Rescue swimmer Todd returns to EC as instructor

BY CHRIS DAY Multimedia Editor

For Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel awards, including one for “exceptional Todd, the decision to choose bravery at sea.” a career as an aviation survival technician — more commonly known as rescue swimmer —was obvious. In 2018, Todd was reassigned to his current post at ATTC, where he shares his knowledge and experience with aspiring AST students as a lead “You work out every day, hang out instructor. with your buddies at work and get to jump out of helicopters,” said Todd. “It was a no-brainer.” “I work in Phase 1, where we teach all of the fundamentals and we harp on the attention to detail aspect of school; Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Todd it’s a rather intense phase,” Todd said. joined the Coast Guard in 2007. “As the lead, I make sure that all the “I have always been interested in the military and serving my country,” Todd students’ needs are met and oversee their first 8 weeks at school.” said. “So, the Coast Guard gave me that Todd also has a deal of influence over ability to serve and be able to save lives the training regimen and professional and not be in the position to take lives.” development courses for the AST field. Todd, who is 35, attended basic “I am also the curriculum manager training in Cape May, New Jersey, and for the AST “A” and “C” schools,” Todd was assigned to the Cutter Sea Otter, continued. “If there is any change that’s an 87-foot coastal patrol boat that calls proposed from other AST instructors, San Diego home. I would be the guy who writes the His first tour in Elizabeth City was in 2008 when he attended AST “A” proposal into the curriculum and sends it up the chain to be approved.” school at the Aviation Technical While an “A” school represents the Training Command, one of the seven entry level training course for all commands that form the Coast Guard’s Coast Guard enlisted career ratings, local presence. He was next assigned “C” schools are courses members of a to Air Station Elizabeth City, before particular rating take later to enhance transferring to Air Station North Bend, their career performance. in Oregon. “My work assignment here at He’s been involved in many rescues ATTC is very fulfilling, because the and has earned several medals and accomplishments of the students,”

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U.S. COAST GUARD EDITION, The Daily Advance , Frida y, July 31, 2020

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Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Todd

Photo courtesy US Coast Guard

Todd said. “AST/Rescue Swimmer School is one of the most demanding schools in the military. Seeing the looks on the students’ faces after their final rescue scenario is priceless.” AST “A” school is not easy, to say the least, and performing at-sea rescues, which often involve an AST being hoisted down from a helicopter to a sinking ship, is dangerous work. It’s a field that boasts an esprit de corps among its members. “The people I work with,” said Todd, when asked what he likes most about serving in the Coast Guard. “The camaraderie within the rescue swimmer community is second to none in my opinion.” ATTC is home to all Coast Guard aviation enlisted training “A” schools. Every enlisted aviator in the fleet has at least served in Elizabeth City for the duration of their job training. “It’s the hub of Coast Guard aviation and almost everything rescue

swimmer,” Todd said. “A lot of history and the most rescue swimmers concentrated in one place. Lots of friends and family in that group.”

As for the town itself, Elizabeth City is growing but still has a “small town feel,” Todd said.

It was while assigned to Air Station

Elizabeth City that Todd experienced what he said was his most significant mission while in the Coast Guard. “Back in 2012 I was stationed here at the air station as a third class. I was part of the rescue mission during Hurricane Sandy when the HMS Bounty sank off the coast of Cape Hatteras,” Todd said. “I was the second rescue swimmer in the water and I was able to rescue 9 people. “Myself and another rescue swimmer received the Distinguished Flying Cross for our actions.” The other rescue swimmer was one of Todd’s instructors when he was a student at ATTC. Other awards and medals Todd has earned include an Air Medal, three achievement medals, two Commandant’s letter of commendation ribbons, four Good Conduct awards, a USO “George Van Cleave Military Leadership” award and the International Maritime Organization’s Exceptional Bravery at Sea award.

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U.S. COAST GUARD EDITION, The Daily Advance , Frida y, July 31, 2020

DID YOU KNOW??? A few fun and interesting US Coast Guard facts The Coast Guard was founded in August 4, 1790, after Congress commissioned the construction of ten ships to help enforce federal tariffs and prevent smuggling.

