When Petty Officer 1st class Brown arrived at the station two years ago, it was only a satellite station under the authority of Coast Guard Station in Ocean City, Md.. Brown was in charge of the unit, but it was small.
“We only had nine or 10 people, depending on what day it was,” he said. “We were still running 200 search and rescue cases a year and doing 300 to 400 law enforcement boardings. For nine people, we were pretty busy.”

Busy is good in the Coast Guard, since no one joins to stay ashore and polish brass. Brown joined so he could save someone.

“I told myself that I want to save somebody’s life. That will be worth going through eight weeks of boot camp and mess cooking in the scullery of the ship. It will all be worth it.” Mess cooking is essentially cleaning plates and peeling potatoes while working in the scullery, deep inside the ship.

“I have saved someone,” Brown said. “I fulfilled that very early on in my career.”

While the Coast Guard is often seen pulling immigrants from the water or seizing a boat full of drugs, search and rescue is still one of the service’s main duties.

“That goes back to the days when we were the lifesaving service,” Brown said. “Every seven miles or so of coastline, there was a lifesaving station. Back then, it was mostly a volunteer service. Now we have better benefits, but we are still going out there and doing our job.”

Brown lives and breathes his job. Single with no children, he plans to stay in the Coast Guard for at least 20 years. Even his favorite hobby is offshore fishing. The station provides a 23 foot boat for the crew members to use during their time off.

Of course, the Coast Guard has changed since Sept. 11, 2002. The station’s front gate is now locked 24 hours a day, and the crew is busy conducting boardings whenever there is a moment when it are not on a search and rescue case.

“Now we are instructed to go out and be a constant presence on the water,” Brown said. “The Coast Guard has had law enforcement authority for a long time, but we are exercising it a great deal more now. Law enforcement is full-time job now, and it takes up a lot of my time.”

Brown has risen in rank relatively quickly since he joined more than nine years ago. In the Coast Guard, a person rises in rank by taking written tests and demonstrating certain duties. In many ways, personal motivation is the only limitation if a person wants to rise in rank.

“So far, it’s been going good,” Brown said. “The Coast Guard is expanding, but there are still more people in the New York City police than are in the Coast Guard.”

The good news is the Coast Guard is being led by people like Brown. They are people who love their job, love the service, and love their country.