The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Branch Posts > Coast Guard

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-31-2008, 08:27 AM
Boats's Avatar
Boats Boats is online now
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sauk Village, IL
Posts: 21,783
Default A Coast Guard whistleblower given an award

Navy Times is reporting -

A Coast Guard whistleblower given award

By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 31, 2008 610 EST

The chairman of the House Coast Guard subcommittee presented a “public service award” Monday to a former Lockheed Martin employee whose YouTube videos alleged there was shoddy equipment aboard the Coast Guard’s eight modified patrol boats.


Watch the video


Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., gave the IEE Carl Barus Award, a recognition by the Society of Social Implications of Technology, to the ex-contractor Michael De Kort, for his “commitment to excellence,” Cummings’ office announced.

“Had everyone involved in the Deepwater program approached the program with the same commitment Mr. De Kort brought, we would not have had the failures in the program that we have experienced,” Cummings said in a statement.

In 2006, De Kort posted an online video that talked about the “alarming incompetence” of the Coast Guard’s program to lengthen eight 110-foot patrol cutters with new boat ramps and modern electronics systems. De Kort alleged that the boats’ surveillance cameras had blind spots; that their Forward-Looking Infrared systems weren’t adequate for Coast Guard patrols; and that their communications gear wasn’t compatible with the U.S. secure TEMPEST networks — and that Lockheed and the Coast Guard knew about it and did nothing.

A 2006 report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general criticized the Coast Guard’s management of the 123-foot upgrades, especially the boats’ communications and electronics systems.

The Coast Guard and its contractors initially disputed De Kort’s allegations, but since then, that specific controversy became moot — other problems with the upgraded cutters, including cracked superstructures and buckled hulls, forced the Coast Guard to decommission them in 2007. In December, the Coast Guard’s acquisition directorate asked the lead Deepwater contractor, Integrated Coast Guard Systems, to pay $96.1 million as compensation for the lost boats, a dispute that is likely to continue.
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Coast Guard, NYC criticized QM3steve Coast Guard 0 03-09-2005 02:00 PM
Coast Guard in Alaska Tamaroa Coast Guard 0 12-16-2003 07:06 AM
coast guard... in Missouri thebrad General Posts 3 11-26-2003 09:44 AM
Coast Guard On TV, JAN '03 JeffL Coast Guard 1 01-10-2003 09:02 AM
navy and coast guard... daniel topliffe General Posts 19 12-30-2002 09:52 AM

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.