Airboats Are Awesome

A boat that you would normally not see this year in Fargo, ND is playing a major role in the operation; the air boat. The Coast Guard is using airboats all over the flooded area because of their ability to float on water or ice. We have seen many pictures this week of our brave Guardians and the airboats that have been doing a lot of the hard work in the flood relief mission.

FARGO, N.D. – Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Wheeler, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer, radios to the Coast Guard HH-6575 “Dolphin” helicopter during a search and rescue case here March 26, 2009. A Coast Guard air boat passes behind him.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Blackwell)

A Coast Guard Station St. Clair Shores airboat crew prepares to deploy to a staging area in West Fargo, N.D. with a convoy of several Coast Guard and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service trailerable airboats at the Cass County Roads Department in West Fargo, Saturday, March 28, 2009. The Coast Guard and the USFWS deployed three airboat teams to neighborhoods in the North River City area. Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River coordinated a multi-agency response effort along the Red River March 24.

(U.S. Coast Guard/Photo by Petty Officer Bill Colclough)

A convoy of Coast Guard and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service airboats prepares to deploy to flooded communities in North Dakota along the Red River from the Harwood Community Center in Harwood, N.D., Saturday, March 28, 2009.

(U.S. Coast Guard/Photo by Petty Officer Bill Colclough)

A Coast Guard airboat crew rescues a woman from the 2009 Red River flooding.

(U.S. Coast Guard)

OXBOW, N.D. - In this photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 1st Class Gabe Wilch stands watch on the bow of a Coast Guard airboat, Thursday, March 26, 2009.Wilch remained on the lookout for Oxbow residents needing evacuation assistance. Residents have been asked to place a red object in a highly visible location on their house to notify responders help is needed.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Renee C. Aiello)

Petty Officer 3rd Class Danny McDorman from Coast Guard Station Sault Ste Marie, Mich., watches the rear view mirror for back-up directions from Duane Kashmark, a diver from the Valley Water Rescue in Fargo, N.D., before backing up a boat trailer on County Road 81 in Harwood, N.D., Mar. 30, 2009. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Valley Water Rescue joined the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, the Fish and Wildlife Service and Customs and Border Protection in the response efforts to the flooded areas around Fargo, N.D.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo/PA3 Annie R. Berlin)

Petty Officers 3rd Class Jeremy Sergey, front, Dan Fraley, right, and Danny McDorman stand in front of an 18-foot Special Purpose Craft-Air, a fan propelled vessel designed to be able to operate in a minimum of six inches of water. The three crewmembers from Coast Guard Station Sault Ste Marie, Mich., have been a part of the multi-agency response to the rising floodwaters in Fargo, N.D.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo/PA3 Annie R. Berlin)

Bravo Zulu to all of our Coast Guard Men and Women serving in North Dakota and Minnesota this week!