U.S. Coast Guard Academy Third Class Cadet Dillon Torno poses for a photograph with the Coast Guard Commendation Medal at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., Thursday, Jan. 12. Torno earned the medal for rescuing a woman in New Jersey during his summer vacation. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 3rd Class Diana Honings.

NEW LONDON, Conn. — U.S. Coast Guard Academy Third Class Cadet Dillon Torno, 19, of Clarksburg, N.J., received a Coast Guard Commendation Medal Thursday, Jan. 12, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy here.

During his summer vacation in New Jersey in 2011, Torno responded to a call for help on the international distress frequency while sailing with his father. He performed lifesaving service and first-aid assistance to a woman who had become distressed in the water and stayed with her until emergency technicians arrived.

“When I heard the distress call on the VHF radio, my training from the Coast Guard Academy immediately kicked in," said Torno. "I did not hesitate to respond to the boater, and I know any one of my fellow cadets would have done the same thing. That’s why we’re here after all – to answer the call and dare mighty things." 

The award was presented by U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commandant of Cadets Capt. John O’Connor and Jeff Torno, Dillon’s father, during a ceremony among the Corps of Cadets. 

"Third Class Cadet Dillon Torno's response in this case while on leave, enjoying a day on the water with his father, was the ultimate reconciliation of the competencies he has acquired through the academy's professional training program and his proactive response to a mariner in distress," said O'Connor. "The academy and the Coast Guard are very proud of Torno. His heroic actions resulted in the saving of a life and epitomizes the Coast Guard's motto of 'Semper Paratus, Always Ready.'"

Torno is a 2010 graduate of Peddie School and is scheduled to graduate from the Coast Guard Academy in 2014 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Fourteen cadets are being processed for disenrollment from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for using synthetic marijuana. 

An investigation recently completed and reviewed by academy officials found that 14 cadets were involved in the improper use of a synthetic substance that mimics the effects of marijuana. Eight others have been implicated in the incident or are under investigation. Each of the 14 cadets being processed has a right to appeal their disenrollment to the Assistant Commandant for Human Resources at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington.  Each appeal, if filed, will receive full and independent consideration.

Consuming this substance at the academy is expressly prohibited.  Those found to be using the substance will normally be processed for disenrollment from the institution and discharged from the service pursuant to Coast Guard policy.

“While we are certainly disappointed with the conduct involved in this incident, these actions are not indicative of the behavior of our Corps of Cadets,” said Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz, Academy Superintendent. "The use of synthetic marijuana is a troubling issue nationwide.  As a military institution, we hold cadets to the highest standards of conduct and go to great lengths to ensure those standards are clearly understood and strictly enforced.” 

An Austin, Texas, native is one of four members from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who won the Scholastic Steel Challenge’s 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship – a firearms speed shooting competition.

Second Class Cadet Barton Nanney, 21, competed Nov. 12 in Epping, N.H., along with 14 of his classmates from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In all, 43 competitors from four different colleges competed during the match.

Nanney, along with three other team members from the academy, took first place in the competition.

“I went into this wanting to just have a lot of fun and enjoy myself and we ended up coming out of it winning twice," said Nanney. "It was a really great experience going out with these guys and seeing what we could accomplish with minimal practice and training."

(From left) U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, Second Class Cadet Barton Nanney, Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz, Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff and First Class Cadet Alex Webber pose for a photo Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

The Scholastic Steel Challenge is a national team-oriented youth shooting program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and funded in part by a grant from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The program offers the opportunity to compete as a four-person team for a national title in the action pistol discipline of speed shooting.

“The U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Combat Arms Team put in an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Spring Championship. As SSC expands at the collegiate level, the cadets are likely to remain at, or near, the top of each match,” said Scott Moore, director of the Scholastic Steel Challenge.

The academy’s three registered squads placed first, fourth and fifth in the challenge.

U.S. Coast Guard Academy First Class Cadet Alex Webber, 22, of Boxborough, Mass., poses for a photograph with a trophy and steel shooting target Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at the academy's gun range in New London, Conn. Webber is one of four team members from the Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who competed in and won the Scholastic Steel Challenge's 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

A Boxborough, Mass., native is one of four members from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who won the Scholastic Steel Challenge’s 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship – a firearms speed shooting competition.

First Class Cadet Alex Webber, 22, competed Nov. 12 in Epping, N.H., along with 14 of his classmates from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In all, 43 competitors from four different colleges competed during the match.

Webber, along with three other team members from the academy, took first place in the competition.

