AROUND THE ACADEMY
1. What keeps you up at night? Coffee that I was using to stay awake to finish a submittal for NavArch Capstone. 2. What’s the most thrilling/adventurous thing you’ve ever done? Hiked the “World’s Most Dangerous Trail” on Mount Hua with my mom in Xi’an, China. 3. Favorite item on your knick knack shelf? My Buddha statue and Rosary, sitting side by side. 4. Guilty pleasure? My Luna Sandals and toe socks. 5. Personal hero (and why)? My 7 siblings, they are all full of life and the most caring individuals I know. 6. Describe yourself in three words. Crazy, Spontaneous, and Caring. 7. The one thing you’ve learned at the Academy that you’ll never forget? When you’re at a high, stay humble. When you’re at the low, stay hopeful. 8. First website you access in the morning? Email. 9. Favorite comfort food? CHOCOLATE, hands down. 1/c Mary Hazen 10. If you had a theme song, what would it be? I have my own theme song…The Mary Song! ou get in the ring, you walk 11. Best trophy/award you ever won? New England Golden “Ytowards your opponent, they say Glove Championship. ‘box’ and you throw a punch or they throw a punch,” said 1/c Mary Hazen, 12. If you could read anyone’s mind, who would it be? My one of three women on the Academy’s Capstone Advisor LCDR Cost. Boxing team. “It’s not a fight to the death, 13. Pet peeve? People zigzagging in front of me, while I’m but I fight to win.” It’s a far cry from her trying to pass them. response last year to a friend who asked her to consider joining the team, to which 14. What would your dream billet be? Cheboygan, MI. she replied “no, and I never will.” But it 15. Unfulfilled wish?Meet Jason Segel. was on her mind all summer and come fall she decided to try it. 16. Favorite sport to watch? Not huge on watching sports, I “I was ready for a change and boxing would rather get out and play! seemed like a fun workout,”she said. 17. What gets you out of bed in the morning? The unknown She never dreamed that a mere eight of the day ahead. months later she’d be undefeated, the 18. What are you afraid of? Not having access to a body of New England Golden Glove Champion, water to swim! and on her way to the National Championship in Sunrise, FL, April 19. Ultimate spring break location? An expedition through 10-12, along with teammate 3/c Kiana the Amazon. Kekoa. 20. Favorite (or most dreaded) event on the Physical Fitness Mary, a native of Muncie, IN, credits Exam (PFE)? I have never minded the PFE; my goal was her success to her time on the triathlon to get a 300 at least once before I graduated…which I have team. ”I have an endurance from gotten the last 4 semesters! triathlon that’s carried me a lot of the way. Two minutes is nothing compared to the Half-Iron Man’s I’ve done.” Mary’s proud of her achievements If you know of an alumnus/alumna, cadet, or Academy faculty/staff so far, which include being the first member who would be a good candidate for a future profile, please email woman to ever fight in the New York me at [email protected] with their name and a brief description of Athletic Club’s collegiate tournament last why you believe they deserve attention. November. “I joined boxing thinking I’d get a good workout; I never imagined I’d be making history.”
April 2015 23 AROUND THE ACADEMY
octor Alexander Waid was having Da great day. The language lab, 20 Questions with . . . which he has overseen since starting the Academy’s Spanish language program in 2001, was receiving upgrades that included a new virtualized server, 16 new computers, and upgraded software. Sponsored by the “great and generous class of 1966...[the upgrade’s] really going to help streamline what we do in the lab,” he said. He teaches all levels of Spanish (I-IV, Intro to Spanish, and Spanish American Literature) to the cadets, including the one-credit course nicknamed “Coast Guard Spanish” that covers the vocabulary needed for law enforcement. He loves “being part of a place that has such a strong and ingrained umbrella mission.” Dr. Waid grew up in Warwick, R.I., speaking Spanish with his Colombian parents and English at Catholic school. As an undergraduate student, he planned on pursuing medical school upon graduation, but in his junior year he took a 20th- Century Spanish poetry course that literally changed the course Dr. Alexander Waid of his life. “The poet was Vicente Aleixandre and the poem was Se Querían (They Loved Each Other). That poem just reached 1. What keeps you up at night? I inside of me and twisted my guts around and I thought ‘this is wonder if I’m doing enough to help what I have to do for the rest of my life...this is it.’” He went on my kids (my own children and my to receive his Master’s and Ph.D. in Romance Languages and cadets) succeed on their own. Literatures at the University of North Carolina. His most recent 2. What’s a book you read recently? project was the translation into English of three short stories by I recently re-read Cervantes’ Don Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno that had languished since Quixote for my latest book project. It’s written in the late 1920s. One reviewer claims that Tres Historias the most magical and brilliant novel Mas is “a must-have for any serious Unamunian library.” I’ve ever read. 10. Favorite comfort food? My wife’s chicken soup. 3. First album/CD you bought? Chicago’s 16 for my mom on 11. If you had a theme song, what would it be? Beatles Mother’s Day. “Good Day, Sunshine” because I’m genuinely excited to see folks every day or Queen’s “A Kind of Magic” because 4. One destination you dream of there’s magic all around us. but haven’t gotten to yet? Bogotá, Colombia: most of my family is still 12. If you could teach a course on any subject