U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Berry

01/26/2022

12/09/2021

Happy Holidays from the crew of Oliver Berry! This year we celebrated Thanksgiving together with an all hands dinner prepared by our AMAZING Culinary Specialists! Shout out to CS1 Rais, CS3 Jackson, and SN Sothen for the wonderful meal. Even with the holiday season in full swing, our crew stayed busy conducting maritime law enforcement boardings on vessels around the Hawaiian Islands. In addition to law enforcement, Oliver Berry continued responding to mariners in distress. We worked in conjunction with Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point and Local Fire & Rescue to locate an adrift kayak near Pebble Beach, Big Island. Search and Rescue is always a team effort here in Hawaii, but the Coast Guard is always on call with our partners to protect the mariners we sail amongst!

11/22/2021

Welcome aboard CGC Oliver Berry! For the first time in three years, Oliver Berry moored in Kaunakakai, Molokai, opening the brow to dozens of excited residents for two hours of crew guided tours around the cutter. Tours included a firsthand look at some of our weapons systems with GM2 Janyce Stewart, fresh baked cookies and Coast Guard swag on the mess deck with CS1 Karyna Rais, and even a visit with our Commanding Officer on the bridge! Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. Most of all, from the entire crew, Mahalo to the Molokai ohana and Maui County for welcoming Oliver Berry to the island. We can’t wait to come back!

10/29/2021

Keeping the Hawaiian Islands safe day in and day out requires constant training from our entire team. Oliver Berry routinely works alongside other Coast Guard, local law enforcement and emergency response, and other critical partners to maintain readiness and continue serving our Hawaiian ohana. Just last week, Oliver Berry spent time training offshore with CGC Kimball and helicopters from CG Air Station Barbers Point. Being able to refuel at sea enables Oliver Berry to operate over extended durations, carrying out missions in and around the Hawaiian islands that might otherwise be impossible. While at sea, staying sharp on our ability to work together with aviation counterparts enables our crew to best execute timely and effective search and rescue across the Hawaiian Islands. We keep learning, perfecting our craft, all to make sure we are there to answer the call of those who need us most. Oliver Berry remains Semper Paratus Always Ready!

10/07/2021

After seven weeks patrolling the South Pacific, Oliver Berry is home at last! This past week, the crew stayed busy on our patrol home, conducting a second astern refueling at sea with CGC Juniper, boardings and observation reports on the high seas, and a second gunnery exercise to wrap up our deployment. Upon our return home, the crew bid farewell to our TDY Army Nurse Captain De La Pena from Task Force Oceana, our TDY linguist CPL Cameron from the USMC, and our very own EPO, Senior Chief Gonzalez. Together, these three played some of the most crucial roles towards ensuring Oliver Berry stayed safe and continued to kill the mission. Thank you for your relentless dedication to our team! Now that we are home with our friends and family, it’s time for the crew to recharge and get ready to return to the sea once more. Mahalo to everyone who made Oliver Berry’s 2021 Expeditionary Patrol a success.

09/25/2021

This past week was all about teamwork! Thanks to the support from District 14, Air Station Barbers Point, Marine Safety Detachment American Samoa, and our shore side partners in Pago Pago, Oliver Berry successfully received parts to conduct repairs on vital equipment, and finish out the final leg of the patrol. Seeing the familiar orange and white C-130 waiting on the runway during our last visit to Pago Pago reminded us that our ability to extend our operational capabilities is truly the product of relentless dedication and collaboration across the entire Coast Guard team! Together, we keep killing the mission, ensuring safety, and enforcing maritime law in the Pacific. Though our time in the southern hemisphere is coming to a close, we will surely miss the friends we’ve made, and look forward to future operations in the region. For now, it is time to return to our families and friends back in Hawaii!

09/17/2021

Over the past month, CGC Oliver Berry has been hard at work conducting boarding’s on commercial fishing vessels, supporting the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, and keeping a taught watch for any Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing practices. This past week however, the crew finally took a proper break from operations and enjoyed three days of liberty in American Samoa. We hiked in the National Park of American Samoa, traversed the island looking for the best spots to snorkel, found secluded reef breaks to surf, and of course…returned to Tisa’s to relax together away from our 154’ home. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who made it possible for CGC Oliver Berry to be the first FRC to receive full liberty outside of the continental US! Together we are committed to responsible and safe practices amidst ongoing COVID-19 conditions around the world, and made the most of our trip without any undue risks to ourselves or others! Once back out to sea, the crew maintained a high tempo, qualifying 02 new QMOWs, and updating pyrotechnics currencies for all Boarding Team Members, Boat Crew, and those who have recently reported. Nothing beats a pyro shoot with the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean as a back drop! We keep killing the mission, and making the most of our time in the Southern Hemisphere, meeting amazing people and seeing some of the most beautiful places in the Pacific.

