The Coast Guard has been providing services to the community of Stillwater, Oklahoma since 1915. The service first originated as a volunteer force to protect shipping and coastal interests in the region. Today, the Coast Guard patrols 4,000 miles of coastline and docks more than 2,000 vessels each year. In addition to its safety responsibilities, the Coast Guard provides support for local communities by providing law enforcement and emergency response services. The history of the Coast Guard in Stillwater dates back to 1915 when volunteers from various organizations banded together to help protect shipping in the area. For many years, the Coast Guard operated out of small huts onshore until it relocated to its present location on land donated by Mrs. Alice Hinton. At that time, it was known as simply the “Stillwater Volunteer Cadets” or “SGVAC” for short. In 1975, SGVAC became part of The United States Coast Guards (USCG) after being reorganized under that organization’s banner following a congressional directive entitled “Message from Congress Concerning Naval Militia Programs” which called for an increase in coast guard capabilities along America’s coasts. CG command then transferred responsibility for all USCG drinking water and environmental protection activities ashore from The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to CG upon their creation as a separate entity within The USCG on 1 October 1975 pursuant to Executive Order 12625 issued 25 September 1974 by President Richard Nixon pursuant to authority granted by section 511(a)(2)of Title 8 U.S.C. On 15 February 1978 Incident Commander Dave Thomas took command of USS Pascagoula (LPD-7), located at Anadarko Naval Shipyard conducting routine dimensional inspections off Coos Bay Oregon during a winter storm Watch Station Zebra was closed duekepncelspondingtoanemergency alert receivedfromtheOregonCoastguard After conferring with his staff aboard PascagoulaThomasissuedorderssthatleftUSSZebra seawardofAnadarkoanddirectedvesselsontothecoastoftheshipyardforweather modificationoperations. OnboardUSSPascagouladuringtheeventwerefounddead2mannedandoneunidentifiedpersonwepassedawaywithinthestatusoffalsecuritylevelreducedfrom Orange County California after 9 December 1989 after an investigation into what occurred during watch station closure < ref name=9/>