Coast Guard Port Security Unit (PSU) 308 members conducted annual training with U.S. Marines assigned to Company C, 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, June 9, 2026. The joint exercise focused on enhancing interoperability through waterside and shoreside security operations, vessel escorts, entry control point operations, patrol tactics and integrated communications, strengthening expeditionary readiness between the two services. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Perry Shirzad)
Rear Adm. Francis “Stash” Pelkowski is a veteran, merchant mariner, maritime industry business leader, licensed attorney and a professor at SUNY Maritime College. To say the 58-year-old father has accomplished a lot in life is a gross understatement. However, to hear him describe his early adult years leading to his enlistment in 1980, his present-day success and many achievements were far from predictable.
Thirty-eight years later,...