in any location there and I haven’t met all of them in the world, what would you teach and where would yet! you teach it? “Mechanisms of Desire in the World’s Great Literature and their Socio-psychological Implications 5. What’s the most thrilling/ Today” in Hawaii because my wife is dying to go there. adventurous thing you’ve ever done? I ran a 32-mile footrace on 13. Three people, living or dead, you’d have over to dinner? Connecticut Trails a couple of years My maternal grandmother, Jesus, Buddha. I never met any back. of them, but I’ve heard and learned about them all my life. 6. Personal hero (and why)? My dad. 14. Best trophy/award you ever won? I won the three biggest He is just about the kindest, most teaching awards given to graduate students in the same selfless person I know. semester at UNC Chapel Hill. 7. First job? Dishwasher at Uncle Tony’s 15. If you could read anyone’s mind, who would it be? The Pizzeria, Warwick, RI. U.S. President’s: it must never stop running. 8. The one thing you’ve learned 16. Pet peeve? Self-centered people. while working at the Academy that 17. Favorite sport to watch? Football: New England or Dallas. you’ll never forget? Organize and 18. What advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago? prioritize! If you don’t, work takes Kiss your wife. Then, kiss her again. over! 19. Must-have app on your phone? Rhapsody for music: I get 9. If you had a free hour to do to add a sound track to my life. anything you could, what would it 20. Favorite time of the day? 0400-0630 is sacred time for be? Run or bike in the woods with me: I can read, write, exercise, think, pray, or meditate my family and friends. uninterrupted.
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Thomas Friedman encourages cadets to set themselves apart By LT Megan Mervar ’07, CGA Public Affairs Officer
Author and newspaper columnist Mr. Thomas Friedman speaks with cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Feb. 23, 2015 as the 2015 Hedrick Fellow. As foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, Mr. Friedman has covered stories from around the globe since 1981. U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory J. Mendenhall. hen the man who invented the Pulitzer Prize winner for his work at Wgame of chess gave the game to the the New York Times, was honored at king, the king liked the game so much he the Academy as this year’s Coast Guard asked how he could reward the man. The Foundation Hedrick Fellow. The Hedrick man said all he wanted was to feed his Fellow program recognizes outstanding family. Americans whose distinguished public “I would just like you to take one service has shaped the course of our grain of rice, put it on the first square of nation. Its main purpose is to allow the chess board, put two on the second, cadets to learn from the experience of four on the next, eight on the next, America’s most revered leaders. sixteen on the next, just keep doubling Friedman used the rice anecdote to it, and my family will be fine,” said the help the cadets understand Moore’s Law, man, in an anecdote narrated by Thomas or the power of exponential growth by Friedman during his recent address to doubling. He told the corps of cadets Academy cadets. that we are now in the “second half “The king said, ‘It shall be done!’ of the chess board”—Moore’s Law is Friedman continued, “not realizing, as the reason computing power is faster you learned in your calculus class, that than ever imaginable and markets when you double something 63 times, are expanding exponentially, which the number you get is 18 quintillion, Friedman calls globalization because of which was more rice than existed in all the interdependence of markets across the world.” the world. Friedman, an internationally-known “It’s a great world to be an innovator, author and journalist and three-time to be a maker,” says Friedman. “You can
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now start a company from day one where your customers are global, your suppliers are global, and your workforce is global…Unfortunately, it’s also a great world to be a breaker. When the world is good for makers, it’s also great for breakers. Breakers are early adopters. ISIS, we see every day, uses Facebook, Twitter, and the internet as its own command and control system. This is going to be a great world to be a breaker in.” So what does this mean for this generation of young people, especially soon-to-be Coast Guard ensigns? “In this world you’re graduating into, average is officially over,” says Friedman. He encouraged cadets to find the unique value they can add to the organization to differentiate themselves, to nudge ahead of the rest. “Whatever you do, whatever job you have in the Coast Guard, be relentlessly entrepreneurial,” said Friedman. “Where can I improve something? Where can I fork off? Where can I find a new way to do this? A new opportunity? New discipline? Because in this world, the ability to be a maker is now so cheap, easy and fast.” Although these cadets have grown up largely in this “second half of the chess board” world, not having experienced a world pre-PC, pre-internet, pre-workable software, and pre-Google, they recognize the vast growth occurring world-wide and the need to work hard and stand out. And while these soon-to-be grads will be filling jobs that already exist, at least for the first few years following graduation, they realize that may not always be the case. “You used to go look for a job, now you invent your job,” said Fourth Class Cadet Hope McGeady after discussing in class several of Friedman’s New York Times columns and chapters from Friedman’s book, “That Used to be Us.” “You have to stay innovative.”
