was hunting in the Idaho Mountains when he found a note from the Rangers. He drove to the Ranger Office and called home to get the word. Unfortunately, he still had to go back to the camp, hike three hours back to his party, and make two round trips bringing the game out. He started the 28-hour drive back to Wisconsin Monday morning and joined us in country on Friday. The transport to Saudi went sideways as well. I was on the second of the three C-141 aircraft to depart Toledo and on a refueling stop [an engine broke]. So we pulled our boats and gear off, helped load it into a replacement aircraft, and we were on our way. Or so we thought. Upon landing for fuel and a crew change we discovered there was no replacement crew. So, we mustered every hour and waited to hear if we were good to go and after the twelfth muster, we were on our way, arriving last. And finally, once in country, we were on the beach so to speak. At that time the PSUs had no wheeled transport. The plan was for the Navy folks we would be co-located with to provide us with whatever transport we need. But that plan, too, went astray. First our unit with transportation arrived several weeks after we did, leaving our CO to walk to meetings. After a few days we managed to secure an Army pick-up on a 24-hour basis, checking it back in every morning and hoping to be allowed to check it out again. When the Navy unit did arrive, the CO hadn’t gotten the memo. Fortunately, cash flow was not a problem, and we literally went to war in a rental fleet. But we got the job done in spite of everything that got in the way for the next six months once again proving the resilience and ingenuity of the Reserve force. Master Chief Petty Officer Pete Vickerman, USCGR (ret.) As the band AJR says, “A hundred bad days made a hundred good stories, a hundred good stories make me interesting at parties.” As Capt. Olson’s story showed, the PSUs had a heck of a time getting started, but became an undeniable success story for the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve. I think you speak for a lot of PSU folks who were happy to see the anniversary story published. Imagine my surprise in seeing the PSU Raider boat image from Ad Dammam, Saudi Arabia. As the engineer riding on the other side of the coxswain in that photo, I never expected to see that image in an official Coast Guard publication. A little bit of information about the image itself. The three folks on the boat are Chief Petty Officer Mike Raggio as the "pilot," myself as the engineer, and an Army sergeant that was always hanging around the boat docks looking for a ride for some fun. We were in the last few days of our deployment in Saudi Arabia and port security operations had ceased at that time, thus no weapons were on board. Seas were running six to eight feet in the port area. The image was taken inside the actual port area inside the break walls. The boat itself is actually on the way down from its peak height. The bow had finally quit rising and started to settle when the image was captured. Not bad for a disposable camera. As I mentioned, this was taken near the end of the deployment of PSUs in Saudi Arabia after Desert Storm. The unit was PSU 303 (b). We were one of the replacement units and we had been through the training in Camp Blanding Florida and were the last unit to return from the Middle East. Our unit was brought back to New York City and put up in temporary quarters on Governor's Island. After medical and other checks, those who lived locally were permitted to go home (and that was a majority of the unit). I joined the unit from Cincinnati. The unit then went to Washington, D.C., for the parade and victory celebration along the mall where one Raider boat was on static display. Ensign Opus of the Coast Guard posters were handed out from the display. After the parade, we returned to NYC to stay in the Marriott Marquis in Times Square and march in the ticker tape parade along with a large number of other Coasties who returned for that event. This was especially welcome for those members of the unit who were veterans from Vietnam—a real welcome home that they had never experienced before. The unit still holds reunions in NYC to this day, and our reunion originally scheduled for this year has been postponed until 2022. You can expect to find most of us there in May of 2022. A few years later, I became a plank holder for PSU 311 in Long Beach, Calif. There was a core of folks who had served in Desert Storm who helped to stand up that unit and make it functional. Myself and a few others were sent to Camp Perry in December to receive our equipment issue from the supplies there. Imagine our surprise at getting issued equipment (trucks, boats, and other gear) that we had seen in Saudi Arabia. Once it was sorted and loaded for transport, we took possession in Long Beach and began trying to make it all work again. Chief Petty Officer Thomas A. Chatfield, USCGR (ret.) Magazine style for military ranks I’m looking for information on the use of rank abbreviations. In emails, we typically would use “LCDR,” though you would use “Lt Cmdr.” for an article. A long time ago, Reservist had an editorial response to this, but I didn’t find it in a search. Stylistically, where does this come from? Master Chief Petty Officer Rich Baenen Eleventh District You bet, Master Chief. I get this question a lot. All military photojournalists and PAOs, myself included, have been trained at the Defense Information School in Fort Meade, Md. DINFOS standard follows the Associated Press Style Guide, which is industry standard as well. It’s important that we follow AP Style so that when the Coast Guard puts out a press release to the media, it’s already in correct journalistic style, without the use of acronyms or jargon that vary from service to service (CAPT vs Capt. vs CPT) or abbreviations that differ from command to command. It’s the mark of our professionalism as military journalists that we use the industry standard. Side note: names in a list (for awards, retirements, etc.) are written using abbreviated rank solely for space consideration. The early days Your most recent issue of Reservist brought back many fond memories. I was pleased to see the photo of Capt. L'Ecuyer. I joined the Coast Guard Reserve in 1955 and reported for active Issue 1 • 2021 � RESERVIST 3
