWO-4. The ranks of Warrant Officer (WO-1) and CWO-5 are not currently used in the Coast Guard. Chief Warrant Officers may also compete for the Chief Warrant Officer to Lieutenant program. If selected, the officer will be promoted to Lieutenant (O-3E). The "E" designates over four years active duty service as a Warrant Officer or Enlisted member and entitles the member to a higher rate of pay than other lieutenants.
Enlisted
Newly enlisted personnel are sent to 8 weeks of Basic Training at the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May in Cape May, New Jersey.
The current nine Recruit Training Objectives are:
* Self-discipline
* Military skills
* Marksmanship
* Vocational skills and academics
* Military bearing
* Physical fitness and wellness
* Water survival and swim qualifications
* Esprit de corps
* Core values (Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty)
Service Schools
Following graduation, most members are sent to their first unit while they await orders to attend advanced training in Class "A" Schools, in their chosen rating, the naval term for Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Members who earned high ASVAB scores or who were otherwise guaranteed an "A" School of choice while enlisting can go directly to their "A" School upon graduation from Boot Camp.
[edit] The Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy
The Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy is located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Charleston, South Carolina, following relocation and merger of the former Law Enforcement School at Yorktown, Virginia, and the former Boarding Team Member School at Petaluma, California.
The Academy presents five courses:
* Boarding officer
* Boarding team member, which is a small part of the boarding officer course
* Radiation detection course, which is a level II operator coruse
* Vessel inspection class for enforcing Captain of the Port orders.
Training ranges from criminal law and the use of force to boarding team member certification to the use of radiation detection equipment. Much of the training is live, using handguns with laser inserts or firing non-lethal rounds.[12]
[edit] Petty Officers
Petty officers follow career development paths very similar to those of US Navy petty officers.
[edit] Chief Petty Officers
Enlisted Coast Guard members who have reached the pay grade of E-7, or Chief Petty Officer, must attend the U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy at Training Center Petaluma in Petaluma, California, or an equivalent Department of Defense school, in order to be advanced to pay grade E-8. United States Air Force master sergeants, as well as international students representing their respective maritime services, are also eligible to attend the Academy. The basic themes of this school are:
* Professionalism
* Leadership
* Communications
* Systems thinking and lifelong learning
Equipment
The equipment of the USCG consists of thousands of vehicles (boats, ships, helicopters, fixed-winged aircraft, automobiles), communication systems (radio equipment, radio networks, radar, data networks), weapons, infrastructure such as United States Coast Guard Air Stations and local Small Boat Stations, each in a large variety.
Main article: Equipment of the United States Coast Guard
Symbols
Core values
The Coast Guard, like the other armed services of the United States, has a set of core values which serve as basic ethical guidelines to Coast Guard members. As listed in the recruit pamphlet, The Helmsman,[13] they are:
* Honor: Absolute integrity is our standard. A Coast Guardsman demonstrates honor in all things: never lying, cheating, or stealing. We do the right thing because it is the right thing to do—all the time.
* Respect: We value the dignity and worth of people: whether a stranded boater, an immigrant, or a fellow Coast Guard member; we honor, protect, and assist.
* Devotion to Duty: A Coast Guard member is dedicated to five maritime security roles: Maritime Safety, Maritime Law Enforcement, Marine Environmental Protection, Maritime Mobility and National Defense. We are loyal and accountable to the public trust. We welcome responsibility.
Coast Guard Ensign
The Coast Guard Ensign (flag) was first flown by the Revenue Cutter Service in 1799 to distinguish revenue cutters from merchant ships. The order stated the Ensign would be "16 perpendicular stripes, alternate red and white, the union of the ensign to be the arms of the United States in a dark blue on a white field." (There were 16 states in the United States at the time).
The purpose of the flag is to allow ship captains to easily recognize those vessels having legal authority to stop and board them. This flag is flown only as a symbol of law enforcement authority and is never carried as a parade standard.
Coast Guard Standard
The Coast Guard Standard is used in parades and carries the battle honors of the U.S. Coast Guard. It was derived from the jack of the Coast Guard ensign which used to fly from the stern of revenue cutters. The emblem is a blue eagle from the coat of arms of the United States on a white field. Above the eagle are the words "UNITED STATES COAST GUARD;" below the eagle is the motto, "SEMPER PARATUS" and the inscription "1790."
Racing Stripe
The Racing Stripe was designed in 1964 by the industrial design office of Raymond Loewy Associates to give the Coast Guard a distinctive, modern image and was first used in 1967. The symbol is a narrow blue bar, a narrow white stripe between, and a broad red[15] bar with the Coast Guard shield centered. The stripes are canted at a 64 degree angle, coincidentally the year the Racing Stripe was designed. The Stripe has been adopted for the use of other coast guards, such as the Canadian Coast Guard, the Italian Guardia Costiera, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Australian Customs Service. Auxiliary vessels maintained by the Coast Guard also carry the Stripe in inverted colors.
[edit] Semper Paratus
The official march of the Coast Guard is "Semper Paratus" (Latin for "Always Ready"). An audio clip can be found at [3].
