about

OBX 2009- Father/Daughter naptime walkAn active duty Coastie with too much to say…

Who’s Ryan?: I am a father of three wonderful little girls and married to a very supportive wife… Supportive to the point that she’s put up with me for over 10 years! I have thus far been a career military man. I joined the Army in 1994 where I served with the 1/75th Ranger Battalion until 1998 and then joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1999 (with some National Guard time in between). The first six years I spent in the Coast Guard were done in the air via the HC-130’s; both the “H” and “J” models. I attended Officer Candidate School in 2005 and was stationed at Sector Seattle as the supervisor of our Vessel Board and Search Team. I am currently working at LANT AREA (perhaps one day they’ll call it OPCOM) as a SAR Controller. I’ll finish up at least twenty, and perhaps longer if they let me!

About this site: RyanErickson.com has gone though a lot of changes as my online experiences have. Today this site is a mix of my collective thoughts, Coast Guard information, and a sharing point for my family… Basically I’ve made it my place to share with anyone who cares my thoughts on the subjects of my choosing.

So far as the Coast Guard side of the house goes (see the disclaimer if you need to) it should be said that I’m not a public affairs type and this site is not officiated (again, see disclaimer) by the Coast Guard. The items on here are all, well usually, found either via open source or in my head. You’ll also note that there is quite a bit of Coast Guard on this “personal” site- well I can’t seem to help myself. It’s a subject I like, and an organization I love. Sit back, enjoy, and let me handle the blogging; oh, and contact me if you have any Q’s ’cause there’s nothing worse than people thinking they know what’s going on and thinking so without actually researching it.

Also, the images for the header photos can be found via the Coast Guards CGVI site… oh what a great resource.

You may also see me around the web at

Also, I thought I’d point out that that the photo in the upper right is of my youngest daughter and I over this past summer (2009)- I would like you to know that the picture you see here on the botom left in my bio is my avatar you’ll see all over the place… if you see it, it should be mine as I took the picture myself. It’s a Coast Guard bobble head and he currently sits at the SAR desk at the LANT Area Command Center as a mascot of sorts.

Here’s my standard third-person biography you’ll see at some of the above sites:

CoastieHead Small 150x150 aboutRyan began his military career in 1995 joining the U.S. Army as an 11B Infantryman (240B Gunner) with the 1/75 Ranger Battalion. Upon completion of his tour he was assigned to the Washington State National Guard and in 1999 changed course to join the U.S. Coast Guard. His time in the USCG has included a tour in Kodiak, AK as an Avionics Technician and HC-130H Navigator, and a tour in Elizabeth City, NC as a plank-owner of the C-130J program. In 2004 he was accepted to Officer Candidate School; on graduation, he was stationed at Sector Seattle, Washington where he was the supervisor of their Vessel Board and Search Team and a Command Duty Officer in the Joint Harbor Operations Center. Currently LT Erickson is stationed in Portsmouth, VA as a member of LANT Command Center as a Search and Rescue Controller.