“In this world you’re graduating into, average is officially over,” says Friedman. “Whatever you do, whatever job you have in the Coast Guard, be relentlessly entrepreneurial.”
April 2015 27 AROUND THE ACADEMY
Preparing for the Tough Decisions Annual Ethics Forum offers a chance for cadets to learn from and interact with junior officers, experts in military professionalism, and others seasoned in difficult decision-making By LT Megan Mervar ’07, CGA Public Affairs Officer
Cadets attend presentations during the Academy’s Ethics Forum March 20, 2015. The Forum included several presentations and panels which focus on ethics in the military profession. U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory J. Mendenhall. ach May, around 200 cadets raise for young cadets to learn from and Etheir right hands and take the oath of interact with junior officers, experts in office, concluding the declaration with, military professionalism, and others “…I will well and faithfully discharge seasoned in difficult decision-making. the duties of the office on which I The forum is made possible through am about to enter. So help me God.” generous gifts from the classes of 1948 It’s what those new officers commit and 1957 to the Academy Alumni to the American public, in return for Association. supporting their education and the As the speakers at this year’s forum Coast Guard’s missions. But, they don’t began, the cadets’ intent faces did learn how to faithfully discharge their not disguise the questions hovering duties overnight, especially when tough in their minds: How do I lead people decisions are involved. There remain who’ve already been in the Coast Guard infinite lessons to be learned after they for years when I’ve just received my have lowered their hands. commission? How can I own up to a There is no denying the difficult mistake, and why should I? How do I ethical situations with which cadets will keep myself from making bad decisions? be presented as young junior officers. To During a junior officer panel, one build upon their developing experience, young officer shared her approach they must learn from the experience of to leading a division of enlisted those senior to them; those who have members, just months after receiving learned to face the odds and carry on the her commission from the Academy. She missions they vowed to perform and the expressed the sentiment many in the people they promised to protect. room undoubtedly felt: you want to be For nearly three decades, the Coast respected and you want to be liked, but Guard Academy has set aside one day you know that you have to stay true to each year for the Ethics Forum: a chance the values that are important to you and that the Coast Guard upholds.
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April 2015 29 AROUND THE ACADEMY
“That’s a tough role for JO’s—how do the ship in Florida, and the entire crew you learn to lead?” she proposed. declined the offer. The Bounty ultimately Her advice: lean on your division for sank off the North Carolina coast in the advice and build trusting relationships midst of Hurricane Sandy, and Claudene with division members, but make sure did not survive. you have clearly communicated your “Never ignore your intuition,” values. There may come a time when Tougais cautioned, explaining that your values override their desires, but intuition is a clue that comes from your they are more likely to understand subconscious. “We ignore our intuition at your position if you’ve built trusting our peril.” relationships with them. The Bounty had been through “You’re going to make mistakes, hurricanes before and as the captain but it’s where you learn from them,” prepared for the voyage, he felt his ship was the advice another junior officer could go around Sandy, not realizing shared, repeating the wise advice her it was too wide to circumnavigate. As commanding officer had given her while Tougais warned cadets, there were two assigned to her first cutter. very important lessons to learn from the A third officer agreed, encouraging captain’s mistakes. the cadets in the audience to follow their First, “do not project past outcomes gut instinct, citing an incident in which to a current situation,” he warned. he failed to follow his own advice. He encouraged the cadets to analyze “It was right there that my character, even the most subtle elements of each my judgment, everything I had worked situation, even if it is very similar to a for, was called into question,” he past circumstance. recalled. Second, “Sticking to a plan can lead The junior officers’ advice would to a disaster,” he said. The plan was to serve as a prelude to the insight author sail to Florida; a hurricane was not a Michael Tougais would also share in one part of the plan. Tougais advised that session. it’s better to be adaptable, so you can Tougais tied together lessons he’d respond to new information, instead of gathered from survivors and rescuers staying so focused on the original goal he’d interviewed over the years with that you ignore the new information. a narrative of the HMS Bounty replica The perspective offered by Tougais, rescue during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. the junior officer panelists, and other As the Bounty made preparations to panels and speakers throughout depart New London, Conn. for Florida, the day left the cadets pensive, with Claudene Christian, a Bounty sailor, felt new context to apply to their own uneasy about sailing into a hurricane, as experiences. In turn, the forum offered her e-mails to family later showed. But, the tools the future officers needed to the captain had offered for anyone on grow themselves into professional and the crew not comfortable sailing to meet competent public servants.