“I've been on the team for three years and this year was a nice change of pace to do only speed shooting as opposed to speed and accuracy," said Webber. "It was definitely a shifting of the skills to try and push us into the lead - which we did."

"It was nice to win but it was really great for the new guys. We were able to walk them through their first competition ever and they showed tremendous potential. This is my last year on the team and I feel satisfied that I've taught them well enough to fill my shoes after seeing them shoot this past performance."

(From left) U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, Second Class Cadet Barton Nanney, Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz, Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff and First Class Cadet Alex Webber pose for a photo Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

The Scholastic Steel Challenge is a national team-oriented youth shooting program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and funded in part by a grant from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The program offers the opportunity to compete as a four-person team for a national title in the action pistol discipline of speed shooting.

“The U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Combat Arms Team put in an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Spring Championship. As SSC expands at the collegiate level, the cadets are likely to remain at, or near, the top of each match,” said Scott Moore, director of the Scholastic Steel Challenge.

The academy’s three registered squads placed first, fourth and fifth in the challenge.

U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, 21, of Auburn, Maine, poses for a photograph with a trophy and steel shooting target Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at the academy's gun range in New London, Conn. Naum is one of four team members from the Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who competed in and won the Scholastic Steel Challenge's 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi.

An Auburn, Maine, native is one of four members from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who won the Scholastic Steel Challenge’s 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship – a firearms speed shooting competition.

Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, 21, competed Nov. 12 in Epping, N.H., along with 14 of his classmates from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In all, 43 competitors from four different colleges competed during the match. 

Naum, along with three other team members from the academy, took first place in the competition.

“When we went up to Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, N.H., we came back winning the Scholastic Steel Challenge trophy for the fall," said Naum. "It was nice to come back and defend the title after our spring match. We did some training this fall on the range here and worked on target acquisition, speed and accuracy with targets. It was great that we could go up there and put our best foot forward and take the trophy home with us after practicing this and devoting lots of hard work and hours into preparing for the match."

(From left) U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, Second Class Cadet Barton Nanney, Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz, Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff and First Class Cadet Alex Webber pose for a photo Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

The Scholastic Steel Challenge is a national team-oriented youth shooting program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and funded in part by a grant from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The program offers the opportunity to compete as a four-person team for a national title in the action pistol discipline of speed shooting.

“The U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Combat Arms Team put in an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Spring Championship. As SSC expands at the collegiate level, the cadets are likely to remain at, or near, the top of each match,” said Scott Moore, director of the Scholastic Steel Challenge.

The academy’s three registered squads placed first, fourth and fifth in the challenge.

U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff, 20, of Melbourne, Fla., poses for a photograph with a trophy and steel shooting target Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at the academy's gun range in New London, Conn. Spundjieff is one of four team members from the Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who competed in and won the Scholastic Steel Challenge's 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi.

A Melbourne, Fla., native is one of four members from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who won the Scholastic Steel Challenge’s 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship – a firearms speed shooting competition.

Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff, 20, competed Nov. 12 in Epping, N.H., along with 14 of his classmates from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In all, 43 competitors from four different colleges competed during the match. 

Sapundjieff, along with three other team members from the academy, took first place in the competition.

“I had a good time at the Spring and Fall match this year," said Sapundjieff. "We won both of them and posted pretty good times. We had a good team harmonics and improved dramatically since the Spring match. We also dropped the time significantly as a team and individually."

(From left) U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, Second Class Cadet Barton Nanney, Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz, Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff and First Class Cadet Alex Webber pose for a photo Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

The Scholastic Steel Challenge is a national team-oriented youth shooting program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and funded in part by a grant from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The program offers the opportunity to compete as a four-person team for a national title in the action pistol discipline of speed shooting.

“The U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Combat Arms Team put in an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Spring Championship. As SSC expands at the collegiate level, the cadets are likely to remain at, or near, the top of each match,” said Scott Moore, director of the Scholastic Steel Challenge.

The academy’s three registered squads placed first, fourth and fifth in the challenge.

NEW LONDON, Conn. – A 2004 Coast Guard Academy graduate was named the Coast Guard Elite Female Athlete of the Year.

Lt. Nicole Auth, assigned to the 17th District prevention division, received this award for her participation in the 5th CISM Military World Games where her team earned the U.S. women's military sailing team the bronze medal and for her notable community service while stationed in Hawaii.

Auth was the acting bosun and crew's bow woman for the sailing team during the games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 22. This is the first time the United States won a medal in a sailing event at the Military World Games.

"We weren't expecting to place that well," said Auth. "But we were excited to be able to represent the U.S. and its armed forces."

