U. S. Coast Guard Navigation Center

09/24/2024

Last week the Coast Guard Navigation Center, in collaboration with the Department of Transportation, hosted speakers and government officials from around the world for the two day 2024 Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC) in Baltimore, Maryland.
CGSIC is the recognized worldwide forum for effective interaction between all civil GPS users and U.S. GPS authorities. This event is attended by representatives from government, scientific, academic, and industry sectors of the global civil GPS user community. This year’s Keynote Address was provided by Coast Guard RADM Wayne Arguin who serves as the Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy.

A special thanks to Mr. Rick Hamilton, this is his 16th year serving as Executive Secretariat for CGSIC and his tireless work during this event ensures robust engagement between the federal government and the civil GPS user community.

Presentations from this year’s meeting can be found here: https://www.gps.gov/cgsic/meetings/2024/
Next year’s CGSIC will be held in Baltimore, Maryland 8-9 September 2025 and is always free to attend.

07/12/2024

📢 Exciting News from NAVCEN!

We are now distributing NWS Atlantic tropical weather briefings straight to your inbox through GovDelivery! 🌊☀️ Now reaching nearly 900 subscribers, these updates will be delivered twice a week to keep you informed and prepared. To subscribe to receive these briefings and other important MSI products, go to public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/subscriber/new

07/12/2024

Congratulations to SK2 Kara Ewing for being selected as NAVCEN's Person of the Quarter! Your dedication, hard work, and exceptional performance are truly commendable. We also celebrate your recent achievement of completing your BA in Global Logistics Management. Thank you for your outstanding service and commitment to excellence in support of NAVCEN’s important missions.

06/27/2024

On Friday, June 21st, Coast Guard Navigation Center held a Change of Command ceremony to welcome Captain Kennedy as our new commanding officer, and to celebrate the accomplishments of over 30 years of service to Captain Calhoun. We extend our deepest gratitude for your service and wish you a happy and fulfilling retirement.

The Coast Guard change of command ceremony is a pivotal event that ensures the seamless transition of leadership within the organization. It symbolizes the orderly transfer of responsibility, authority, and accountability from one commanding officer to another. This tradition upholds the principles of continuity and stability within the Coast Guard, ensuring that operational effectiveness and mission readiness are maintained without interruption. It also provides an opportunity to recognize the achievements of the outgoing Captain while setting the stage for the new Captain to build upon these successes and address future challenges.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude and best wishes to Captain Scott Calhoun for his exemplary leadership and dedicated service. Your commitment and contributions have significantly advanced our mission and left a lasting impact on the crew and the community. As you embark on new endeavors, may you find continued success and fulfillment. Simultaneously, we warmly welcome Captain Margaret (Maggie) Kennedy as our new commanding officer. Your experience and vision promise to guide us through the challenges ahead and further our commitment to safeguarding our nation's waterways. We look forward to your leadership and the new chapter it heralds for our team.

06/25/2024

MONTEREY, Calif. – Lieutenant Andrew Gibbons of the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center completed the Emergence Program at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) on June 14, 2024. Gibbons currently serves as a Ports and Waterways Safety Assessment Officer in which he leads the Coast Guard Navigation Center’s Waterway Utilization Assessments branch. Gibbons has served nine years in the U.S. Coast Guard and has earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the University of New Mexico. Throughout the hybrid program, Gibbons collaborated with homeland security officials from across the nation on current policy, strategy, and organizational design challenges. The NPS-CHDS students represent a snapshot of the homeland security enterprise, including professionals from the fields of emergency management, education, law enforcement, fire service, homeland security, public health, and city/county government. Located at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), CHDS is the nation’s homeland security educator. CHDS program participants develop critical thinking, leadership, and policy skills. CHDS is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Preparedness Directorate, within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). For information, visit www.chds.us.

ABOUT NPS: The mission of the Naval Postgraduate School is to provide unique advanced education and research programs in order to increase the combat effectiveness of the U.S. and Allied armed forces as well as enhance the security of the United States. For information, visit www.nps.edu.

06/24/2024

Personnel from the Navigation Center and the Office of Cutter Forces recently attend the Institute of Navigation’s Joint Navigation Conference (JNC), where they participated in a Warfighter Panel and attended four days of technical Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) sessions. JNC is the largest U.S. military conference of the year with joint service and government participation of technical PNT discussions. The event focuses on technical advances in PNT with emphasis on joint development, test, and support of affordable PNT systems, logistics and integration.

04/04/2024

We want to hear from you! Please take our survey about your experiences on the NAVCEN website.

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TZB8XNZ

We are eager to understand the primary reason for your visit to the Navigation Center website and how you use it, whether for recreational boating, professional purposes, data requests, educational reasons, or otherwise. Your feedback on the website's ease of use, ability to find information, and if it's your primary source for navigation-related information is crucial. We are committed to improving your experience and welcome any suggestions to enhance the site's usability, information accessibility, and overall efficiency. Your insights are invaluable in helping us better meet your navigation needs.

(U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center Website Customer Feedback Survey Privacy Notice:

Authority: 14 U.S.C. §504; 14 U.S.C §505; and Executive Order 12862.

Purpose: To collect data that will be used to analyze and determine the kind and quality of services customers want and expect, as well as their satisfaction with U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center services. To maintain confidentiality, respondents are advised not to include any personally identifiable information in their responses.