Missions
The Coast Guard carries out five basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The five roles are:
* Maritime safety (including search and rescue)
* Maritime mobility
* maritime security
* National defense
* Protection of natural resources
The eleven statutory missions, found in section 888 of the Homeland Security Act are:
* Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security (PWCS)
* Counter Drug Law Enforcement
* Migrant Interdiction
* Other Law Enforcement (foreign fisheries)
* Living Marine Resources (domestic fisheries)
* Marine (maritime) Safety
* Marine (maritime) Environmental Protection
* Ice Operations
* Aids to Navigation (ATON)
* Defense Readiness
* Marine (maritime) Environmental Response
The OMEGA navigation system and the LORAN-C transmitters outside the USA were also run by the United States Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard Omega Stations at Lamoure, North Dakota and Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i (Oahu) were both formally decommissioned and shut down on September 30, 1997.
[edit] Uniforms
In 1972, the current Coast Guard dress blue uniform was introduced for wear by both officers and enlisted personnel; the transition was completed during 1974. (Previously, a U.S. Navy-style uniform with Coast Guard insignia was worn.) Relatively similar in appearance to the old-style U.S. Air Force uniforms, the uniform consists of a blue four-pocket single breasted jacket and trousers in a slightly darker shade. A light-blue button-up shirt with a pointed collar, two front button-flap pockets, "enhanced" shoulder boards for officers, and pin-on collar insignia for Chief Petty Officers and enlisted personnel is worn when in shirt-sleeve order (known as "Tropical Blue Long"). It is similar to the World War II-era uniforms worn by Coast Guard Surfmen. Officer rank insignia parallels that of the U.S. Navy but with the gold Navy "line" star being replaced with the gold Coast Guard Shield and with the Navy blue background color replaced by Coast Guard blue. Enlisted rank insignia is also similar to the Navy with the Coast Guard shield replacing the eagle on collar and cap devices. Group Rate marks (stripes) for junior enlisted members (E-3 and below) also follow U. S. Navy convention with white for seaman, red for fireman, and green for airman. In a departure from the U. S. Navy conventions, all petty Officers E-6 and below wear red chevrons and all Chief Petty Officers wear gold. Unlike the US Navy, officers and CPO's do not wear khaki; all personnel wear the same color uniform. See USCG Uniform Regulations [4] for current regulations.
Coast Guard officers also have a white dress uniform, typically used for formal parade and change-of-command ceremonies. Chief Petty Officers, Petty Officers, and enlisted rates wear the standard Service Dress Blue uniform for all such ceremonies, except with a white shirt (replacing the standard light-blue). A white belt may be worn for honor guards. A mess dress uniform is worn by members for formal (black tie) evening ceremonies.
The current working uniform of a majority of Coast Guard members is the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU). The ODU is similar to the Battle Dress Uniform of other armed services, both in function and style. However, the ODU is in a solid dark blue with no camouflage patterns and does not have lower pockets on the blouse. The ODU is worn with steel-toed boots in most circumstances, but low-cut black or brown boat shoes may be prescribed for certain situations. The former dark blue working uniform has been withdrawn from use by the Coast Guard but may be worn by Auxiliarists until no longer serviceable. There is a second phase of Operational Dress Uniforms currently in the trial phases. This prototype resembles the current Battle Dress blouse, which is worn on the outside, rather than tucked in.
Coast Guard members serving in expeditionary combat units such as Port Security Units, Law Enforcement Detachments, and others, wear working operational uniforms that resemble Battle Dress uniforms, complete with "woodland" or "desert" camouflage colors. These units typically serve under, or with, the other armed services in combat theaters, necessitating similar uniforms.
Enlisted Coast Guardsmen wear the combination covers for full dress, a garrison cover for Class "B," wear, and a baseball-style cover either embroidered with "U.S. Coast Guard" in gold block lettering or the name of their ship, unit or station in gold, for the ODU uniform. Male and female company commanders (the Coast Guard equivalent of Marine Corps drill instructors) at Training Center Cape May wear the traditional "Smokey the Bear" campaign hat.
A recent issue of the Reservist magazine was devoted to a detailed and easy to understand graphical description of all the authorized uniforms.
[edit] Issues
The Coast Guard faces several issues in the near future.
Lack of coverage affects many areas with high maritime traffic. For example, local officials in Scituate, Massachusetts, have complained that there is no permanent Coast Guard station, and the presence of the Coast Guard in winter is vital. One reason for this lack of coverage is the relatively high cost of building storm-proof buildings on coastal property; the Cape Hatteras station was abandoned in 2005 after winter storms wiped out the 12-foot (3.7 m) sand dune serving as its protection from the ocean. Faced with these issues the Coast Guard has contracted with General Dynamics C4 System to provide a complete replacment of their 1970's era radio equipment. Rescue 21 is the United States Coast Guard’s advanced command, control and communications system. Created to improve the ability to assist mariners in distress and save lives and property at sea, the system is currently being installed in stages across the United States. The nation's existing maritime search and rescue (SAR) communications system has been in operation since the early 1970s. Difficult to maintain, increasingly unreliable and prone to coverage gaps, this antiquated system no longer meets the safety needs of America's growing marine traffic. In addition, it is incapable of supporting the Coast Guard's new mission requirements for homeland security, which require close cooperation with Department of Defense agencies as well as federal, state and local law enforcement authorities. Modernizing this system enhances the safety and protection of America's waterways.