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ADM Allen Brings Real World Experience to the Classroom Trip to Washington, D.C. solidified lessons learned in class by 2/c Nathan Belanger
pperclass Government majors Uhave the unique opportunity to participate in a course co-taught by Admiral Thad Allen and Captain Brigid Pavilonis: Irregular Warfare. Traditionally taught by Captain Pavilonis, this spring’s course is further enriched by Admiral Allen’s monthly lectures in the Officers’ Club. In his capacity as the new Tyler Chair at the Admiral James M. Loy Institute for Leadership (IFL), Admiral Allen works to provide Irregular Warfare students with real world applications and examples of the theory they are exploring in the classroom. The course covers how war is defined and how asymmetric tactics are affecting how armies around the world confront these challenges. Cadets look at many different case studies, from the Bosnia conflict in the 1990’s to the more recent conflict in Afghanistan. They then complete their own case study on a region of interest and deliver a formal presentation The Irregular Warfare class with ADM Thad Allen in in which they examine how foreign the Executive Building in Washington, D.C. policy and national security policies are constantly changing in light of new of Homeland Security is facing. The threats. Informed by Admiral Allen’s group then met with the Secretary’s Chief experience and expertise in asymmetric of Staff to ask further questions. warfare, the cadets have been able From there the group traveled to to analyze more relevant issues, the Pentagon to meet with different including assumptions about the threat Coast Guard officials, who discussed a environment and cyber warriors. variety of Homeland Security strategies, In mid-February, Admiral Allen and the Coast Guard and Navy relations, the Institute for Leadership facilitated and the Coast Guard’s importance to an amazing opportunity for around national security. After lunch and a brief 50 cadets to take a trip to Washington, tour of the Pentagon, the group went to D.C. to meet Department of Homeland the Executive Building located next to Security officials and engage with the the White House to meet with different different government entities with members of the Coast Guard involved which the Coast Guard works. The first with day-to-day operations there. Shortly morning cadets met with Secretary Jeh after departing the Executive Building, Johnson for a few minutes, while he Admiral Allen hosted the cadets at the discussed his position and some of the Army Navy Country Club for snacks and policies and challenges the Department a chance to discuss the day’s activities.
32 THE BULLETIN Make your Today! Gift
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April 2015 33 AROUND THE ACADEMY
Bright and early the next morning has with the Department of Defense, the cadets departed for the new Coast specifically with the United States Guard Headquarters. After Admiral Navy. The third goal was to show the Allen’s opening remarks, the cadets met relationship the Coast Guard has with Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard the White House and how there are Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger and many different opportunities there for Deputy Commandant for Operations Coast Guard officers. When asked what Vice Admiral Charles Michel. After the he believed was the most beneficial meet-and-greet the cadets moved to the aspect of the trip for cadets, he cited the National Command Center and learned discussion about the threat response about the different strategies that the team (developed after the Vigilant Coast Guard is currently developing and Incident in 1970 and used as recently implementing. as the Maersk Alabama incident). It Admiral Allen planned this trip perfectly illustrated how important with three goals in mind. The first was communication between different for the cadets to see firsthand the close organizations is in accomplishing relationship that the Coast Guard has difficult tasks. with the Department of Homeland Throughout the trip Admiral Allen Security. The second was to show the shared his vast knowledge to help the relationship that the Coast Guard cadets understand the different issues at hand and how everything that they learn is directly applicable to their roles as junior officers, and even, senior officers in the Coast Guard. The cadets are very thankful for all the Admiral has done for them this semester and are glad for the opportunity to learn from someone who has been involved with Coast Guard and National Security Operations for over forty years. With Admiral Allen taking over the Tyler Chair at the IFL he looks forward to the further development of leadership opportunities for cadets at the Academy. Admiral Allen sees the opportunity for him to co-teach in different sections, showing cadets in classes such as Chemistry to Naval Engineering that what they are learning can be directly related to the active duty Coast Guard and the key leadership decisions that he made while he was Commandant.
