re: Crescent Pilot's helping the Coast Guard

Bravos, you are mostly correct. I am a retired Coast Guard officer with 26 years experience. In a nut shell, the Pilot is there to provide guidance to the ships crew regarding maneuvering and navigation. If you were to listen to the voyage data recorder, you would think the Pilot is in full command as he is giving all orders during the transit. The fact still remains that the Captain of the vessel is ultimately responsible. When there is a incident, the Pilot shags arse and leaves the Captain to deal with the Coast Guard. The state has a oversight board to deal with pilots negligence. The Coast Guard can still go after the pilots merchant mariner license, but usually reserve that for truly egregious situations.

My few investigations involving getting statements from pilots involved me going to their conference room in a room full of lawyers and put in a shorter chair than everyone else. Mafia vibe lol.

Regulated industries can make donations to the USCG but it cannot be targeted to specific individuals or departments. There are ethic guidelines, but as long as it is shared or parsed out across the ranks and units through needs based criteria or raffles it is allowed.