Lack of strength to meet its assigned missions is being met by a legislated increase in authorized strength from 39,000 to 45,000. In addition, the volunteer Auxiliary is being called to take up more non-combatant missions. However, volunteer coverage does have limits.
Aging vessels are another problem, with the Coast Guard still operating some of the oldest naval vessels in the world. In 2005, the Coast Guard terminated contracts to upgrade the 110-foot (33.5 m) Island Class Cutters to 123-foot (37.5 m) cutters because of warping and distortion of the hulls. In late 2006, Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, decommissioned all eight 123-foot (37 m) cutters due to dangerous conditions created by the lengthening of the hull- to include compromised watertight integrity. The Coast Guard has, as a result of the failed 110 ft (34 m) conversion, revised production schedules for the Fast Response Cutter (FRC). Of the navies and coast guards of the world's 40 largest navies, the U.S. Coast Guard's is the 38th oldest.[16]
Live fire exercises by Coast Guard boat and cutter crews in the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes attracted attention in the U.S. and Canada. The Coast Guard had proposed the establishment of 34 locations around the Great Lakes where live fire training using vessel-mounted machine guns were to be conducted periodically throughout the year. The Coast Guard said that these exercises are a critical part of proper crew training in support of the service's multiple missions on the Great Lakes, including law enforcement and anti-terrorism. Those that raised concerns about the firing exercises commented about safety concerns and that the impact on commercial shipping, tourism, recreational boating and the environment may be greater than what the Coast Guard had stated. The Coast Guard took public comment and conducted a series of nine public meetings on this issue. After receiving more than 1,000 comments, mostly opposing the Coast Guard's plan, the Coast Guard announced that they were withdrawing their proposal for target practice on the Great Lakes, although a revised proposal may be made in the future.[17][18][19][20][21]
[edit] Deployable Operations Group (DOG)
The Deployable Operations Group is a recently formed Coast Guard command. The DOG brings numerous existing deployable law enforcement, tactical and response units under a single command headed by a rear admiral. The planning for such a unit began after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and culminated with its formation on July 20th, 2007. The unit will contain several hundred highly trained Coast Guardsmen. Its missions will include maritime law enforcement, anti-terrorism, port security, and pollution response. Full operational capability is planned by summer 2008.[22]
[edit] Coast Guard Auxiliary
Main article: United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard, established on June 23, 1939. It works within the Coast Guard in carrying out its noncombatant and non-law enforcement missions. As of November 18, 2007 there were 30,074 active Auxiliarists. The Coast Guard has assigned primary responsibility for most recreational boating safety tasks to the Auxiliary, including public boating safety education and voluntary vessel safety checks. In recent history prior to 1997, Auxiliarists were limited to those tasks and on-water patrols supporting recreational boating safety.
In 1997, however, new legislation authorized the Auxiliary to participate in any and all Coast Guard missions except military combat and law enforcement. 33 CFR 5.31 states that: Members of the Auxiliary, when assigned to specific duties shall, unless otherwise limited by the Commandant, be vested with the same power and authority, in execution of such duties, as members of the regular Coast Guard assigned to similar duties.
Auxiliarists may support the law enforcement mission of the Coast Guard but do not directly participate in it. Auxiliarists and their vessels are not allowed to carry any weapons while serving in any Auxiliary capacity; however, they may serve as scouts, alerting regular Coast Guard units. Auxiliarists use their own vessels (i.e. boats) and aircraft, in carrying out Coast Guard missions, or apply specialized skills such as Web page design or radio watchstanding to assist the Coast Guard. When appropriately trained and qualified, they may serve upon Coast Guard vessels.
Auxiliarists undergo one of several levels of background check. For most duties, including those related to recreational boating safety, a simple identity check is sufficient. For some duties in which an Auxiliarist provides direct augmentation of Coast Guard forces, such as tasks related to port security, a more in-depth background check is required. Occasionally an Auxiliarist will need to obtain a security clearance through the Coast Guard in order to have access to classified information in the course of assigned tasking.
The basic unit of the Auxiliary is the Flotilla, which has at least 10 members and may have as many as 100. Five Flotillas in a geographical area form a Division. There are several divisions in each Coast Guard District. The Auxiliary has a leadership and management structure of elected officers, including Flotilla Commanders, Division Captains, and District Commodores, Atlantic and Pacific Area Commodores, and a national Commodore. However, legally, each Auxiliarist has the same 'rank', Auxiliarist.
