Photo By Eric Durr | A New York Naval Militia member on board Patrol Boat 280 shines a spotlight on a boat...... read more read more
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BUFFALO--Nine members of the New York Naval Militia spent three days supporting the United States Coast Guard on lakes Ontario and Erie and on the Niagara River above and below Niagara Falls as part of a regular enforcement event known as Operation Lake Thunder.
The Naval Militia members operated two Military Emergency Boat Service patrol boats, and their mobile command trailer in support of the mission, which is designed to deter cross border smuggling and illegal immigration and enforce boating safety rules when required, according to Naval Militia Commander Don McKnight.
The Naval Militia trains regularly with the Coast Guard, but this is the first time the Coast Guard has requested Naval Militia assistance for an operational mission outside of New York harbor McKnight said.
Patrol Boat 440, based on Staten Island, conducts regular security patrols of the New York waterfront in coordination with the Coast Guard and routinely carries Coast Guard boarding parties out to ships entering the harbor.
The New York Naval Militia, with a strength of 3,000 people, enlists members of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Reserve, who can serve New York they also serve in the federal reserve components. A small number of Naval Militia members are retired members of those forces or have never served.
During their patrols, the three-member Naval Militia crews embarked Coast Guardsmen and Homeland Security agents with law enforcement authority to issue citations or make arrests as required, McKnight explained.
The team came together “seamlessly” and operated well with the other agencies involved, said Master Chief Glenn Niemitalo, who commanded the mission.
The patrols were conducted in the evening hours and at night using Patrol Boats 280 and 281, which are 30-foot-long workboats. The Naval Militia also deployed its mobile command trailer to monitor the mission.
The Military Emergency Boat Service operates a fleet of 11 boats, most of which can be trailered to key bodies of water in support of local, state, and federal agencies.
The three-day effort involved the Border Patrol, the Department of Environmental Conservation “Encon Police”, and New York State Police boats, along with Canadian agencies operating on their side of the Niagara Rive, according to McKnight.
Because these agencies had other mission requirements, the Naval Militia wound up conducting about half the patrols the Coast Guard had planned, McKnight explained.
“We were able to flex to cover gaps in the schedule to ensure the mission was completed,” he said.
Boat handling in the Niagara River is a challenge, Niemitalo said.
“The Niagara River has fast-moving waters, strong currents, eddies, and rapids,” he explained.
The crews had to make sure they stayed on the U.S. side of the river, which was also challenging, he added.
“The close proximity to the U.S., Canada border and the underwater hazards to navigation made it critical that the crews utilize all of the navigation, and GPS, and radar and plotter to ensure safe operation,” he said.
There were difficulties in communicating between the boats when one was operating above Niagara Falls and the other was below the falls, but the command trailer was able to maintain communications, according to McKnight.
“The command post was critical for maintaining communications and awareness of assets,” Niemitalo said
While conducting border patrol mission, the PB-280 crew hailed and stopped a recreational boat that wasn’t responding to Coast Guard efforts to stop the vessel. The PB-280 crew also escorted a boat that was towing a disabled boat out of a squall on Lake Ontario.
The PB 281 crew, operating on Lake Erie and the upper Niagara River, also responded to a “person in the water” distress call along with other agencies, when somebody fell off a recreational boat.
The Naval Militia crew cruised the shoreline and used a bullhorn to communicate with people on shore. The Buffalo Fire Department found the man safe on shore.
| Date Taken: | 08.04.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.04.2023 12:05 |
| Story ID: | 450698 |
| Location: | BUFFALO , NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 290 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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