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CGA Rugby Heads to Ireland Team trained with elite coaches and played Irish teams over Spring Break by 2/c Nathan Belanger
Coast Guard Rugby wins a light out vs St. Mary’s Men’s Club of Limerick. or the first time ever the Coast Guard over and the final score was 20 Coast FAcademy Men’s rugby team traveled Guard, 35 Trinity. to Ireland to train with elite coaches The following morning the team and play games against different Irish boarded the bus to head to Galway, college teams over spring break. The Ireland. On the way to Galway, we team departed on March 8th from Boston stopped at the beautiful Lansdowne for the long flight across the Atlantic, Aviva Stadium, which is one of the main arriving in Dublin, Ireland around 0900 stadiums in Ireland for the national Sunday. Members of the Irish Coast football and rugby team. We enjoyed a Guard, which is a completely voluntary private tour of the home team’s locker service, welcomed us at the airport. room, the media conference room, and After checking into the hostel in Dublin the stadium’s ground level. The morning and enjoying a few hours of liberty, we sun provided an opportunity to take headed to Trinity College (the oldest amazing photographs of the stunning college in Ireland) for an intense training field through the stadium’s glass walls. session with Coach Tony Smeeth, who The team then attended an hour and a has coached with the United States half training session with Coach Jimmy Rugby team. The team then went out in of the NUIG Rugby Team, from which Dublin that night, but turned in early to we benefited greatly. be ready for the next day’s match. The next morning the team traveled We arrived back at Trinity Monday to the home field of NUIG to play morning to take on the school’s freshman against the University’s Rugby Team. team. During the first half of the match The pitch was located right next to the the Coast Guard Bears were down by River Corrib, in the shadow of Menlo one try at the half. The “B” side then took Castle. At the half Coast Guard Rugby
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April 2015 37 AROUND THE ACADEMY
CGA Rugby with the St. Mary’s Mens Club in Limerick, Ireland
was up by one try, but lost the lead after the trip with one of Limerick’s top rugby the half and lost the game: 23 Coast recruiters. Guard, 34 NUIG. In keeping with one of The following morning the team was the NUIG Rugby team traditions, we all excited to play their last international jumped into the frigid waters of the River rugby match of the trip against the Corrib after the game. The two teams St. Mary’s Men’s Club. The “A” side joined in another rugby tradition of rugby team held on to a slim margin singing traditional rugby songs at a local but lost that margin after the half with establishment in the city later that night. the final score being 25 Coast Guard, The next morning the team traveled 30 St. Mary’s. During this match Coach to Cork and visited the Irish Naval Base Andy McGurer, Coach Rick Boston and and had lunch with a few of the officers Coach Nick Cichucki all got to play a few in the Wardroom. We were able to get a minutes. After the game the two teams group photograph with the Irish Navy’s watched the Six Nations rugby match of Rugby team as well. The next stop Ireland vs. Wales, in which Ireland lost. on the excursion was the Irish Naval However, the team decided to enjoy the Academy and National Maritime Science evening out in Limerick and woke up Center. The tour director brought us to early the following day to head back to the bridge simulation room, the dunk the states and get ready for the last six tank, and gave a brief overview of what weeks of the semester. academy life is like for the cadets that This trip not only provided the CGA attend. Rugby team with the opportunity to get Friday morning the team visited one’s hand on a ball and actually play the Irish Coast Guard Station located in rugby, but allowed top coaches in Ireland Doolin, Ireland. We toured the building to look over Coast Guard’s playing style and took in the sights of the raging and give critiques to make us an overall Northern Atlantic Ocean. As the trip better team. The coaches and the players continued towards Limerick, a brief stop are excited to start the next season and was made at the Cliffs of Moher. After implement all they have learned from a quick check into the hotel, the team this amazing trip. departed for the final training session of
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