In 2005, the Coast Guard transitioned to a geographical Sector organization. Correspondingly, a position of 'Sector Auxiliary Coordinator' was established. The Sector Auxiliary Coordinator is responsible for service by Auxiliarists directly to a Sector, including augmentation of Coast Guard Active Duty and Reserve forces when requested. Such augmentation is also referred to as force multiplication.
Auxiliarists wear the similar uniforms as Coast Guard officers with modified officers' insignia based on their office: the stripes on uniforms are silver, and metal insignia bear a red or blue "A" in the center. Unlike their counterparts in the Civil Air Patrol, Auxiliarists come under direct orders of the Coast Guard.
[edit] Coast Guard Reserve
Main article: United States Coast Guard Reserve
The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the military reserve force of the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Reserve was founded on February 19, 1941. Like most military reserve units, Coast Guard reservists normally train on a schedule of one weekend a month and an additional 15 days each summer, although many work other days of the week, and often more frequently than just two days a month. Unlike the other armed services, many Coast Guard reservists possess the same training and qualifications as their active duty counterparts, and as such, can be found augmenting active duty Coast Guard units every day, rather than just serving in a unit made up exclusively of reservists.
During the Vietnam War and shortly thereafter, the Coast Guard considered abandoning the Reserve program, but the force was instead reoriented into force augmentation, where its principal focus was not just reserve operations, but to add to the readiness and mission execution of every day active duty personnel.
Since September 11, 2001, over 8,500 Reservists have been activated and served on tours of active duty. Coast Guard Port Security Units are entirely staffed with Reservists, except for five to seven active duty personnel. Additionally, most of the staffing the Coast Guard provides to Naval Coastal Warfare units are reservists.
The Reserve is managed by the Director of Reserve and Training, RDML Cynthia A. Coogan.
[edit] Medals and honors
See also: Awards and decorations of the United States military
One Coast Guardsman, Douglas Albert Munro, has earned the Medal of Honor, the highest military award of the United States.[23]
Six Coast Guardsmen have earned the Navy Cross and numerous men and women have earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The highest peacetime decoration awarded within the Coast Guard is the Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal; prior to the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, the highest peacetime decoration was the Department of Transportation Distinguished Service Medal. The highest unit award available is the Presidential Unit Citation.
In wartime, members of the Coast Guard are eligible to receive the U.S. Navy version of the Medal of Honor. A Coast Guard Medal of Honor is authorized but has not yet been developed or issued.
In May 2006, at the Change of Command ceremony when Admiral Thad Allen took over as Commandant, President George W. Bush awarded the entire Coast Guard, including the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation with hurricane device, for its efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
[edit] Organizations
[edit] Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl
Those who have piloted or flown in U.S. Coast Guard aircraft under official flight orders may join the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl ("Flying Since the World was Flat").
[edit] USCGA Alumni Association
The United States Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association is devoted to providing service to and promoting fellowship among all U.S. Coast Guard Academy alumni and members of the Association.
Membership Types: Academy graduates and those who have attended the Academy are eligible for Regular membership; all others interested in the Academy and its Corps of Cadets are eligible for Associate membership. (Website)
[edit] Coast Guard CW Operators Association
The Coast Guard CW Operators Association (CGCWOA) is a membership organization comprised primarily of former members of the United States Coast Guard who held the enlisted rating of Radioman (RM) or Telecommunications Specialist (TC), and who employed International Morse Code (CW) in their routine communications duties on Coast Guard cutters and at shore stations. (Website)
[edit] Publications
The Coast Guard maintains a library of publications for public use as well as publications for Coast Guard and Auxiliary use.
Coast Guard, COMDTPUB P5720.2, is the regular publication for Coast Guardsmen.
[edit] Notable Coast Guardsmen and others associated with the USCG
Source: U.S. Coast Guard
* Derroll Adams, folk musician
* Nick Adams, actor
* Beau Bridges, actor
* Lloyd Bridges, actor
* Sid Caesar, comedian
* Lou Carnesecca, basketball coach, St. John's University
* Howard Coble, U.S. Congressman, North Carolina
* Chris Cooper, actor
* Richard Cromwell, actor
* Walter Cronkite, newscaster
* William D. Delahunt, U.S. Congressman, Massachusetts
* Jack Dempsey, professional boxer
* Buddy Ebsen (1908–2003), actor, comedian, dancer
* Blake Edwards, writer, director, producer
* Edwin D. Eshleman (1920-1985), former U.S. Congressman, Pennsylvania
* Arthur Fiedler, conductor
* Arthur A. Fontaine, captain, college sailing national champion, ISCA Hall of Fame
* Charles Gibson, newscaster
* Arthur Godfrey, entertainer
* Otto Graham, professional football player and coach
* Alex Haley, author of Roots and Coast Guard chief journalist
* Weldon Hill, pseudonym of William R. Scott, author of novel Onionhead, based on his World War II Coast Guard service
* William Hopper, actor
* Tab Hunter, actor
* Harvey E. Johnson, Jr., Vice Admiral, Deputy Director FEMA
* Steve Knight, Vocalist for Flipsyde
* Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, athlete, actor
* Jack Kramer, tennis professional
* Jacob Lawrence, artist
* Victor Mature, actor
* Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor
* Frank Murkowski, former governor and former U.S. Senator, Alaska
* Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator, Georgia
* Arnold Palmer, professional golfer
* Ed Parker, martial artist
* Claiborne Pell, former U.S. Senator, Rhode Island
* Cesar Romero, actor
* Sloan Wilson, writer
* Dorothy C. Stratton first director of the SPARS
* Gene Taylor, U.S. Congressman, Mississippi
* Ted Turner, businessman
* Rudy Vallee, entertainer
* Tom Waits, musician and actor
* Thornton Wilder, writer
* Gig Young, actor
* Popeye, Cartoon character, had tattoos and uniforms signifying he was in the USCG. "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" shows him under a USCG sign.