The Coast Guard selects an elite male and female athlete to be recognized annually. These athletes are recognized for making a significant contribution in a national team sport placing in the top three and for having a notable positive impact in their community.

Auth shares her passion for the sport of sailing by volunteering her time teaching sailing to high school students and she was an active instructor with the Sea Scout Youth Sailing Program in Hawaii.

The World Military Games, sponsored by the International Military Sports Council, are held every four years. Military athletes, as well as a few Olympic athletes, from around the globe come together for the eight-day competition. A total of 37 sports are represented, including everything from basketball to skydiving. The council also organizes more than 20 international military sports championships every year.

The U.S. sailing team, sponsored by the Navy, was made up of Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps members, had only 11 days to prepare for this year’s event during training in Annapolis, Md.

Auth, originally from Lamoine, Maine, has been sailing since high school and sailed for the Coast Guard Academy’s team before graduating in 2004. She was a member of the U.S. coed team at the international sailing championship in Bahrain in 2010. Since then, she and her teammates have been recruiting their fellow service members to apply for the program. This year the U.S. had enough sailors to create a four-person men’s team and five-person woman’s team for the games.

For more information on Auth's participation in the games click here. For more detailed information on the 5th Military World Games click here.

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Five recent graduates of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy here are winners of two awards to be presented in Houston today.

U.S. Coast Guard Ensign Brian Bonomi won the Society of Naval Architect and Marine Engineer Undergraduate Paper Award for his paper on corrosion research. 

The paper was written during Bonomi’s senior year at the academy when he researched corrosion on Coast Guard cutters. Corrosion is a growing and expensive problem that plagues the aging Coast Guard fleet leading to costly repairs and loss of operational days. During high-tempo operations, often times long-term maintenance issues such as corrosion can be overlooked because of more pressing operational concerns. Bonomi designed and executed a series of experiments to look at various coatings and converters to help reduce the rate of corrosion while underway.

U.S. Coast Guard Ensigns Daniel Burke, Nicholas Sapiano, Bennington McElry and Kyle Stubbs placed third in the SNAME Lisnyk Student Ship Design Competition for their Wind Turbine Support Vessel design. The design was completed as a capstone project for their senior year at the academy as part of a requirement for their Bachelor’s Degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. The student design teams receive direction and support from academy faculty, the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Center and practicing naval architects from The Glosten Associates.

These competitions are intended to challenge student teams to design theoretical but practical cutting-edge vessels and draw multiple student designs from more than a half dozen universities around the world.  

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Coast Guard Academy announced Tuesday First Class Cadet Nathanael Crum of Bellevue, Wash., as the Distinguished Honor Graduate for the Class of 2011.

Crum is a member of the men’s varsity cross country, indoor and outdoor track teams. He is graduating from the academy with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Crum is a 2007 graduate of Sammamish High School in Bellevue and the son of Francis and Joanne Crum.

After graduation, Crum is scheduled to report to flight school, and once complete, he will fly Coast Guard aircraft at one of our air stations throughout the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico.

The distinguished graduate designation recognizes the cadet who graduates with the highest Military Precedence List Average.  Crum will give an address to the graduating class during commencement May 18.

The MPA is calculated using the cadet’s cumulative grade point average, military precedence index and physical fitness exams.

The Coast Guard Academy offers an educational experience which emphasizes academics, physical fitness, character and leadership, in order to graduate officers of the highest caliber. Graduates go directly to positions of leadership and obligate eight years of service, five of which must be active duty.

First Class Cadet Nathanael F. Crum, a civil engineering major at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, poses for a photo with his concrete canoe senior design project in a design lab at the academy Wednesday, March 23, 2011.

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The U.S. Coast Guard Academy Civil Engineer Concrete Canoe Design Group, comprised of six first class cadets majoring in Civil Engineering, will be competing in the Northeast Regional Concrete Canoe Competition April 16 at the Burlingame Campground in R.I. 

The in-water tests of the canoes will begin at 9:45 a.m. with races beginning at 11 a.m. 

This event is being hosted by the University of Rhode Island.

The goals of the competition are to promote practical applications of engineering principals, build leadership and teamwork along with project management skills, challenge students in knowledge and creativity and to showcase versatility and durability in construction.

Expected participants include:

• Coast Guard Academy
• Merrimack College
• Northeastern
• Norwich University
• Roger Williams University
• Umass Amherst
• UMass Dartmouth
• UMass Lowell
• Universite Laval
• University of Maine
• University of New Hampshire
• University of New Haven
• University of Rhode Island
• Wentworth Institute of Technology
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute