Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Louis Tamporello, R.G. "Bud" Williamson, Lyman Wilson, Dewey Wilson and Campus Dean Gregory Garrett reminisce about the birth of Young Memorial's Marine Department.

The Marine Operations Department at LTC, Young Memorial Campus, has served industry for decades by offering cutting-edge courses adhering to United States Coast Guard rules and regulations.

The establishment of the Marine Training Center in 1960, as with current expansion, was in response to local industry need.

Members of the (Twin City Fishermen’s) Co-op and other boat companies needed help as most were training their own. The community was in need of captains and the best solution was to provide local education, according to Lewis, Co-op manager and president from 1946-1960.

The Marine Department at LTC, Young Memorial Campus, was set up initially in the Bernard Bakery building in downtown Morgan City in 1960. In 1961, the 158-foot, 493-ton Motor Vessel Pelican State — then valued at more than $1 million dollars — was purchased from government surplus property.

The ship was used as a nautical school for instruction in seamanship and engineering. Then-Director M.W. Finuf and Wilson lead the nautical program in response to area industry’s petition for skilled mariners to be trained at a local school offering instruction and certifications.

"Then, it was my opinion that more training was necessary yet people weren’t ready for formal training, so to speak. Most were from the fishing industry and they knew the Gulf; at the time most of their training was on the job," said Wilson, who served as marine instructor from 1960-1965 and 1999 to present.

Change was inevitable for marine employees to obtain U.S. Coast Guard licenses, yet not all were ready for this new movement.

"I remember once I was to give a speech regarding training to local marine employees — to tell them the time was coming that they could not get a job unless they had a master’s license," Wilson recalled. "I thought they were going to throw me out! They disagreed with the message but later I had many of them in my license upgrade class."

Demand for training was great even then, Wilson said.

"Once I was going to Golden Meadow to begin teaching a night extension class. When I first got to the school I saw a lot of cars parked and thought maybe there was a football game that night. I was surprised to see that 95 men were there for the new 100 Ton License class," he said.

"I usually did not teach that many, and when I told the leader we would have to take half of this number he said, ‘You don’t understand, this IS half!’"

The establishment of the Marine Operations Training Center, and soon there after the college, was a major endeavor accomplished by many hands.

Tamporello, Morgan City Chamber president 1964-65, recalled the many contributors and the spirit of cooperation,

"The main thing was this was a community project that for once in my lifetime there was very little opposition," Tamporello said. "Everyone knew there was a need for marine training, nursing training, business and industry training. It took a lot of people, people like (Morgan City) Mayor (C.R.) Brownell, Andrew Giordano, Luke Trahin, Joe Cefalu, M.W. Finuf, the Young Brothers, Lionel Grizzaffi, Jack Lewis, Butch Felterman — so many people, too many to count for fear of leaving anyone out."

And as the endeavor began, industry supported above and beyond the call of duty.

"Many of the local companies donated great resources, companies such as McDermott, Kerr McGee, Tidewater (formerly Tidex), Pan Marine, City of Morgan City; most all of the businesses in Morgan City — the entire community gave to see this succeed," Wilson said.

Nearly 1,200 seamen were trained for the offshore marine industry aboard the Pelican State until it was sold in 1970. Proceeds from the sale were used to purchase the current marine operations building in 1974.

Since the first graduates in the summer of 1974 to 1998, approximately 14,000 students have been trained in the marine operations program.

Over the following four decades, the Marine Program continued to remain innovative and responsive to the ever-changing needs of its industry.

Courses such as Celestial Navigation, Able Seaman and Federal Communications Commission Testing were authored or developed in-house and implemented.

"It has been the legacy of Young Memorial to adapt to change and meet the demands of the industry we serve," present Campus Dean Gregory L. Garrett noted. "This philosophy has been the main reason for our successes."

The program continued with much success through the 1970s through the economic downturn of the 1980s, when the program continued with one instructor, Capt. Mike White.

White continued and introduced state-of-the-art training on computers and implemented one of the state’s first Distance Education platforms in 1997.

Two additional instructors were added that year, Capt. Carl Moore and Capt. Jason Matherne, in an effort to respond to a new swell of demand, including radar training.

It was this 40-year legacy that elevated the program and the school to garner the first-ever Louisiana Technical College Program of the Year in 1998.

"I have a deep feeling of satisfaction at having trained thousands of mariners during the 26 years I taught at Young Memorial. The high point of my career, though, was being awarded the 1998 Outstanding Program of the Year by the Louisiana Technical College System," White noted.

The Marine Department then began to establish new U.S. Coast Guard courses to bolster its already growing enrollment base. The new courses included 100 Ton Master, 200 Ton Master, Able Seaman Unlimited and Operator Uninspected Passenger Vessel.

Amid all these trainings, a yet uncharted course was looming large over the landscape of the international maritime community. An international mandate for marine training called Standards, Trainings, Certifications, and Watchkeeping (STCW 95), would bring yet again substantial changes, changes that none in the marine industry were completely prepared to face.

It was time for the local training facility to evolve again.