[edit] Popular culture
The Coast Guard has been featured in several television series, such as Baywatch, CSI: Miami, and Deadliest Catch; and in film. A comedy, Onionhead, portrayed Andy Griffith as a Coast Guard recruit. The 2000 film The Perfect Storm depicted the rescue operations of the USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166) as one of its subplots. Special Counter-Drugs helicopters known as HITRONs are seen in action on Bad Boys II. In the 2005 family comedy Yours, Mine, and Ours, Dennis Quaid plays a fictional U.S. Coast Guard Academy superintendent who marries a character played by Rene Russo and together have 18 children. The 2006 film The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, was based on the training and operation of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. Additionally, a Coast Guard cutter and its commander and crew figured prominently in Tom Clancy's book Clear and Present Danger. The 2008 fourth season of the television series Lost erroneously depicted air crash survivors being transported to Hawaii in a Coast Guard HC-130 aircraft, however since the survivors had landed on the Indonesian island of Sumba (In the Indian Ocean thousands of miles from any Coast Guard district), arrangements for their repatriation would have been the business of the US State Department.
These are the patterns I made with the skinner blend roll to use in making my purple kaleidoscope cane.
Estas son las tres piezas que he creado para una de las chicas de El Reto.Espero que le gusten y que monte algo bonito con ellas.He incorporado la cremallera,que tanto me acompaña estos días, al embroidered.
The action of the Helvara rifle is totally unlike other bolt action rifles. The action is locked by a locking block dropping into recesses in the receiver; when the bolt carrier is pulled back, a wedge pulls the locking block up and out of these recesses. The trigger is a two-stage design which wraps around the sear.
See also:
Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By displaying duplicates or replaceable items, it was also an early example of the now commonplace practice of museums allowing visitors to touch objects.
The museum's guiding principle is to preserve an example of everyday life in urban and rural North East England at the climax of industrialisation in the early 20th century. Much of the restoration and interpretation is specific to the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, together with portions of countryside under the influence of Industrial Revolution from 1825. On its 350 acres (140 ha) estate it uses a mixture of translocated, original and replica buildings, a large collection of artefacts, working vehicles and equipment, as well as livestock and costumed interpreters.
The museum has received a number of awards since it opened to visitors in 1972 and has influenced other living museums.[citation needed] It is an educational resource, and also helps to preserve some traditional and rare north-country livestock breeds.
In 1958, days after starting as director of the Bowes Museum, inspired by Scandinavian folk museums, and realising the North East's traditional industries and communities were disappearing, Frank Atkinson presented a report to Durham County Council urging that a collection of items of everyday history on a large scale should begin as soon as possible, so that eventually an open air museum could be established. As well as objects, Atkinson was also aiming to preserve the region's customs and dialect. He stated the new museum should "attempt to make the history of the region live" and illustrate the way of life of ordinary people. He hoped the museum would be run by, be about and exist for the local populace, desiring them to see the museum as theirs, featuring items collected from them.
Fearing it was now almost too late, Atkinson adopted a policy of "unselective collecting" — "you offer it to us and we will collect it." Donations ranged in size from small items to locomotives and shops, and Atkinson initially took advantage of a surplus of space available in the 19th-century French chateau-style building housing the Bowes Museum to store items donated for the open air museum. With this space soon filled, a former British Army tank depot at Brancepeth was taken over, although in just a short time its entire complement of 22 huts and hangars had been filled, too.
In 1966, a working party was established to set up a museum "for the purpose of studying, collecting, preserving and exhibiting buildings, machinery, objects and information illustrating the development of industry and the way of life of the north of England", and it selected Beamish Hall, having been vacated by the National Coal Board, as a suitable location.
In August 1970, with Atkinson appointed as its first full-time director together with three staff members, the museum was first established by moving some of the collections into the hall. In 1971, an introductory exhibition, "Museum in the Making" opened at the hall.
The museum was opened to visitors on its current site for the first time in 1972, with the first translocated buildings (the railway station and colliery winding engine) being erected the following year. The first trams began operating on a short demonstration line in 1973. The Town station was formally opened in 1976, the same year the reconstruction of the colliery winding engine house was completed, and the miners' cottages were relocated. Opening of the drift mine as an exhibit followed in 1979.
