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   [Boating Safety](/articles/boating-safety)# Coast Guard's Elite: Facing the Fury of the Sea

 Apr 29, 2025

 

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  Brought to you by [60 Minutes](https://www.cbsnews.com/60-minutes/)

  

 

 

 

Discover the intense training and unwavering dedication of the Coast Guard's surfmen, the only ones who dare to challenge the ocean's most treacherous waves.

The Columbia River's mouth, a place known as the "graveyard of the Pacific," is where the Coast Guard trains its most elite members: the surfmen. These individuals face 20-foot breaking waves and 50-knot winds, undergoing a grueling four-week course at the National Motor Lifeboat School. With only about 130 active-duty surfmen, their history dates back to 1872, built on a creed of risking themselves to save others. Witness their intense training, their daring rescues, and the incredible skill it takes to join this exclusive brotherhood. Not everyone makes the cut...