KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
The United States Coast Guard is moving six personnel from both Kodiak and Valdez to Anchorage to monitor emergency communications. Ensign Allie Ferko is a spokeswoman with Sector Command in Anchorage.
— (USCG 1 31 sec "Historically the Anchorage … coms unit to Anchorage.")
She points out the six positions leaving Kodiak are not part of Communications Station Kodiak:
— (USCG 2 31 sec "They work in what … we’re listening in Anchorage.")
She said Com-Sta (com-stay) operates U-H-F, or Ultra-High Frequency communications, while the staff that is moving deals in V-H-F, or Very-High Frequency.
Ferko (fur-co) said having the radio personnel in Anchorage with search and rescue coordinators will streamline the response to emergencies:
— (USCG 3 33 sec "At Sector we’ve also got … unified command center.")
The move is the first step in a process that will bring all marine communications under one location.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Jimmy Belcher, the Sector Anchorage Command Center Supervisor said that mariners will not lose any communications at all with the Coast Guard under the reorganization.
The personnel that will move from Kodiak and Valdez to Anchorage will do so in early September.
Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons will not be affected by the consolidation. All EPIRB signals will continue to be heard by the Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau.
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