In 1975 the museum was visited by the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and by Anne, Princess Royal, in 2002. In 2006, as the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, The Duke of Kent visited, to open the town masonic lodge.
With the Co-op having opened in 1984, the town area was officially opened in 1985. The pub had opened in the same year, with Ravensworth Terrace having been reconstructed from 1980 to 1985. The newspaper branch office had also been built in the mid-1980s. Elsewhere, the farm on the west side of the site (which became Home Farm) opened in 1983. The present arrangement of visitors entering from the south was introduced in 1986.
At the beginning of the 1990s, further developments in the Pit Village were opened, the chapel in 1990, and the board school in 1992. The whole tram circle was in operation by 1993. Further additions to the Town came in 1994 with the opening of the sweet shop and motor garage,Beamish Museum 2014 followed by the bank in 1999. The first Georgian component of the museum arrived when Pockerley Old Hall opened in 1995, followed by the Pockerley Waggonway in 2001.
In the early 2000s two large modern buildings were added, to augment the museum's operations and storage capacity - the Regional Resource Centre on the west side opened in 2001, followed by the Regional Museums Store next to the railway station in 2002. Due to its proximity, the latter has been cosmetically presented as Beamish Waggon and Iron Works. Additions to display areas came in the form of the Masonic lodge (2006) and the Lamp Cabin in the Colliery (2009). In 2010, the entrance building and tea rooms were refurbished.
Into the 2010s, further buildings were added - the fish and chip shop (opened 2011) band hall (opened 2013) and pit pony stables (built 2013/14) in the Pit Village, plus a bakery (opened 2013) and chemist and photographers (opened 2016) being added to the town. St Helen's Church, in the Georgian landscape, opened in November 2015.
I'd bet most American flight attendants - trapped in their drab, serviceable navy-blue sack dresses - would cry at the sight of that little green dress. Granted you'd need the right figure to carry that line of piping at the bust - but it's such a stunning colour and, well, just PRETTY.
The man on the right seems awfully young to have four stripes on his cuff....
Components of nature !
Yalova Harbor - Turkey 2009
for better quality
www.yousifalhomoudi.com/?gallery_category=tourism#!pretty...[pp_gal]/17/
PictionID:44808639 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Catalog:14_014200 - Filename:14_014200.TIF - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
A few people have asked me lately what i know about the recent scrapping of Condemned ( the official railway term for a redundant vehicle assigned for disposal, be it further use or scrapping) vehicles stored at Steamtown.
All i know is that space is being cleared to allow for reconfiguration of the yard in connection with the new link line to the Network Rail infrastructure.
Many of the vehicles scrapped were accquired as a source of spares. The locos providing multiple components and carriages and parcel vans for mainly bogies, although i have noticed that many of those recently scrapped with good condition bogies have also had them cut up..
There has also being a clearout of stock dating back to the days of Steamtown Museum and it is sad to see these go, it has to be remembered though that Steamtown today is a business and not a Museum so there is no room for items with no future.
This 2x3 mosaic shows all the the Veil Nebula components, which conforms the visible portion of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant. This nebula in full is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust, located in Cygnus constellation. The area imaged has, approximately, 3,45º x 3,75º apparent dimensions. Due to this big size, many portions of he Veil nebula have acquired this own individual names. The source star was 20 times more massive tha our Sun, which exploded between 10.000 and 20.000 years ago. The result of this big explosion has been an expansion of the remnants to cover the area of the sky described above.
We can see in this image all the components of the Veil Nebula:
-The Western Veil (called also Caldwell 34), consisting of NGC 6960.
-The Easters Veil (as known as Caldwell 33) , whose brightest area is NGC 6992.
-Pickering’s Triangle, brightest at the north center of the loop.
The image has been taken through H Alpha an Oxygen triple ionized filters, showing us the emissions from the nebula indicates presence of Hydrogen and Oxygen. Also, Sulfur emissions comes from the nebula but this emission line is not shown in the picture.
Technical data:
Remote Observatory "FarLightTeam"
Team: Jesús M. Vargas, Bittor Zabalegui,José Esteban, Marc Valero.
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106 ED 530mm f/5
CCDs: QSI683 wsg8
Filters: Baader Planetarium - Halpha-OIII
Mount: 10Micron GM1000 HPS
Imaging Software: Voyager
Processing Software: PixInsight
Captured on E-eye Remote Observatory facilities (Fregenal de la Sierra ) Badajoz, Spain.
Processing: Marc Valero
Imaged area: 3,45º x 3,75º (approx.) - 2x3 mosaic
Resolution: 2,09 arc”/pix
Ha: 314x1200"
OIII: 318x1200”
Imaginative Components.