09/10/2021

Last weekend, Oliver Berry pulled into Pago Pago, American Samoa again for fuel, maintenance, and some well-deserved liberty! Thanks to continued cooperation with the Department of Health in Pago Pago, the crew was able to get off and spend an afternoon at Tisa’s Barefoot Bar and Grill. Tisa and Candyman gave us a warm welcome, and we all had fun eating, snorkeling, surfing, and most importantly…reaching home to our families on the bar’s Wi-Fi! Before leaving this week, we welcomed onboard NOAA Special Agent Siave Iafeta, who helped our boarding teams continue to kill the mission! In between boardings, we patrolled the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, Fagatele Bay Unit where some of the world’s rarest coral reefs formations and marine life live. American Samoa truly is a beautiful place, and the crew looks forward to exploring the rest of Tutuila Island! It won’t be long before we start the long trek home to Hawaii!!!

09/04/2021

Since reaching American Samoa last week, CGC Oliver Berry spent some much needed time at the pier conducting maintenance, reenergizing, and preparing to patrol EEZs surrounding Samoa and American Samoa. While in port, Oliver Berry’s Engineering Department worked tirelessly to troubleshoot issues on essential onboard equipment, making it possible for us to return to sea and continue patrolling. On our transit back out, we passed CGC Juniper repairing buoys in Pago Pago’s harbor. While underway this week, the crew continued killing the mission, supporting the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, and conducting boarding’s on commercial fishing vessels in the American Samoan EEZ. It wasn’t all work though. After days of patrolling, we paid an offshore visit to Ofu and Olosega Islands for a swim call! At anchor, we also held quarters for all hands to recognize DC2 Whiteman’s advancement to DC1, and ET2 Ventura’s Sailor of the Quarter achievement. Bravo Zulu shipmates, thank you for all your hard work!!!
In the coming days, Oliver Berry will be topping off our fuel tanks, and making preparations to continue patrolling the surrounding waters.

08/28/2021

CGC OLIVER BERRY and its crew are rounding out week two of our Expeditionary Patrol to American Samoa and surrounding islands. Since our departure from Honolulu last week, we conducted boardings supporting the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, completed an astern refueling at sea with USCGC JUNIPER, and held a full day live fire weapons shoot for the crew. During the few hours where the crew wasn’t hard at work, we made time to break for bingo nights, trivia nights, morale raffles, and a fierce workout competition we are continuing for the duration of the patrol. Special shout out to CS1 Rais and SNCS Jackson for keeping everyone’s stomach’s full during long days and rough seas!!
Now that we have reached American Samoa, the crew is preparing for several weeks of patrolling the region before we return home to our families in Hawaii next month!

07/19/2021

After OLIVER BERRY’s Change of Command Ceremony, CS1 Rais & SNCS Jackson used their culinary expertise and passion to create a beautiful spread of scrumptious hors d'oeuvres. The crew, friends, family & special guests, enjoyed delicious foods such as Strawberry guava cheesecake, Kona chocolate mousse, Pineapple braised short rib tacos, Kailua pork sliders with guava BBQ, and Spicy ahi and shoyu poke cones.

Fun Facts about both of them!

CS1 Rais was last assigned to a high visibility position in the White House as a Culinary Specialist.

SNCS Jackson was top of her class at CS A-School in Alameda, California.

Thank you for taking pride in your job and working endless hours in order to prepare for the day!

Bravo Zulu Shipmates!

06/04/2021

Huge congratulations to William Headings “Guns” who advanced to Gunner’s Mate First Class! GM1 Headings first arrived on the USCGC OLIVER BERRY August of 2018 and is soon departing to his new unit, USCG MSRT West. Thank you for your hard work, dedication, & memorable times at sea.
Bravo Zulu Shipmate!