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About Us!!
The CGCWOA
The Coast Guard CW Operators Association (CGCWOA) is a membership
organization comprised primarily of former members of the United States
Coast Guard who held the enlisted rating of Radioman (RM) or
Telecommunications Specialist (TC), and who employed International Morse
Code (CW) in their routine communications duties on Coast Guard cutters
and at shore stations. Also, "Associate Membership" is offered to other
professional and military CW operators who possess similar
qualifications.
CGCWOA was formed shortly after the Coast Guard discontinued the routine
use of CW at its cutters and radio stations. Its formation wasn't meant
as a protest of any kind. After all, it was the Coast Guard Radiomen who
implemented and perfected the technological advancements in
communications that eventually made their art of CW obsolete. (And, as
usual, they did their job well.)
Rather, the Association was formed to institutionalize the camaraderie
and fellowship that had grown out of being a relatively small group of
sailors with a special skill, a skill which in many ways set them apart
from everyone else in the Coast Guard. To be sure, radiomen were an
integral part of the crew and worked closely with other crew members in
delivering Coast Guard services, but somehow they were different. They
were a close knit group of people who spoke an unusual language, the
language of Morse. To many of their shipmates the Radio Shack was an
almost mystical place, a place where they could not only get the best
cup of coffee on the mid watch, but also a place providing their only
link to the rest of the world —— a link that was essentially
uncontrollable by the rest of them, officers and enlisted personnel
alike.
And, unlike members of other rates, radiomen throughout the Coast Guard
kept in close touch with one another. It was, for example, the Radio
Gang that began and maintained a tradition of exchanging Christmas Cards
with all other units having radioman billets, thus establishing an
informal system of keeping track of where former shipmates were
stationed.
The men and women of the Coast Guard who wore the "Sparks" on the left
sleeve of their uniforms, either as RMs or early TCs, are bonded
together for life. The official end of the line finally came in 2003
when the Coast Guard merged the rates of Telecommunications Specialist (TC)
and Radarman (RD) into the new rate of Operations Specialist (OS), and
assigned the old RD insignia to the rating badge. The people in the new
rate will surely make their own history, but they will never match the
degree of fellowship shared by Coast Guard CW operators who earned the
"Sparks".
ZUT
ZUT was the forerunner of the CGCWOA, and the organization upon which it
was built.
ZUT (formally, "Zeta Upsilon Tau") was subtitled the Fraternal Order of
Coast Guard CW Operators
It was founded in 1962 by Radioman Bill Gulledge (ZUT1) and a small
group of his fellow radiomen at the long since closed Coast Guard Radio
Washington (NMH), geographically located in Alexandria, Virginia. They
adopted an unused military Z-signal for its primary name, and in
reaction to the increasing use of radio teletype (RATT) over CW,
assigned it the meaning of "CW FOREVER."
Over the sines of radiomen George Datz, Bill Gulledge, George Neitz and
Ron Harburg, an organizing letter was sent to all Coast Guard ships and
stations having RM billets. In under a year the organization grew to
over 700 radiomen who requested ZUT membership cards, and were assigned
a ZUT number. Original ZUT Card -- ZUT2
ZUT was disestablished in late 1963, but arose again in 1964, continuing
to mail out sporadic copies of its official "ZUT-REP" newsletter. But
even after the demise of the newsletter in 1967, the tradition of ZUT at
least lingered on. Many of the 1100 or so RMs who were issued a numbered
"ZUT Card" hung on to them through the years. One member kept his in his
wallet (and still does) just so he would have a way to explain to people
why he had a ZUT tattoo on his left arm.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
Finally, the organization experienced a second reincarnation as Coast
Guard CW Operator Association.
The "code" may be gone —— and now even the Sparks —— but the tradition
moves forward.
RETIREMENT OF THE SPARKS
Its been several years since the U. S. Coast Guard and the rest of the
maritime services phased out the use of CW as the primary means of
wireless telecommunications, with the Coast Guard changing the Radioman
(RM) rate to Telecommunications Technician (TC) along the way. But the
year 2003 marked the end of the symbol people usually identified with
Coast Guard personnel proficient in communicating via Morse Code that
is, the "Sparks" on the rating badge worn by Radiomen and early TCs.
Veteran CW operators who had practiced the craft were sad to see the
last vestige of a special skill be replaced with the old Radarman symbol
when the two rates were merged into the new Operations Specialist rate.
Some might argue that the Coast Guard's retirement of the Sparks was
appropriate because the people holding the new rate will no longer be
using CW to communicate with CG ships and stations and with other units
in the maritime service and the Sparks will forever and rightfully be
associated with only those who did.
The Coast Guard did not let the retirement of the Sparks occur without
some memorable ceremonies. This included a special celebration for the
last Telecommunications Technician "A School" class to graduate from
Coast Guard Training Center at Petaluma, and commemorating their
distinction of being the last TCs to be awarded the "Sparks."
And on July 1, 2003, the date all TCs were changed to the new OS rate,
the Coast Guard's CAMSPAC (Communication Area Master Station Pacific),
at the site of the old Primary Radio Station, NMC, configured its CW
transmitters to broadcast a final message saluting "all those who have
worn the Sparks.
2022 Advisory Board!
Richard Anderson x-USCG RM2 KE7A ZUT-1286
Don Cline x-USCG RM1 ZUT-1277
Fred Goodwin LT USCG-Ret K7LF ZUT702
David Johnson LT USCG-Ret AD5MH ZUT-213
Rick McCusker x-USCG RM2 WF6O ZUT-1287
Fred Riley RMC USCG-Ret KD2BOP ZUT-1438
Bob Spera x-USCG RM1 W2EUU ZUT-1284
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