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US Coast Guard Reserve Lieutenant Commander Wilbur A. Velarde and his family

Velarde becomes a more serious obstacle to Osama's boys

Wilbur A. Velarde was born in Panama and graduated from the Colegio Episcopal. In the 90s he was a Panama Canal pilot, and his son was born here while he had that job. His parents live in San Carlos and he also has a brother who lives here in Panama. In his civilian life, Velarde lives in Danbury, Connecticut and is head of tanker operations for Tankship International LLC in nearby Fairfield.

He has another vocation too --- he's an officer with the US Coast Guard Reserve.

The US Coast Guard is a law enforcement agency and a maritime and Great Lakes rescue service, but it's also one of the US Armed Forces. These days, given the threats that the United States faces, it's a more important part of the national defense than it has been in other times.

It is believe that al Qaeda controls several ships, and it is known that the jihadi movement led by Osama bin Laden has conducted maritime operations, such as the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in Aden.

So what keeps Osama's boys from sailing a large floating bomb into an American port and causing terrible devastation? What keeps them from landing terrorists on a US coast to conduct further attacks? By and large, those jobs are up to the US Coast Guard.

Lieutenant Commander Velarde has been improving his warrior skills lately. On June 15 he graduated from the Naval War College with a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. In his Coast Guard position, Velarde is assigned to the US Coast Guard Command Center in Washington DC.