CGC Sycamore (WLB-209)
Reporting Personnel
Three key people you should know when transferring:
- Ship Sponsor: The sponsor is a member of the Sycamore crew who is the point of contact for the transferring member. The sponsor obtains reporting information from the member and provides information about the cutter. After the member reports, the sponsor helps them get situated on the vessel.
- Housing Petty Officer: The Housing Petty Officer is in charge of Coast Guard housing. This includes assignment to housing, maintenance, repair and enforcing residential regulations (i.e. quiet hours, pet policy, parking etc.). They also help to handle lines for the cutter when arriving and departing. The current Housing Petty Officer is DC1 Russell Dever (907)424-5987, Russell.M.Dever@uscg.mil.
- Ombudsman: An Ombudsman is a volunteer (who may be a Spouse, Reservist, or Auxiliarist) that is designated by a Command to serve as a link between the command and families, assisting the command in its functions of providing information and related services to families regarding sources of assistance available to them, Coast Guard and command policies, and activities of interest to family members. Contact the ship to get the name, number and email of the current Ombudsman.
Reporting:
Members should report to the Officer of the Day (OOD) on the cutter when in port and to the Housing Petty Officer when underway. The uniform is tropical blue long during summer and service dress blue during winter. If you are arriving before your report date, you may check into housing in civilian attire. Make sure the Sponsor, Housing Petty Officer and Ombudsman are aware of your arrival and report dates. If you are arriving by the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry, refer to the map on the Cordova page for directions. If you are flying in, make prior arrangements with your Sponsor to be picked up at the jet airport. The jet airport is located twelve miles outside of town on the Copper River Highway. Air service is via Alaska Airlines or Era Aviation.
Duty:
All members E-5 and below break-in as quarterdeck security watchstanders standing duty 1 in 6 or better. Once qualified, the quarterdeck watchstanders stand 1 in 4. E-6 and above break-in as Officer of the Day (OOD) or Engineer of the Watch (EOW) depending upon rate, standing duty 1 in 3. Once qualified, the OOD or EOW stand duty 1 in 6 or better.
Housing:
The Coast Guard Housing at 600 Adams consists of four 2 bedroom apartments and sixteen 3 bedroom townhouses. New one car heated garages were built in 2006. There is also a Community Center (a large meeting room, kitchen and workout room), Wood Hobby Shop, covered playground and Hot Tub. Housing is assigned based upon availability and what the member's family is entitled to occupy according to minimum bedroom requirements. It is important for the member to stay in contact with the Housing Petty Officer (907)424-5987 if they plan to reside in Coast Guard Housing. E-3 and below without dependents must get qualified on the ship before moving into housing. Once qualified they usually live in USCG leased apartments (2 per unit). E-4 and above without dependents and if CG Housing is full, members with dependents receive BAH (zip code 99574) to rent apartments on their own. Cordova is notoriously short on housing during summer months. There are two realtors in Cordova: Alaskan Real Estate (907)424-7253 and Cordova Realty (907)424-3199. Temporary lodging such as hotels and motels may be found through the Cordova Chamber of Commerce. Household Goods point of contact is the yeoman aboard ship and the Transportation Officer at ISC Ketchikan. Delivery on average is about one month after crewmembers arrive in Cordova. Since you will have to wait for your HHG, you are encouraged to make adequate hotel reservations prior to your arrival.
Medical/Dental:
Members and dependents are under the Tricare Prime Remote program. Make sure you are correctly registered in Tricare and DEERS including your new address. As of Dec 2006, there are two medical facilities in Cordova: Cordova Community Medical Center and Ilanka Community Health Clinic (pronounced ee-LON-ka). The Ilanka CHC is located within the CCMC building but is managed separately by the Native Village of Eyak. Members and dependents receive emergency care at CCMC and basic medical care at Ilanka. Prescriptions can be filled at Cordova Drug which accepts Tricare or through the Tricare Mail Order Pharmacy. There are a small amount of basic over the counter medications available through the HS on the vessel. All specialty care or referrals to specialists require a trip (sometimes more than one) to Anchorage covered by the Coast Guard. There is also one dentist in town which accepts United Concordia. Members and dependents can receive dental care in Anchorage but the Coast Guard will not provide travel. Annual eye exams can be obtained from traveling eye doctors which visit Cordova quarterly or in Anchorage (travel at your expense). Also all pregnant dependents are sent to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage a month before delivery where they are housed on base if space is available. A pregnant dependent can disenroll from Tricare Prime Remote and enroll in Tricare Standard if they want to give birth at the civilian Providence Hospital. Home birth with midwife is allowed in Cordova, but no medical clinic provides any birthing classes. Approved practitioners in Anchorage can be found at Triwest and dentists at United Concordia. Any member with special needs dependents must take these medical arrangements into serious consideration. If you need any specific medical or dental care you are advised to take care of it before transferring.
Utilities: (area code 907)
- Cable: GCI Cable 424-7317. Located beside AC Value Center.
- Telephone: Cordova Telephone Coop 424-2345. Located on 2nd Ave near USFS.
- Power: Cordova Electric Coop 424-5555. Located on 2nd Ave near the community college.
- Cell Phone: Cordova Wireless 424-2300 and Copper Valley Wireless 800-235-5414.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF)