The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hawser crew conducts operations in New York City to support safe navigation during winter weather conditions, February 3, 2026. Hawser, a 65-foot harbor tug homeported in Bayonne, New Jersey, is designed with a reinforced hull to conduct icebreaking operations and keep vital waterways open throughout the Sector New York area of responsibility. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Sydney Phoenix)
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,...
