News from New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

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New York Naval Militia Dedicates High Tech Patrol Boat

Patrol Boat Will Be Used for Security Missions in New York Harbor

NEW YORK, NY (01/30/2008; 0800)(readMedia)-- The New York Naval Militia will name and dedicate a $790,000 44-foot long, water-jet powered, computer guided, patrol boat during a ceremony at the State University of New York Maritime College in Fort Schuyler, New York.

WHO: Major General Joseph Taluto, the Adjutant General; Naval Militia Commander Major Gen. Robert Wolf; U.S. Coast Guard Capt Robert O’Brien, Captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey; New York Police Department Harbor Unit Capt. Dave Driscoll; and Mrs. Susan Taluto, Gen. Taluto’s wife, who will christen the boat.

WHAT: Official naming of Patrol Boat (PB) 440; a computer guided, jet-propelled boat built by Mooseboats of Petaluma, Cal. at a cost of $790,000 (paid for with federal homeland security grant dollars) which will be used for New York area harbor security mission.

WHEN: 11:45 a.m., Friday, Feb. 1 2008

WHERE: State University of New York Maritime College docks, 6 Pennyfeld Avenue, Fort Schuyler, the Bronx in front of McMurray Hall near the training ship Empire State.

COVERAGE/VISUAL OPPORTUNITIES: Mrs. Susan Taluto, the wife of the Adjutant General and a former Army National Guard Officer, will christen PB440 in a traditional ceremony. Members of the media will have the opportunity to take a ride on the board. Commander Robert Pouch will be available to answer questions about the boat. Naval Militia Commander Major Gen. Wolfe and the Adjutant Gen. Major Gen. Joseph Taluto will also be available to the press.

BACKGROUND: The New York Naval Militia is one of seven state naval forces in the United States. The Naval Militia., which predates the Spanish American War, is comprised of 3,200 Navy, Coast Guard Reserve, and Marine Corps Reserve members who also volunteer to perform State Active Duty Missions at the direction of the governor. The Naval Militia is a component of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs which is also responsible for the New York National Guard.

The Naval Militia’s Military Emergency Boat Service, or MEBS, operates ten patrol craft on New York State navigable waters. Two of these vessels help enforce an exclusion zone in the Hudson River near the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants in Westchester County.

PB 440 is driven by water jets powered by two 600 horse power Cummins 8.3 liter diesel engines. This allows the boat enter waters as shallow as two feet. The Catamaran design hull is made of marine grade aluminum. The boat is steered with a Blue Arrow Electronic Control System and is 43 feet, six inches long and 16 feet wide. The boat is crewed by two to four mariners and can carry ten passengers.

PB 440 was built by Mooseboats Inc. of Petaluma, California. It was financed through a Homeland Security grant. It will be based at the USCG Sector New York base at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island.

The boat will be crewed by the Naval Militia and employed in conjunction with the New York National Guard’s Joint Task Force Empire Shield—a state force based at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, which conducts homeland security missions in the New York Metropolitan Area—the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Police Department Harbor Unit. Fuel for the vessel is being supplied by the Coast Guard under an operating agreement.

Commander Robert Pouch, Deputy Commander for Operations of the New York Naval Militia will be available to answer questions about the vessel.

Major General Joseph Taluto: Major General (MG) Joseph J. Taluto was appointed The Adjutant General for the State of New York on January 23, 2006. Prior to that assignment, Major Gen. Taluto served as commander of the 42nd Infantry Division; commanding Task Force Liberty—a force of 20,000 Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard Soldiers--in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III from 2004-2005.

In 2001 MG Taluto served as the Joint Task Force Commander during the 42nd Infantry Division’s initial emergency response mission to assist the City of New York in its security and recovery operations following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. He directed a force of some 2,000 Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines to assist the city’s Office of Emergency Management.

The General’s military service began in 1965 as an enlisted Soldier in the New York Army National Guard. He was commissioned in 1968 and has served in a variety of assignments at all levels of command including: Chief of Staff of the 53rd Troop Command, Chief of Staff of the 42nd Infantry Division, Chief of Staff of the New York State Area Command, Deputy Commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade and Assistant Division Commander of the 42nd Infantry Division.

Major Gen. Robert Wolf: Major Gen. Wolf assumed command of the New York Naval Militia in 2007. A veteran of 30 years in the Marine Corps, Maj. Gen. Wolf has served as a Rifle Platoon Commander, Infantry Company Commander, Operations Officer for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit during Operation Desert Storm, and Officer-In-Charge of the Camp Lejeune, Special Missions Section. He finished his Marine Corps career as a Lt. Col. in a joint billet at Fort Monmouth New Jersey, a United States Army post.

Major. Gen. Wolf was commissioned into the New York Naval Militia in 1994 and promoted to colonel and became deputy commander for operations. In July 1996 he was placed on State Active Duty to command the DMNA Task Force 800 which assisted with the recover of Flight 800, the airliner which blew up and crashed of the Long Island coast. He was promoted to Brig. General in 1999 and served as a member of the Governor’s Y2K Task Force. He was promoted to Major General on Jan. 27, 2008.

The SUNY Maritime College gate is secured but a guide will be on site to direct media to the event location. A map of the campus is attached to this electronic release. Directions to SUNY Maritime College can be found on-line at http://www.sunymaritime.edu/About%20Maritime/Directions.aspx

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Attachments

PB 440 Underway

SUNY Maritine College Map
SUNY_Maritime_Map.pdf