BALTIMORE (Map, News) - As search and rescue coordinator, Capt. Brian Kelley, who serves as the Coast Guard sector commander in Baltimore, is responsible for all Guard missions in the northern Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries and the capital region.

The Coast Guard is a U.S. military branch concerned mostly with maritime law, mariner assistance, and search and rescue.

When did you join the U.S. Coast Guard and why?

My uncle had gone to the Coast Guard Academy, and I was at a point in my college career [in Gettysburg] where I just didn’t have the grades to go to med school.

I applied to the Coast Guard Academy and was accepted.

What do you love most about your job?

To pull up along a small boat filling with water and being able to reach down and pull people out of water, knowing if you hadn’t been there that day, they could have [died] — that’s very rewarding.

And then to see them reunited with their families, there is nothing better.

What are the most difficult rescues?

The job plays on your emotions a lot, because as rewarding as it is, you’re also stopping illegal immigrants who are leaving Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. They are looking for a better life but doing it illegally. The gut-wrenching part is that these people have their worldly possessions in a trash bag and are putting their lives at great risk.

What is the hardest part about your job?

Deciding when to suspend a rescue mission when a person can’t be found.

How do you decide when to stop looking?

We have a refined computer program that takes into account everything from the person we’re looking for, the vessel we’re looking for — all the way down to what they’re wearing, their body makeup, environmental conditions, water temperature. The program gives us the probability of success.

When we can say, ‘OK, we’ve exceeded the parameters that we can expect to find the person alive,’ when there’s no hope, that’s when we no longer actively look.

But I consult with survivors and next of kin, and we usually make the decision together.

How often have you had to give a family bad news?

A couple times a year, but that’s too often. When [former president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank] Philip Merrill went missing [in June 2006], I was in this job for all of one week. But I was personally speaking with his wife and children and giving them updates on everything we were doing and preparing them [for the probable] — that our search efforts were not going to be fruitful, that we had gone beyond any hope of finding him alive.

Have you ever feared for your own life in a search-and-rescue mission?

In the Bering Sea. I was on a Japanese fishing vessel doing the boarding when we received a call that some crabbers had issued a mayday call that their boat was sinking.

The weather was getting very bad, and it was getting dark. It started snowing, and there were 12-foot seas. We were down in the swells and couldn’t see anything. That was the closest I’ve come to thinking, “I’m mortal.”

Did you rescue the crabbers?

By the time we got there, all we found was debris. They were presumed lost.

Is the mortality rate high in the Coast Guard?

I don’t think so. I think we’re a fair reflection of society. We do a very good job of managing risk and preparing for circumstances where we need exceptional skills.

We have tremendous training systems, great equipment and dedicated people. We have some excellent Coasties who are willing to risk their lives to save others.

Is the movie “The Guardian” realistic?

Well, it’s a very entertaining movie. There are things that are absolutely realistic — like the rescue scenes. But some of the training scenes are not what we do. It’s a Hollywood version of what happens.

FAST FACTS

In an average day, the U.S. Coast Guard will:

» Save 15 lives.

» Assist 114 people in distress.

» Protect $4.9 million in property.

» Interdict 26 illegal migrants at sea.

» Conduct 82 search-and-rescue cases.

» Seize $12.4 million worth of illegal drugs.

» Conduct 122 security boardings.

» Conduct 202 law-enforcement boardings.

» Guide 2,557 ships in and out of ports.

There are 35,728 males and 4,971 females on active duty.

COAST GUARD ACADEMY

» Tuition, room and board: The federal government covers these expenses. All candidates must submit $3,000 to pay for uniforms, a laptop computer, school supplies and other necessary items.

» Pay: All cadets receive $8,760 per year, which is furnished by the government for uniforms, equipment and textbooks, among other expenses. Cadets receive any remaining funds when they graduate.

» Obligation: A five-year commitment to serve as a commissioned Coast Guard officer is required. Nearly 80 percent of graduates go to sea; some participate in Marine Safety Offices, Ashore Operations or flight training.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

» Beau Bridges, actor

» Jimmy Buffett, musician, songwriter, author, restaurateur

» Sid Caesar, comedian

» Walter Cronkite, newscaster

» Jack Dempsey, professional boxer

» Buddy Ebsen, actor, comedian, dancer

» Arthur Fiedler, conductor

» Charles Gibson, newscaster

» Alex Haley, author of “Roots” and chief journalist

» Arnold Palmer, professional golfer

» Ted Turner, businessman

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com

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