Federal Employee Spotlight: Crew of USNS Guadalupe

For this month’s federal employee spotlight we check in with Seafarers International Union members Batiste Broadus, Travis Laws, and Frederick Beck.

Superior training, attention to detail and an unwavering ability to consistently deliver the goods are firmly entrenched attributes of mariners who wear the SIU colors.

The benefits associated with these traits over the years have been reaped by SIU-contracted companies as well as by the maritime transportation industry, each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and the American public as a whole.

The recent actions of AB Batiste Broadus and his shipmates provide an excellent example of how others often gain from the skills of Seafarers. Thanks to his unrelenting diligence, some 2,200 pounds of marijuana – with a street value of $8.5 to $11.5 million – were seized in July by California Customs and Border Protection agents and the U.S. Coast Guard in California.

A CIVMAR in the union’s Government Services Division, Broadus currently sails aboard the Military Sealift Command (MSC) operated USNS Guadalupe. During the early evening hours of June 30 near San Diego, Broadus and his shipmates were going about their normal duties aboard the 670-foot fleet replenishment oiler which was headed to its steam box (an area designated close to shore where a vessel operates between duty assignments, often overnight), located some 20 miles off shore.

The Guadalupe’s radar earlier had identified a small boat that was positioned in its route. Broadus was standing watch aboard his vessel along with fellow crewmembers OS Travis Laws, ABFrederick Beck and Third Officer John Jacob. Collectively, they were monitoring conditions aboard the Guadalupe while also keeping close watch over local boat traffic, which included fishing and other recreational craft.

Just before dusk, the small boat that earlier had been picked up by radar came into focus for Broadus, who was scanning the surrounding area with his binoculars. Almost instantly, Broadus, who has sailed in the SIU’s Government Services Division for some 10 years, noticed something very strange about the small boat: no evening lights were lit and nobody could be seen moving about on its uncovered deck.

“Three things made me suspicious of the boat,” he said. “The vessel was stationary, it had no type of lighting on whatsoever and I was not able to see anyone moving about on its deck.

“The fact that no one was visible on deck was very much out of the ordinary because the vessel was open-topped…it looked abandoned,” he continued. “In situations such as this, you might have a medical emergency. Someone may have been out there fishing, had a heart attack and perhaps collapsed onto the deck. My experience has taught me that anytime you see what appears to be an abandoned vessel and no movement aboard something could be wrong…. It gives you cause to look a little closer,” Broudas said.

And look closer Broudas and his shipmates did. While the two the other watch standers (OS Laws and AB Beck) directed their attention to the small boat, Broudas briefed Third Officer Jacob who in turn called Capt. Robert Wiley, the Guadalupe master, to the bridge. After assessing the situation, Wiley directed his third officer to take the vessel in for a closer look. Just as theGuadalupe’s search lights were switched on, however, the suspicious boat took off at full speed headed offshore, still with no lights.

Captain Wiley immediately called the Coast Guard and apprised them of what Broudas had observed and the boat’s odd behavior. Wiley was told that earlier in the evening, a commercial commuter pilot had alerted the Joint Harbor Operations Center of a suspicious boat transiting near San Clemente Island. The Coast Guard asked Wiley and his crew to follow and track the boat, maintain radar contact and keep them updated on its location.

Wiley complied and some 90 minutes later, a Coast Guard Cutter arrived at the Guadalupe’slocation. Its crew informed Wiley that this was the boat that they had been searching for. Shortly thereafter, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter joined the cutter and the suspicious boat was stopped. At that point, the Guadalupe departed the scene with the crew feeling positive about having been able to help the Coast Guard. They wondered, however, about exactly what it was that they had done and its implications.

They did not have to wait very long to find out. An early morning phone call from the Coast Guard to the Guadalupe confirmed that Broadus’ initial suspicions about the boat were well founded and right on mark. Upon seizing the boat, the Coast Guard team took two individuals into custody and discovered 1,200 pounds of marijuana on board. The Guadalupe’s boat chase also was credited for playing a role in another positive development. The following morning, Customs and Border Protection officials and the Coast Guard seized another boat in the vicinity as it was fleeing to the south. Two suspects were apprehended and officials later recovered 21 bales of marijuana that the smugglers had jettisoned during the pursuit.

Meanwhile, Broudus and the crew of the Guadalupe began to receive recognition for their actions. “The crew tracked the vessel until Maritime Unified Command assets were able to arrive on scene and seize the suspect vessel, which was found to be smuggling illegal drugs,” wrote Coast Guard Capt. Sean Mahoney in a message sent on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard San Diego Sector. “This kind of outstanding operational success does not just happen, but is the result of sharp, diligent personnel and great cooperation.”

Broudus, a Navy veteran who received his civilian maritime training at MSC-affiliated schools in New Jersey, was grateful for the accolades he and his shipmates received, but insisted that he and his fellow watch standers did nothing out of the ordinary. According to him, watch standers are alert at all times; they commence each watch with the intent of identifying something that is out of the ordinary, but most of the time they see nothing remarkable.

“Everything involving the boat took place about a half-hour to 45 (minutes) after sunset,” Broudas said. “Sure, it was dark, but when you’ve been out there as long as I have, you still don’t miss much.”

During his career he has sailed on a host of MSC-operated and SIU-contracted vessels including the Diamond State and Cape Lambert, which transported military equipment to Kuwait.

“My experience as a seaman enables me to be able to look on the water and see things that the average person would not notice,” he concluded. “We [watch standers] have a certain way that we look at the horizon with binoculars. We take our time and carefully scan the area being certain not to overlook anything out of the ordinary.”