US Capital West Side, by Martin Falbisoner
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is holding up hundreds of Coast Guard promotions over an issue with Eastern Shipbuilding Group, a Florida shipbuilder.
Like the hold on pay, this is another immoral lever to force through an action the majority opposes.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
Rick Scott questioning billing etc, what a joke remember he was in charge of a company convicted of the largest Medicare fraud ever, seems to me the company was fined a billion dollars or some large number and he walked away with millions and millions, just showboating
Basically no matter who is at fault for this, it is definitely not those whose promotion is being delayed.
Really why should the Coast Guard need Congress’s approval to promote to O-2, 3, or 4. Are they going to reject some? Has that ever happened? Don’t they have better things to do? They don’t seem to be able to get anything done so why not just allow the Coast Guard to make routine administrative decisions.
Eastern has recently been recognized for EXCELLENCE. Interesting seeing as they U.S. Government took the OPC contract from them and junked a platform to boot. Righteous Activity ? . . I don’t think so, and neither does Senator Scott (R-FL).
Contract for the first OPC was awarded Sept. 2018. The ship was not launched until 2023.
Work on OPCs #3 and #4 was suspended June 2025 because of poor performance.
https://chuckhillscgblog.net/2025/06/06/construction-on-opcs-3-and-4-suspended/
In Nov. 2025 Eastern decided to suspend work on OPCs.
https://chuckhillscgblog.net/2025/11/15/eastern-shipbuilding-suspends-work-on-offshore-patrol-cutter-program-maritime-executive/
Eastern has had few successes in the OPC program.
https://chuckhillscgblog.net/2025/05/17/what-is-happening-with-opcs-at-eastern/
I think the problems were in Eastern and the cancellation was fully justified.
I am aware of all of this HiStory and still think Eastern was not given a square shake. The government and industry did not help Eastern like Austal USA and FMM getting $50million before they ever started construction on their new projects. All Eastern got was relief after being blown away by a hurricane, and watched their talent leave stollen by the other shipyards…the workers needing a paycheck and working infrastructure in which to live. Easter rebuilt the community and are still trying to build their talent pool. After all the hard work is done . . . now Austal USA can run with the program. Sad state of affairs. Eastern NEVER got a fair shake just criticism!
Bollinger also went through a hurricane. But they never missed a beat. Delivered on time at the agreed upon price, no special relief. They helped their workers deal with the disaster.
That hurricane was a long time ago. I explains a Delay, but it didn’t explain why they can’t get the main propulsion system on Argus to work or why OPC#2 took more time from steel cutting to launch than OPC#1.
But, as I said, no matter who is to blame, punishing officers who had nothing to do with any of the decisions is just wrong, and as they say, two wrongs don’t make a right.
As I pointed out it was Eastern’s decision to stop work.
OPC #2 should have been about a year behind OPC#1 but has still not been launched.
Cancellation of OPCs #3 and #4 was announced July 11, 2025. https://seawaves.com/construction-of-uscgc-ingham-and-rush-cancelled/
I suspect Eastern was never really qualified to bid on this project but for some (political) reason they were awarded the contract, probably over objections by the Coast Guard.
I probably should have said over objections from some within the Coast Guard. The Commandant at the time went to work for Eastern.
Well . . . we will see what our investment in Austal USA steel production yields. I would really like to hear more about their fleet tugs coming out and some already underway. The one drydock would be interesting to hear about and we need many more. The supply chains that support production must be robust enough to support two production lines is disparate locations.
Austal has been investing heavily in the yard including a new assembly building for construction of steel hulled ships including the OPC and T-ATS. https://www.austalusa.com/newsroom