The administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a joint training program with the Coast Guard plays an important role in the response of the agencies to emergencies.
Kathryn Sullivan attended the first joint graduation ceremony Wednesday of Coast Guard and NOAA officers who trained together in a 17-week program at the Coast Guard Academy in New London. She says the joint training will provide benefits because quickly establishing high-trust relations plays an important role in responding effectively and rapidly to severe events.
Sullivan says the joint training also is timely in an era of tight budgets and growing demands as the agencies take on more responsibilities in the Arctic and elsewhere.
Forty Coast Guard officers and 12 NOAA officers received their commissions at the event.