Courtisans importants erratiques mécontents satiristes ballades flagrantes circulation,
puritanical scriptores vertiginous impetus periculosum devoravit,
Begrenzung Ernten finanziell empfindlich erstaunlich wiederholt imaginären unorthodoxen,
gwrthfesurau ddiwygio pregethwyr pryderus i'r amlwg,
признал, охватывающий гедонизма пророческие окружающие мощные критики,
paesaggi discorsive evoca metafore rigogliosamente morti,
ανθρώπινες συνειδητοποιήσεις ρητορική έμφαση διευκολύνει συρρίκνωση αποφάσεις εντάσσονται,
încălcări hrănit restrâns mituri poezie evocări fără precedent colectate,
diskou transparan progrès unpersuasive monak allusion pale,
stále nejisté verze náboženské sonety sympatického rýmované překlady dluhopisy,
צורות עוינות חדשנות קיצונית ביקורת מניפולטיבית נאבקות תהילים טקסים,
Molann militancy monarchical láidre traidisiúnta mhúineadh gníomhaíochta Dhiaga,
vicissitudes grunsemdir sameina miskunnarlaus hnjóðs berjast gegn flókinn accentual pathos,
spegling policies belastningar investera kulturella lingvistiska invånare aristokrati struktur,
信用をアクセント破壊根本人間味中世の伝統.
Steve.D.Hammond.
BOX DATE: 1998
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
MISSING ITEMS: Baby chair, cradle, mirror, tray, 2 hangers, 4 plates, 4 cups, pan, lid, vase, water bottle, picture frame, portable phone/receiver, 4 forks, 4 knives, 4 spoons, bench
SPECIAL FEATURES: Makes sound; rotating wall; fold out tub; shelf folds down into bed
PERSONAL FUN FACT: I'll never forget the first time I saw this compact Family House at the store when I was a kid. Mom, Dad, Colleen, and me were all out shopping at BJ's. Back in the day, there was a small toy section that we always had to check out. I'm not sure what it looks like these days since we haven't had a membership in years. Anyways, Colleen and I saw this house on one of our BJ's excursions. We were intrigued by the concept of a house made for Barbie AND all her sisters. At the time, Barbie's family consisted of Barbie, Kelly, Stacie, and Skipper. It was virtually the same as her current family, only Kelly has been substituted for Chelsea in recent years (no idea why). We were drawn to the iconic dolls that were advertised on the box--Flashlight Fun Stacie, Cool Sitter Skipper, and Cool Blue Barbie. We both drooled over this house that sported so many awesome features--like bed space for each doll and a rotating panel that could dual as a kitchen or desk/bed area! I still recall the way we rhapsodized about the games we could do in such a house. Even though we didn't have dolls with us that day, we were so wrapped up in the potential that the house could have, that we were basically playing anyways. I don't remember anymore if we asked Mom and Dad for the house, or if we knew it was a lost cause, but the house remained a dream. It wasn't until 2019, when we finally got a chance to purchase this house. We may have seen it at the flea market at some point over the years, but doll houses can be hit or miss secondhand. Some sellers want way to much money for Barbie houses that are gutted. Anyways, we unexpectedly came across ours at the local Salvation Army. Colleen and I popped in one Saturday hoping to find her a "fancy" outfit to wear to prom (she was a chaperone). It goes without saying that our first order of business was to investigate the toy section. After finding some Disney dolls we wanted, I noticed a playset tucked on top of a shelf above hanging comforters. I had not previously seen any toys in this particular spot, so I was intrigued. I noticed the $9.99 price tag and the squalid condition of the house and thought we should walk around and think about it before making a decision. The entire time we buzzed through the clothes, my mind kept drifting to the house. After Colleen found an outfit, we pulled the house down and opened it up to make sure it was in decent shape. All the fold out features were intact, and nothing looked broken. There weren't any tiny accessories included, and the house itself was absolutely filthy. It was coated in a brown layer of grime that wouldn't wipe off easily. We brought it to the register and to our surprise, the cashier rung it up for just $1.99! While it was worth the ten dollars to us, of course we loved getting it for a bargain (the cashiers at this location tend to mark the toys down for no reason, probably because they get so many). Once at home, I had the overwhelming task of washing the house. It could not be spot cleaned, and it didn't fit in the kitchen sink. So for a half hour/forty five minutes, I sat on the bathroom floor next to the shower scrubbing every nook and cranny. I had to make certain that each fold out feature was cleaned, and also the bottom of the playset. Then everything had to be left open to thoroughly dry. It was well worth the effort because now the house looks like new, minus a few missing components (listed above). Both Colleen and I felt like little kids living out a childhood dream when we set up the house for the first time!
iss073e0118757 (May 29, 2025) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Nichole Ayers cleans and services life support components that are part of the Oxygen Generation System rack located inside the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory module.
From a loose-leaf brochure set issued by the famous electrical and components firm based in Birmingham, Jospeph Lucas, in around 1935. The various leaflets describe the main items of electrical equipment found in cars from batteries to starters and lights and how best to maintain them - with lots of hints on DIY as was common with motor vehicles at the time. Lucas had grown tobe a vital part of the supply chain as the Birmingham and West Midlands automotive industries grew int he first decades of the 2oth Century and they in turn had sprung from the bicycle manufacting companies based here. Lucas had started supplying bike components before diversifying into automobile electrics.
