The Commander Elmer Stone Award is presented in recognition of the performance of the crew of CG-2006 on October 8, 2021. This crew displayed exceptional adaptability and skill that saved a mariner’s life and reduced the risks encountered by a helicopter crew responding to a distress call from the Fishing Vessel ALASKA VICTORY.

For heroic achievement while serving as aircrew aboard CGNR 2006 on October 8h, 2021. On the evening of 8 October 2021, Air Station Kodiak received a request to MEDEVAC a patient from the F/V ALASKA VICTORY, 650NM Southwest of Kodiak, AK. The patient was in severe respiratory distress with dangerously low oxygen saturation levels and a limited supply of oxygen on board the vessel. The vessel was within range of the forward deployed MH-60T in Cold Bay, AK, but the on-scene weather made the success of a hoist highly unlikely. The crew of CG-2006 coordinated the delivery of 10 oxygen tanks from the Rockmore-King Clinic in Kodiak and prepared to deliver them to the vessel via parachute in the event the helicopter hoist was not possible. The crew set up the aerial delivery to deliver oxygen bottles in a container not designed for the task. Showing outstanding initiative, they sourced honeycomb cardboard and a package of diapers from the load cage to stabilize the tanks in the aerial delivery can. CG-2006 departed Kodiak to arrive on scene before dark to mitigate risks from on-scene weather. As they descended to the F/V ALASKA VICTORY, what they found were 20-foot seas, and wind gusts over 50 knots. The crew employed a non-standard drop due to the on-scene conditions. This ensured the drop can with the bottles in it landed just prior to the vessel and the drop line landed on the vessel itself for easy retrieval. Had they delivered per the flight manual procedure, the F/V ALASKA VICTORY crew would likely have lost sight of the gear and would not have recovered it. Just prior to aerial delivery, the C-130 crew noted sustained winds of 40 knots with gusts to 52 knots. The drop landed in the ideal position and the crew of the vessel easily recovered the oxygen bottles. Soon after the aerial delivery, CG-6037 arrived on scene in complete darkness with less than 10% illumination from the moon. The MH-60T crew quickly realized the vessel was too unstable to hoist the survivor. Due to the expert delivery of the oxygen, the patient was able to be transported by the vessel to higher care in Dutch Harbor, AK. The crew of CG-2006 saved this person’s life. Their outstanding airmanship and devotion to duty reflect great credit upon themselves and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the Coast Guard Aviation Association and the United States Coast Guard.