An example of an early 1800 cutter

The Coast Guard launched its first cutter in 1791. The “Cutter” is a U.S.C.G. vessel that is 65 feet or greater in length and has a permanently assigned crew.

Christiana River Lighthouse, 1835

Anthony Christy was the oldest active serving Coast Guard member. Christy, the keeper of the Christiana Lighthouse in Delaware, died on duty in September 1862, at the age of 105. He was the oldest lighthouse keeper ever on record.

One of the lesser-known Coast Guard facts is that becoming a Coast Guard rescue swimmer is extremely difficult... having an approximate 50% attrition rate. The Coast Guard celebrated its 1000th graduate of the AST (Aviation Survival Technician) on December 20, 2019.

Walt Disney created a special logo for the Coast Guard’s Corsair Fleet during World War II, featuring Donald Duck.

Sport Fact! From 1942-44, the Coast Guard had a championship hockey team called the Cutters that played in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League which was considered to be one of the most competitive leagues of its time. The league disbanded when WWII effort needed reinforcements.

The Coast Guard has served in ALL of our Nation’s wars and conflicts.

Each branch of the United States Armed Forces has their own elite troop, proficient in using a sniper rifle - and the Coast Guard is no different. The Coast Guard equivalent to special operations is the Maritime Security Response Team, or MSRT. They’re the front line troops shouldering the burden of the War on Drugs.

Sinbad, a mixed breed dog that served for seven years aboard the Campbell, a Coast Guard ship that defended American conveys during World War II, is one of the most beloved American mascots. According to several articles, the pup was treated like a full member of the crew. There’s even been a book written about him!

U.S. COAST GUARD EDITION, The Daily Advance , Frida y, July 31, 2020

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Those words may not be recognizable to anyone, but to each and every Coast Guard member, they represent a true hero: Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro, the service’s only Medal of Honor recipient.

More than 75 years ago, those were the last words that he said before his death at the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II.

Ask any Coast Guardsman or Marine about Douglas Munro and they might tell you about Sept. 27, 1942, when Munro gave his life so a detachment of Marines might live.

In many ways, Munro’s sacrifice is at the very core of the close relationship between the two services. All who hear Munro’s story instantly understand the bond between American brothers and sisters in arms and the true meaning of service to nation.

The Coast Guardsman Who Saved Marines During WWII

Munro and others were

responsible for navigating landing craft full of Marines along the coast of Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.

A month into the Guadalcanal campaign, then-Marine Lt. Col. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller embarked three companies of U.S. Marines into landing craft to take control of the western region of the island.

Munro, only 22-years-old, took control of 10 landing craft to move Puller’s men to the western coast. After successfully landing and moving 500 yards inland, Munro took all but one of the landing craft and returned to the staging area.

Just an hour after landing on the western coast of the island, Marine forces were overcome by Japanese bombing raids, driving out their gunfire support.

The Marines were being driven back to the beach and many did not have radios to request assistance. A single “HELP” spelled out in T-shirts on the ridge near the beach sent out a loud and clear signal to those looking on.

Back at the staging area, Munro volunteered to navigate the same landing craft to rescue the Marines from enemy fire. Nearing the beach and braving incoming fire, Munro directed the landing craft to push forward, even with Japanese forces gaining ground and nearing the beach.

As the Marines re-embarked on the landing craft, Munro immediately navigated his vessel between the enemy fire and the Marine forces, providing muchneeded cover for the Marines. With his efforts, all of the Marines, including the wounded, were safely taken off the island.

At this same time, the Japanese forces began firing machine gun rounds and Munro was struck with a single bullet. He died before the forces returned to the staging area.

In a letter dated just five days later, the commanding officer of the unit wrote to inform Munro’s parents of their son’s heroism and death. “Upon regaining consciousness, his only question was ‘Did they get off?’, and so died with a smile on his face and the full knowledge that he had successfully accomplished a dangerous mission,” the letter said.

A Medal of Honor Recipient Forever Honored by the Coast Guard

Douglas Albert Munro (October 11, 1919 - September 27, 1942) was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of “extraordinary heroism” during World War II. He is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the Coast Guard.

Article sources include - Military.org, USO.org, Legion.org. Photo source - Wikipedia