Seveeral of the leaflets have marvellous scraperboard illustrations, sadly anonymous, that are very period! Here a lady driver, suitably attired in gloves, makes to start the motor. The wee cartoon at the top shows the same component giving the car a good shove to get going!
GWR 2-6-2T 5538 sits forlornly at Barry Scrapyard contemplating it's future in June 1982
5538 was built in 1928 and started life working from Cheltenham shed where it stayed for many years.
BR motive power depot allocations since 1948.
Arrived Cheltenham in January 1948
January 1960Truro
June 1961Machynlleth
July 1961Shrewsbury
October 1961St Blazey
October 1961Newton Abbot
It was withdrawn from service at Newton Abbot in October 1961.
5538 was given to the local council by Woodham Brothers with the intention that the engine be displayed on the Barry seafront.
After some restoration which involved swapping some parts with classmate 5532 the cosmetically restored 5538 was put on display from 1992 until 1997 when it was moved to the Vale of Glamorgan Railway and effectively became number eleven of the Barry Ten. (The Barry Ten was a collection of locomotives which remained unsold when Dai Woodham retired in 1990. The locomotives were taken on by the Vale of Glamorgan Council who continued to store them in scrapyard condition for a further twenty years before they were sold.)
It later moved to the Dean Forest Railway.
At the Dean Forest Railway the frames and other components from classmate number 5532 were donated to what had been 5538. Whilst wheelsets and boilers were frequently swapped between locomotives the number carried the identity of an engine is normally based on the number allocated to the frames. As a result of what had originally been 5538, now with the frame of 5532, became 5532.
And so the story continues.....
As with many birds, vibrant iridescent plumage colours are not primarily pigments, but structural colouration. Optical interference Bragg reflections based on regular, periodic nanostructures of the barbules (fiber-like components) of the feathers produce the peacock's colours
The aging AX-9 "Gunfighter" was sorely in need of replacement in the late 2430's. Hyperius Industries, already cementing a great deal of rapport with the USMF for their "Aquila" class scout, proposed this design to fill the heavy fighter roll.
The "Scorpion" class was given its name for the large mandible-type protrusions from the front of the cockpit area. These armatures were needed to house the massive heavy repeating lasers. Typically, these weapons were used as point defense on capital ships, and no one but the brilliant minds at Hyperius would have dared mounting such fearsome weaponry on a one-man ship. In addition to the heavy repeating lasers, the "Scorpion" also features two gauss cannons mounted on the wings and a pair of missile launchers beneath.
Though a few components are shared between the "Scorpion" and it's smaller brother the "Aquila" (namely the protected cockpit/pilot housing) the "Scorpion" could not be more different. It is quickly becoming the go-to favorite of USMF dogfighting aces. The "Scorpion" is a fierce threat to enemy fighters and heavier craft as well.
Dusty electronic components (mostly resistors and capacitors) of the PCB board of a graphic card. Picture taken with my macro lens.
Exercise Cobra Warrior After my afternoon visit on Tuesday 14th March, where I just missed photographing the visiting fighters arriving back at base, I made up for it on the following Friday 17th - managing to record the departure home of all six of the Belgian Air Component F-16s, four of the Finnish Air Force F-18s and a pair of the 'exotic' Indian Air Force Mirage 2000s 😎 :)
A video still of FA-134 - the first of the four Belgian Air Component F-16s that departed Waddington around 09.30 - arriving at the holding position.
Exercise Cobra Warrior is a biannual exercise run by the Royal Air Force and is designed to exercise participants in high intensity large force tactical training. This year's exercise is taking place from the 6th to the 24th of March, controlled by directing staff at RAF Waddington. More info on Exercise Cobra Warrior here: www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/international-participants-f...
Cobra Warrior Participants
Based at Waddington
🇧🇪Belgian Air Force (Force Aérienne Belge)🇧🇪
General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon (Viper) x6
FA-77
FA-102
FA-116 (349 sqd special tail)
FA-127
FA-134
FA-136 (display special)
🇫🇮 Finnish Air Force (Ilmavoimat) 🇫🇮
McDonnell Douglas F-18C Hornet x6
HN-406
HN-411 (small bull on nose)
HN-422
HN-424 (black lynx on nose)
HN-438
HN-448
🇮🇳 Indian Air Force 🇮🇳
Dassault Mirage 2000 x5
KF112 - 2000I
KF118 - 2000I
KT208 - 2000TI
KT211 - 2000TI
KT213 - 2000TI
Based at Coningsby
🈂 Royal Saudi Air Force 🈂
EF2000 Eurofighter Typhoon x6
1020 - T3
316 - FGR4
8019 - FGR4
1019 - FGR4
1022 - FGR4 (Green Canard)
8018 - FGR4
More info here: www.fightercontrol.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=455&t=...
Low-res shot taken with an iPhone 6s iPhone photography - apologies for the poor quality of some of these phone photos - sometimes they're nice and sharp - sometimes they're all pixelated and not up to my usual standard. The videos are better :)
You can see a random selection of my aviation memories here: www.flickriver.com/photos/heathrowjunkie/random/