I was feeling no pain after Master Chief Paul Debold's hearty retirement ceremony at the Gator Den on the base. CDR Ed Pino (Captain selectee), the GENTIAN's Captain, was home on liberty so I figured he wouldn't mind if I sat in his chair, at least until he sees this photo.

CDR Ed Pino (Captain selectee) and I used to work together at Miami International Airport in the late 70's and early 80's. After Ed obtained his bachelor's degree from Barry University in the early 80's, I suggested to him that he apply for Coast Guard OCS, and hopefully be selected for flight school after that, because the airlines weren't hiring very many pilots at the time. He applied, was selected for OCS and graduated but didn't get flight school due to a minor vision imperfection and I thought he would kill me after being assigned to a 210' cutter out of Miami Beach. However, he has evidently enjoyed flying these cutters all these years all over the Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.

The USCGC GENTIAN (WIX-290) was decommissioned on June 23, 2006, at Causeway Island, Miami Beach. The photos of the decommissioning ceremony can be viewed at: http://www.pbase.com/airlinerphotos/uscgc_gentian