The Commander Elmer F. Stone award goes to the Air Elizabeth City crew of CGNR 2004 in recognition of their efforts on 29 October 2012 The crew of HC-130J 2004 launched from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, the staging airport for hurricane sandy, on the morning of 29 October 2012 in response to the distress of HMS Bounty foundering 80 miles off Cape Hatteras during the storm. CGNR-2004 departed into complete darkness, moderate to severe turbulence, 60 knot winds and torrential rain. Despite aircraft system failures to the propeller anti-ice and radar equipment, the crew of CGNR-2004 proceeded to bounty and with worsening conditions and turbulence, descended to 500 feet above the turbulent water with visibility of only one mile in the dark and rain. Sensing the urgency of the situation based on conditions and the bounty captain’s radio transmissions, CGNR-2004 urged the dispatch of additional rescue assets. When Bounty radioed having to abandon ship, CGNR-2004 prepared to airdrop two life rafts and a marker buoy. Petty officers Laster and Embert moved aft in the aircraft positioning two sixty pound eight-man rafts to deploy. Fighting air sickness and severe turbulence that would at times take the deck out from under their feet, they made a nonstandard drop of the lifesaving equipment within parameters never practiced nor charted in HC-130J manuals. After the drop, the crew in the cargo bay crawled forward requesting the pilots to raise the ramp from the cockpit due to the severe turbulence. Reaching minimum fuel to return, CGNR-2004 proceeded back to Raleigh-Durham, while briefing a relief HC-130J and two MH-60T helicopters en route the scene. The airmanship and actions of the crew of CGNR 2004 were essential in beginning the sequence of events ultimately rescuing 14 mariners from the wreckage of Bounty. Their aeronautical skill and competence under extreme conditions are in keeping with the tradition of Commander Elmer Stone and added a proud chapter to the history of Coast Guard Aviation.