Routine Uses: This survey solicits information that the Coast Guard will use to gauge feedback and improve overall customer service. DHS/ALL/PIA-069 DHS Surveys, Interviews, and Focus Groups provides coverage for this collection.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is strictly voluntary)

Learn how SurveyMonkey helps you create free online surveys and forms with ease, so you can get powerful insights that drive growth in your organization.

03/21/2024

Last week, the Waterways Risk Assessment and Support Division of NAVCEN conducted a two-day Ports and Waterways Safety Assessment (PAWSA) workshop at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Tybee Island in Savannah, Georgia. This workshop, led by experienced NAVCEN facilitators, engaged local waterway users and maritime industry partners in an in-depth analysis of 16 risk factors integral to the PAWSA framework. The discussions reviewed waterway risks and examined potential mitigations, with a primary focus on fostering stronger collaborations between the public and private sectors. Such partnerships are important for recognizing and addressing waterway trends, safety hazards, and devising potential mitigation strategies, ultimately enhancing the Marine Transportation System (MTS). The insights and stakeholder contributions from the PAWSA workshop will be compiled into a comprehensive report, which will inform and support future waterways management and planning activities.

03/11/2024

This past week LCDR Paul Garcia from the Navigation Center attended a Key Leader engagement with US Space Command and the Coast Guard’s new Liaison to SPACECOM, Captain Nicholas Worst. This new liaison position broadens the Coast Guard’s collaboration with our Department of Defense partners in the increasingly significant domain of space operations and provides NAVCEN another key partner in our role of representing civil GPS users through the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee. The U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN) coordinates and manages CGSIC in cooperation with the Department of Transportation.

The Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC) is the recognized worldwide forum for effective interaction between all civil GPS users and the U.S. GPS authorities. More information on this Committee and GPS can be found here: https://www.gps.gov/cgsic/

02/29/2024

Last week, members of NAVCEN’s Waterways Risk Assessment and Support Division facilitated Ports and Waterways Safety Assessment (PAWSA) stakeholder engagements hosted by Coast Guard Sector San Juan and Sector North Carolina. The objectives of a successful stakeholder engagement are to introduce the scope and format of a PAWSA, assist in identifying informed participants for the two-day workshop, and survey the participants’ top issues that impact safety within their waterway.

The facilitation team will return to guide waterway users and maritime partners though the two-day PAWSA workshop in San Juan, PR April 24-25th and Wilmington, NC June 11-12th. Each workshop will culminate in a written report capturing stakeholder input pertaining to waterway risk factors and associated mitigations. The report will then be publicly released to the NAVCEN website.

Photos:

1) LT Andrew Gibbons guides stakeholders in San Juan, PR through discussion of their proposed study area to be the subject of geospatial data analysis for their upcoming assessment.

2) LT Craig Rooke walks stakeholders in Wilmington, NC through the two-day workshop process and discussion of the PAWSA the risk assessment framework.

02/13/2024

The Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard’s Navigation Center, Capt. Scott Calhoun, represented the U.S. government’s Civil GPS Service Interface Committee’s (CGSIC) International Information Subcommittee at the International GNSS Conference in Sydney Australia. Captain Calhoun, as the CGSIC Deputy Chair and Executive Secretariat, assembled an interagency team to travel to Sydney to support this initiative. These cooperative activities continue to strengthen partnerships and improve maritime governance through deliberate, coordinated, and impactful engagements.

To learn more about this event visit: https://www.ignss.org.au/ignss2024

Pictured: CAPT Scott Calhoun, CO of CG NAVCEN, co-chairs a meeting of the CGSIC International Information Subcommittee at the Colombo Theaters of the University of New South Wales in Australia on 7Feb.

01/09/2024

In the final segment of our "Year in Review," we turn our focus to the Maritime Traffic Tracking and Analysis Division (MTTA), a key component of NAVCEN's operations. MTTA's work in 2023 has been instrumental in enhancing the safety and efficiency of our waterways through advanced data collection and analysis. Here's a breakdown of their significant contributions:

Historical Data Collection for Authoritative Vessel Identification Service (AVIS) Blue Force Tracking (BFT) Assets: Since September 2022, MTTA has embarked on an ambitious project to collect daily data 'snapshots' from AVIS, establishing a comprehensive baseline historical database. This initiative is vital for tracking the operational status of Coast Guard assets and refining Automatic Identification System (AIS) discrepancy metrics. Notably, this process includes filtering out assets that are in maintenance or experiencing scheduled/unscheduled downtime, thereby ensuring accuracy and relevance in data reporting.

Integration with Advanced Software Tools: The historical data collection process also involves leveraging sophisticated software tools such as O365, SharePoint Online, PowerApps, and PowerBI enterprise applications. Recognizing the complexity and potential of these tools, the MTTA team has actively engaged in training geared towards developing user-friendly visual analytics tools, including an intuitive dashboard. These tools are designed to not only streamline data analysis but also enhance the reporting capabilities, allowing for the generation of comprehensive reports and making this crucial information accessible to the entire Coast Guard.

MTTA's work in 2023 stands as a shining example of NAVCEN's dedication to technological advancement and operational excellence. By harnessing the power of data analytics and committing to continuous improvement and training, MTTA is effectively ensuring the safety and efficiency of maritime operations, now and in the future.