Project History

The Rescue 21 system is standing the watch and answering the call of duty over 41,726 miles of coastline.

Dec. 2010: Sector Southeast New England
Nov. 2010: Sector Los Angeles/Long Beach, Calif.
Oct. 2010: Sector Detroit, Mich.
Aug. 2010: Group Port Angeles, Wash. and Sector Seattle, Wash. were combined to form Sector Puget Sound
Aug. 2010: Group Astoria, Ore. and Sector Portland, Ore. were combined to form Sector Columbia River
Aug. 2010: Sector Baltimore, Md.
April 2010: Sector San Diego, Calif
March 2010: Sector San Francisco, Calif.

Nov. 2007: Sector New York
Oct. 2007: Sector Long Island Sound, NY
Sept. 2007: Sector Delaware Bay
Aug. 2007: Coast Guard commissions Project Resident Office Alaska in Juneau to begin design and implementation of Rescue 21 capabilities in that State

December 2006: Rescue 21 helps locate source of a Mayday call in waters off the west coast of Fla. Rescue 21 locates mariners 13 miles from the location they reported when their boat capsized.
December 2006: Sector Seattle, Wash. and Group Air Station Port Angeles, Wash.
July 2006: Sector St. Petersburg, Fla. starts using Rescue 21 and quickly identifies several calls as hoaxes based on lines of bearing emanating from inland areas.
June 2006: Sector St. Petersburg, Fla. accepts Rescue 21 system
May 2006: Sector Mobile, Ala. accepts Rescue 21 system

December 2005 - Coast Guard officially accepts the Rescue 21 system at Atlantic City, NJ and Eastern Shore, Va.
November 2005 - first rescue attributed to Rescue 21 from Group Eastern Shore.
September 2005 - the Disaster Recovery System is deployed to Louisiana in response to Hurricane Katrina.
August 2005 - Project Resident Office stood up in Scottsdale, Ariz.

March 2003 - work started at Group Eastern Shore, Md.
September 2002 - NDRSMP name changed to Rescue 21
September 2002 - General Dynamics awarded Phase II contract
November 2001 - Phase I contractors demonstrate that designs meet critical functions
January 2001 - General Dynamics buys Motorola
August 2000 - Phase I contract awards to SAIC, Lockheed Martin, and Motorola

December 1997 - Morning Dew accident. Validated the need for a new VHF-FM system for the Coast Guard
July 1995 - the acquisition project is chartered as the National Distress and Response System Modernization Program (NDRSMP).
July 1995 - the Mission Need Statement is approved. The approval of this document provides formal acknowledgement that a materiel solution is required to address the capability gaps.
May 1994 - the Mission Analysis Report is completed. This document states the needed requirements and capability gaps of the legacy coastal communications system.
1970s - National Distress System (legacy system) is installed to receive and respond to VHF distress calls.

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Last Modified 4/19/2012

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