Why the entire Ninth District fleet is in town today

NEWS RELEASE

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

************************* Sector Sault Ste. Marie hosts the Ninth District Cutter Round-up

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI. - The Ninth Coast Guard District cutter fleet will converge here for the 2007 Ninth District Cutter Round-up.

The fleet, which includes nine Coast Guard cutters, will be here for a week of competition and training sessions.

The 2007 Cutter Round-Up, which occurs every two years, is designed to provide multiple training opportunities for the more than 300 men and women on the nine Coast Guard cutters which make up the Ninth District fleet.

The last round-up was two years ago in Cleveland.

"Ninth District cutters provide the Great Lakes community with our core Coast Guard missions: search-and-rescue, buoy tending, and domestic ice breaking," said Rear Adm. John E. Crowley, Jr., Commander of the Ninth Coast Guard District. "Without doubt, their missions visibly touch all segments of our communities. We hold this training in high regards as a way to maintain the professionalism in our traditional mission areas."

The cutter fleet is preparing for the upcoming aids to navigation and ice breaking season.

The cutter crews will participate in leadership and job-specific training sessions and events, while exercising excellent stewardship of tax dollars by consolidating multiple and diverse events in one location.

Coast Guard Cutters Mackinaw, Alder, Hollyhock, Bristol Bay, Mobile Bay, Biscayne Bay, Katmai Bay, Neah Bay and Buckthorn will not be available for public tours; however, members of the media are invited to interview Coast Guard members during their time here.

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