BM1 Pat Lammersen

As his air station's only coxswain, Lammersen, a boatswain's mate, led his crew in 145 sorties in support of more than 1,425 hoists, 261 night instrument approaches and 23 flight crew check rides and upgrades.

FN Jason Fracaro

Fracaro, a fireman, aggressively attained his qualifications shortly after coming aboard the Edisto. He subsequently greatly improved the quality of life for his fellow crew members by playing an essential role in repairing the ship's sewage system on numerous occasions.

BM2 James Pierce

Pierce, a boatswain's mate, prosecuted 41 cases of boating under the influence, 30 as boarding officer and 11 a boarding team member. His 41 cases as an individual exceeded the station total for all but a handful of Coast Guard stations across the country.

BM3 Olivia Morphis

When Olivia Morphis was put on light duty for a medical condition, she could have eased her work schedule and taken a seat behind a desk. Instead, she volunteered to fix small boats in the engineering shop of her unit, the Special Missions Warfare Training Center in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Morphis is a five-year Coast Guard veteran. As an SMTC instructor, she teaches navigation and aggressive boat tactics to Coast Guard personnel and Navy mobile security forces.

But for the past year, she has worked in the engineering shop as well. She often is seen as the "face of the Coast Guard" around south eastern North Carolina, doing volunteer work and helping local retirees. She is also working toward a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

AST1 Eric Biehn

Eric Biehn remembers the rescue as if it were yesterday. A father and his two children, fishing from a jetty near Coos Bay, Ore., became stranded by the rising tide. Heavy surf made a ground rescue impossible. It was up to Biehn to save them.

"It's the only case I've ever ... had involving kids, and it sticks with me," Biehn said. The children and their dad have Biehn to thank for their lives, as do numerous fishermen, boaters and swimmers from the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes.

Biehn runs his air station's survival shop gear room, serves as his unit's health promotion coordinator and volunteers as a swim coach and fitness trainer for fellow service members.

His career goals include making master chief so he can broaden his leadership skills.

Aviation Maintenance Technician Gregory Gibbons

Age 26. Just moved from Alaska to California. He and his wife, Katharine, plan to volunteer for Special Olympics.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - As a grade-schooler frolicking on a New Jersey beach two decades ago, Gregory Gibbons was mesmerized by a Coast Guard helicopter and boat helping a man in distress. Twenty years later, he would become one of those rescuers. Last December, conning his helicopter's hoist in a frigid storm in the Aleutian Islands off the Alaska coast, Gibbons saved six people after another Coast Guard helicopter was swept into the sea while pulling survivors from a grounded freighter. For his actions, Gibbons was named Navy Times' 2005 Coast Guardsman of the Year. Gibbons, an aviation maintenance technician third-class who began duty at Air Station San Francisco in May, took the recognition in stride. He grinned, turned slightly red and said simply, "That's great." Gibbons enlisted in 2000. "I wanted to find out what I wanted to do," he said. At boot camp, he envisioned himself on helicopters doing surf rescues. During an eight- month stint at the Coast Guard LORAN station on Attu, the remotest Aleutian island, there was little to do but work and study, so he got rate-qualified before he left. A flight mechanic by training, Gibbons sharpened his rescue skills in Kodiak, Alaska, which came in handy in December 2004 when he and his crew joined in the rescue of 26 people from a Malaysian freighter that ran aground after its engines died near Unalaska Island. A storm churned the seas as Gibbons, pilot Lt. Tim Eason and co-pilot Lt. Robert Kornexl - deployed on the cutter Alex Haley in the Bering Sea - were told to get their HH-60 Dolphin airborne. In 45-knot winds, Gibbons climbed on the helicopter and reassembled its folded blades. Meanwhile, an HH-60J Jayhawk flew from Kodiak to rescue people from the freighter. When Gibbons' crew arrived, the Jayhawk had picked up 18 people and was carrying six more when a rogue wave hit the ship and sprayed into the air. Gibbons saw "a wall of water" engulf the helicopter, "They'll fly out of that," he thought. He was wrong. But the helicopter crashed. Gibbons dashed into the back of his aircraft, rigged his rescue basket and dangled it outside. He was Eason's "eyes," since the pilot couldn't see the basket. Conditions were "horrific," Eason said. But Gibbons "did an amazing job at cable management and being my eyes below the basket," Eason said. "He put the basket within arm's reach ... an amazing accomplishment." After hoisting the first three Jayhawk crew members, Gibbons maneuvered the basket near the next victim, who was floating listless. "He was not in good shape," Gibbons said. After several tries, the victim landed in the basket and was brought inside the helo. Eason sped off to nearby Dutch Harbor, where he quickly refueled and returned to find that the freighter had broken in two on the shoals. At the bow, they saw the Coast Guard rescue swimmer huddled over the master, with whitewater breaking over them. They battled the wind and sea for 50 minutes. On about the 13th try, Gibbons landed the basket in the right spot and the master, drenched in oil, got aboard the Dolphin. They quickly retrieved the rescue swimmer and headed to Dutch Harbor. "It was time to kiss the ground," Gibbons said. Six others lost in the helicopter crash were never recovered. "I think we did the best we could," he said. With about 400 hours in the air, Gibbons said he's thinking about getting his private pilot's license, and perhaps trying Officer Candidate School. But for now, he's satisfied being a Coast Guard crew man like the one he saw from the beach years ago. "The orange and blue," he said, "I was always drawn to it."

Senior Master Sgt. Christopher Parks

Parks, a deputy fire chief, filled in as fire chief for more than 16 months, leading firefighters on almost 1,500 calls. His facilities inspections and reviews of construction plans corrected a 13-year backlog.

Capt. Brian Hinken

As a C-17A airdrop aircraft commander in 2004, Hinken flew 30 combat sorties, led his squadron's delivery of an M-1 Abrams tanks to a dirt landing zone and was first to airdrop a Marine Humvee from the C-17A. He organized a "Pilot-For-A-Day" program with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Staff Sgt. James Guldjord

Guldjord, a KC-135R boom operator, was his wing's first tactics instructor boom operator and, at 23, the wing's youngest flight examiner. He was his wing's noncommissioned officer of the year for 2004. He serves food at the Lord's Diner and excelled in Airman Leadership School.

Capt. Shawn Beauchamp

Beauchamp, a contracting officer, supported reconstruction efforts in Iraq, awarding 471 contracts and obligating $86 million in 109 days last year. He received a 2004 Air Force award for contingency contracting, and is a catechism teacher and an Air Force Academy mentor.