Winds of Change - Spring 2017 - 15

patriotism and service."
in chemistry and physics.
BLACKFOOT
Gregg's father had served in
And he developed a new
The Blackfoot
Vietnam, and Gregg was
appreciation for his
moved with the
named after an uncle who
Native roots on a trip to
buffalo herds over
served in World War II, only
reservations in South
wide stretches of
territory in what
to die in a plane crash on his
Dakota's Black Hills. "I
is now Alberta,
way home.
felt the connection, and
Canada, roaming
After basic training, Gregg
began to identify more
from the Rockies
reported aboard the USCGC
with my heritage," he says.
to Saskatchewan
and down into
Sitkinak, where he spent more
After high school,
Montana.
than two years, and sailed all
Gregg enrolled in a local
over the Caribbean. It was an
junior college, zeroing in
armed ship and he was charged with
on biology. After two years, he transferred
everything from law enforcement to search
to the University of Southern Mississippi.
and rescue, and along the way the ship
It was an eight-hour drive away, but USM
encountered six hurricanes. Gregg was in
has a top marine biology program and
his element, in motion and at sea. His next
Gregg was on a mission. He set out to
juggle work, a full course load, and helping stop was in Baltimore, where he was
assigned to a first-responder team for
his mother at home.
pollution incidents ranging from offshore
It wasn't easy, and "a little bit of reality"
oil spills to marine casualties. "STEM
set in when he was 20 credits shy of
doesn't mean being stuck in a lab," he says.
graduating. "I decided to enroll in the
"You can be as active as you want to be."
Coast Guard," he says. "It was a good
Next came a stint at Coast Guard
option for me to apply my drive to help
Headquarters in Washington, D.C. -
with the environment and make a differwhere Gregg met his future wife, Pana.
ence, and to honor my family's tradition of

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"You just don't know what life has in store,"
he says. "Here I am, a boy from a small
southern town living in Hawaii, married for
10 years to a Greek woman from London."
After D.C. came several more stops before
Hawaii: first, Toledo, Ohio, where he led
emergency response and operations, and
then Cincinnati, at the Marine Safety
Detachment. Next was an assignment in Los
Angeles/Long Beach, where he served as
incident commander and strike team leader,
as well as foreign freight vessel examiner.
There, Gregg completed the requirements for
his college degree. He earned a BS in
environmental management, and then a
master's in organizational leadership.
Today Gregg is in his first year in
Honolulu. He and Pana, along with daughters Susannah, 5, and Sandra, 8, are adapting
to island life and looking forward to a visit
from his son, Duncan, 17. Gregg has made
sure his kids know and feel pride in their
Native heritage. As he says, "I want them to
have that connection too - it can make a
difference."
- Susan Biemesderfer

SPRING 2017 * WINDS OF CHANGE 15
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Winds of Change - Spring 2017

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