Looking past pandemic year, Eagle crew charts 2021 training season
The crew of the Coast Guard barque Eagle is planning to resume normal operations in 2021, including making international port calls, which were absent from this summer’s training schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Eagle, the training ship for Coast Guard Academy cadets and officer candidates, was a much more present fixture on New London’s waterfront this summer, given the pandemic restricted the ship’s training operations to local waters.
Cadets were required to quarantine before boarding the ship for training, which happened in smaller groups than usual. Fourth-class Cadet Holli Welcker was injured and couldn't go on the Eagle this summer. But she is spending time aboard the ship during the winter break shadowing the junior enlisted personnel aboard, which, she said Friday, is giving her an in-depth look at life in the fleet early in her academy career. Santa Andrianaivo Ralambo, an international cadet from Madagascar, also is spending time aboard the ship during the winter break.
The lack of an extensive travel schedule this summer gave the crew more time to "knock out" qualifications in various specialties, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Holly Ross, a member of the Eagle's crew. Ross said the Eagle's leadership tried to make up for the missed travel experience by having “in lieu of port calls” including trivia nights and swim calls.
Planning for the summer training session happens far in advance. The crew already has received navigational charts based on the schedule developed by Capt. Michael Turdo, Eagle’s commanding officer, in conjunction with the crew and high-level Coast Guard officials.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Dariana Perez said she and other navigation personnel aboard the ship already have begun prepping the charts based on the schedule, which has been submitted but not yet approved by Coast Guard leadership.
Ensign Elena Calese, who graduated from the academy in May, said the pandemic hasn't put a damper on the start of her Coast Guard career. The Eagle was her top choice for where she wanted to be assigned after graduating, and in her short time as a junior officer aboard, she got to help develop the ship's training schedule for next year.
The winter is usually when the crew performs work on the Eagle to prepare it for the next year's operations. The ship spent recent winters in Baltimore, its temporary homeport, for a $29 million overhaul, before returning to New London full time in the summer of 2019.
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